# Using An Orange to Fool Tesla’s Autopilot Is Probably a Really Bad Idea



## jocker12 (May 11, 2017)

Many people probably thought how certain limitations in the actual Enhanced Driver Assist Systems advertised as "Self Driving Cars Systems" or as "Semi Autonomous Systems"(which is an idiotic term by definition), will stop drivers from mistakingly trusting the computer into surrendering their full control to it, mistake made by Joshua Brown in 2016, that caused his death after his Tesla Autopilot system failed to recognize a stationary truck in it's path while going at 74 miler per hour.

Well, people are inventive and committed to discover or improvise new ways to hack or modify the limitations for a stupid commodity promised to be "the revolution" of transportation.

Why is the self driving cars and technology one more time dangerous? Here is the story -

"Using an orange to steer your Tesla probably isn't a good idea, but it's exactly what one man did in a video recently uploaded to-and then quickly deleted from-YouTube.

Dave Mitton, who lives south of Salt Lake City in Utah, posted a video on January 14 showing *how a navel orange wedged into the steering wheel fooled his P85D Tesla Model S into driving itself.*

Mitton figured out that the Tesla steering wheel requires a certain amount of pressure, or torque, to keep the car's Autosteer engaged. *He used the orange to apply continuous pressure on the steering wheel.* In the YouTube video he notes that he'd been driving for 25 miles on a highway without having to put his hand on the wheel. Mitton didn't immediately reply to Motherboard's request for comment-we will update this article if he responds.










Autosteer is part of Tesla's Autopilot software, which also enables lane-departure warnings, automatic parking, and remotely "summoning" the vehicle, which can move the Tesla in and out of a garage without a person inside. Tesla has incorporated some autonomous or semi-autonomous elements into its vehicles, but the cars currently on the market are decidedly _not_ self-driving cars.

Tesla's Model S owner's manual and other owner-facing literature explicitly say drivers should be fully attentive and keep their hands on the wheel at all times, even when using Autosteer or its Traffic-Aware Cruise Control system: "Never depend on Autosteer to determine an appropriate driving path. Always be prepared to take immediate action. Failure to follow these instructions could cause serious property damage, injury or death."

Tesla's taken steps to mitigate possibly dangerous driving scenarios. Drivers have to tap the car's screen to agree to keep their hands on the steering wheel and maintain control of the vehicle before the car will activate Autosteer.

Following a Florida crash in 2016 that killed the driver of a Tesla, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration concluded that Autosteer actually reduces Tesla's crash rate.

A Tesla spokesperson speaking on background said that if and when the terms are abused-say, by someone who isn't keeping their hands on the steering wheel-the system will deliver an escalating series of audio and visual warnings. If the driver ignores these messages, they get locked out of autopilot for the remainder of their trip.

Beyond this, t*here's not much Tesla can do to prevent people from doing stupid things in its cars. *Another video on YouTube shows how another driver strapped a water bottle to his steering wheel to keep Autosteer on.

Jean-François Barsoum, a Canadian Tesla owner contacted by Motherboard via email, said he's not surprised to see Mitton's video. *Whenever similar tips surface online, he said people's reactions oscillate between "cool!" and "that's irresponsible and that's why we can't have nice things.*"

"I personally drive with my left elbow on the windowsill and my hand or a few fingers on the wheel, which is enough to satisfy the autopilot requirements-I rarely, if ever, get warnings," he wrote. "I have had to take over at a moment's notice before...So I wouldn't recommend the orange method. ;-)"

https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/a3na9p/tesla-autosteer-orange-hack

and

https://jalopnik.com/stop-doing-this-shit-with-semi-autonomous-cars-1822090627

"We at Jalopnik debated sharing this video, because it's an unsafe method of tricking an imperfect system that requires constant human supervision. But i*t shows how imperfect our current semi-autonomous landscape is*. That and since it's floating around the top of /r/Videos at the time of publishing, plenty of people have already seen it, for better or worse. "Tesla Autopilot Trick," the post reads."


