According to Fortune, Elon Musk’s The Boring Company, an advanced driver assistance system created by Tesla, is finally testing fully automated driving (supervisor), in the tunnel connecting a Las Vegas convention center to a nearby hotel.
Steve Hill, CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitor Authority, told the outlet that the boring company has been testing software for several months on Tesla vehicles with only safety drivers. But widespread use of high-tech remains a “way,” Hill said.
Tesla’s tunnels have been open for about four years, and the boring company plans to expand them across Las Vegas, but currently serves small areas under and around the convention center.
Tesla recently launched a small, invited-only Robotaxi service in Austin, Texas (and a similarly small ride service in San Francisco), and despite Musk boasting about how good the technology is, Hill said safety drivers still need to intervene “regularly” to control the vehicle.
In theory, a simple tunnel should be a simple task for Tesla’s autonomous software to solve. Perhaps the biggest challenge is navigating passenger pickup and drop-offs at various metro stations. Hill said the colorful lighting in the boring company tunnel, along with the semi-smooth rock walls, is an issue the driver assistance system had to deal with as cars “find spots that are difficult for them.”
