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Self-Driving Cars.

Tesla Model S
Goodbye, range anxiety! Tesla is rolling out a software update for its line of Model S electric vehicles (EVs) that automatically routes a car through Tesla's networks of supercharging stations in the United States and elsewhere.
Model S drivers will soon be able to use the new "Range Assurance" and "Trip Planner" features added to the EV's navigation options with Tesla's Model S Software Update 6.2 to "[s]imply select a destination and Navigation will now automatically route through the appropriate superchargers if charging is needed" for a trip.
The new software is currently being tested in open beta by some Model S owners and will be pushed out to all cars in about ten days, Tesla co-founder and CEO Elon Musk said in announcing the update.
"Range is one of the main issues that people have with electric vehicles and this is what we hope we are emphatically addressing with this update," Musk said.
"Our energy and range functions eliminate 'range anxiety' and remove the hassle of planning road trips before you embark. By introducing Range Assurance and Trip Planner into Model S's navigation, long distance travel is now foolproof," the car maker said.
Tesla noted that some 90 percent of people living in the United States are "within 175 miles of a Tesla Supercharger," charging stations where Model S owners can top up their batteries quickly and for free. The company's more recent rollout of a supplementary Destination Charger network at hotels, restaurants, and resorts means 96 percent of the population now live within reasonable distance of a charging station, according to the car maker.
Tesla Range Assurance/Credit: Tesla Tesla isn't just expanding its charging network in the U.S., Musk said, noting that Supercharging locations in markets like China are also growing. You can check out some of the raw numbers in the graphic at right (click enlarge).
All of this and some new driver-assistance features were announced by Musk on Thursday. And for a kicker, Musk said Tesla's crossover sports utility vehicle, the Model X, is going on sale this summer.
And when the Model X does arrive, it'll be packing version 7 of Tesla's software package—which will include auto-steering capabilities that Musk said were polished enough to take a Tesla from San Francisco to Seattle without the driver ever having to put hands on the steering wheel.
More on that later. For now, Model S owners and prospective buyers should know that the 6.2 update adds some important new functionality to the EV's Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) capability.
Tesla unveiled Autopilot, its first iteration of ADAS, with the introduction of the dual-motor, all-wheel-drive Model S P85D last September. The new software, which is being tested by some Model S owners, adds a collision avoidance feature called Automatic Emergency Braking, a lane-changing assistant called Blind Spot Warning, and Valet Mode—which locks down private information stored in the car when a driver hands the keys over to somebody they'd prefer not to pry into it.
These functions, and the even more potent ADAS boost coming with the next software update in a few months, leverage Tesla's improving ability to use sensors to approach true self-driving capabilities with its cars, Musk said.
Speaking with Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang earlier this week, the Tesla boss predicted that autonomous vehicles would be the only cars allowed on roads within 20 years, as it becomes apparent that human drivers are just too dangerous to trust with hurtling slabs of metal traveling at high speeds.
Could that happen even sooner? The ADAS improvements Tesla and others are rolling out in new vehicles certainly point to true autonomous driving happening faster than we previously imagined.
"The car is becoming more and more sensor aware. We are kind of waking up the car, making it more aware over time," Musk said, adding that this will become even more apparent with the arrival of Auto Steering and a "major overhaul" to Tesla's vehicle user interface this summer.
When that happens, Tesla won't allow a Model S or Model X to be driven in hands-off mode for an entire trip, only enabling the automated steering on highways and at low speeds on private property. But Musk insisted that a Tesla vehicle equipped with the company's next big software update will be "technically capable of going from parking lot to parking lot" on a long-haul trip.
"We won't be enabling that for users because we don't think it will be safe in suburban neighborhoods where kids might be playing in the street," he said.
Musk said Tesla owners can expect more regular software updates that bring a steady stream of improvements to how the car maker's vehicles navigate, protect their passengers, and make the driving experience more pleasurable.
"We designed the Model S to really be a computer on wheels. Tesla is as much a software company as it is a car company," he said.
pcmag.

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Sandhurst's sheikhs: Why do so many Gulf royals receive military training in the UK? A parade outside the building at Sandhurst Continue reading the main story In today's Magazine The death list that names 5,000 victims Is this woman an apostate? Voices from a WW1 prison camp The Swiss selfie scandal Generations of foreign royals - particularly from the Middle East - have learned to be military leaders at the UK's Sandhurst officer training academy. But is that still a good idea, asks Matthew Teller. Since 1812, the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, on the Surrey/Berkshire border, has been where the British Army trains its officers. It has a gruelling 44-week course testing the physical and intellectual skills of officer cadets and imbuing them with the values of the British Army. Alongside would-be British officers, Sandhurst has a tradition of drawing cadets from overseas. Many of the elite families of the Middle East have sent their sons and daughters. 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