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## heynow321 (Sep 3, 2015)

lol people will always find new and inventive ways to kill them selves


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## jocker12 (May 11, 2017)

heynow321 said:


> lol people will always find new and inventive ways to kill them selves


If the companies will stop misleading the consumers I am sure people will stop doing stupid things. What is the point of removing your hands from the steering wheel but continue to watch the road as long as you need to put your hands back on the wheel every 3 minutes anyway? The reality is that the cars are not able to drive themselves and the companies need to stop telling people otherwise!


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## PMartino (Mar 18, 2016)

heynow321 said:


> lol people will always find new and inventive ways to kill them selves


This guy thought he'd try an orange. Most people use an Apple.


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## goneubering (Aug 17, 2017)

jocker12 said:


> Many people probably thought how certain limitations in the actual Enhanced Driver Assist Systems advertised as "Self Driving Cars Systems" or as "Semi Autonomous Systems"(which is an idiotic term by definition), will stop drivers from mistakingly trusting the computer into surrendering their full control to it, mistake made by Joshua Brown in 2016, that caused his death after his Tesla Autopilot system failed to recognize a stationary truck in it's path while going at 74 miler per hour.
> 
> Well, people are inventive and committed to discover or improvise new ways to hack or modify the limitations for a stupid commodity promised to be "the revolution" of transportation.
> 
> ...


Would a tomato achieve the same SDC results??!! Asking for a friend.


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## heynow321 (Sep 3, 2015)

goneubering said:


> Would a tomato achieve the same SDC results??!! Asking for a friend.


probably too soft and malleable. the fruit also probably wouldn't work very well.


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## Gung-Ho (Jun 2, 2015)

The orange is probably smarter than most uber drivers.


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## jocker12 (May 11, 2017)

Gung-Ho said:


> The orange is probably smarter than most uber drivers.


This is probably the most courageous comment on this forum and the least politically correct at the same time.


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## The Gift of Fish (Mar 17, 2017)

Gung-Ho said:


> The orange is probably smarter than most uber drivers.


Plus, you can push electrodes into an orange and generate electricity. That can't be said for most Uber drivers.










At the end of this round, the score is:

Oranges: 2
Uber drivers: 0


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## heynow321 (Sep 3, 2015)

i would trust an orange more than some guy who just got his license 3 days ago and doesn't speak a word of the native tongue.....I know...I'm worse than hitler.


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## PMartino (Mar 18, 2016)

Oranges can be quite talented


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## RamzFanz (Jan 31, 2015)

jocker12 said:


> Many people probably thought how certain limitations in the actual Enhanced Driver Assist Systems advertised as "Self Driving Cars Systems" or as "Semi Autonomous Systems"(which is an idiotic term by definition), will stop drivers from mistakingly trusting the computer into surrendering their full control to it, mistake made by Joshua Brown in 2016, that caused his death after his Tesla Autopilot system failed to recognize a stationary truck in it's path while going at 74 miler per hour.
> 
> Well, people are inventive and committed to discover or improvise new ways to hack or modify the limitations for a stupid commodity promised to be "the revolution" of transportation.
> 
> ...


So what you're saying is it's the corporation's fault for fully informing the owner of the vehicle about how the system works and what is required but it's their fault the customer used this information to defeat the system?


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## jocker12 (May 11, 2017)

RamzFanz said:


> So what you're saying is it's the corporation's fault for fully informing the owner of the vehicle about how the system works and what is required but it's their fault the customer used this information to defeat the system?


Misleading went first. After the tragedy, came the information under pressure, but the "you can drive the future" lie was already implanted as truth in stupids minds.


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## RamzFanz (Jan 31, 2015)

jocker12 said:


> Misleading went first. After the tragedy, came the information under pressure, but the "you can drive the future" lie was already implanted as truth in stupids minds.


So you're saying Tesla has not warned the customers about the proper use of the equipment?

Dude, just please. He's DEFEATING their safeguards!


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## Mars Troll Number 4 (Oct 30, 2015)

Again... proof people are too stupid for SDVs below automation level 5.


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