"Pure vision Autopilot is now rolling out in North
America," CEO Elon Musk said in a Tweet.
He said it plans to release an improved "FSD beta
V9.0" based on the pure vision system about three weeks later.
In October, Tesla rolled out the test version of its new FSD
system to a limited number of people, enabling cars to navigate on city streets
in semi-autonomous mode as well as highways. A wider launch has been delayed.
While most companies like Waymo equip autonomous cars with
cameras paired with sensors like lidars and radars, Tesla relied on cameras and
one radar to detect and analyze objects.
Tesla's approach helped reduce costs and commercialize its
driver assistant features, but experts and other companies have raised safety
concerns.
Tesla said the transition to a camera-focused system may
result in limitations of some features such as lane-centering and parking
assistance, saying those functions will be restored via software updates
"in the weeks ahead."
All new Model S and Model X cars, as well as all vehicles
built for markets outside North America, will still be equipped with a radar,
Tesla said.
A radar sensor uses radio waves and sensors to detect
objects.
In March, Tesla told California regulators it might not
achieve full self-driving technology by the end of 2021. -Reuters