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Tesla audio software partner collaborates with Bose for better cabin noise control tech

(Credit: Tesla )

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DSP Concepts, the company that develops the sound platform used by Tesla called Audio Weaver, recently announced a new collaboration with premier audio company Bose. The collaboration gives Bose the opportunity to bring its QuietComfort Road Noise Control (RNC) technology to vehicles that support the Audio Weaver platform, like the Tesla Model 3. 

The Tesla Model 3’s sound system has earned high praise from reviewers over the years due to its quality, with some even noting that it is one of the best in the market. Part of this is due to Tesla reportedly hiring ex-Bang & Olufsen engineers to source the best speakers and amplifiers available on the market, and another is due to its use of the Audio Weaver platform, which provides a comprehensive audio development framework. 

Thanks to the two audio firms’ new collaboration, carmakers like Tesla that utilize Audio Weaver could introduce Bose’s QuietComfort RNC to their vehicles. Bose’s QuietComfort (RNC) is a pretty clever solution that uses a combination of accelerometers, signal-processing software, microphones, and the vehicle’s audio system itself to electronically control targeted noise. These include sounds that are generated when a car drives over rough roads, grooved concrete, and uneven pavement. 

When Bose introduced its QuietComfort Road Noise Control (RNC) solution last year, the audio company highlighted that amidst the rise of vehicles like electric cars, minimizing unwanted sound in the cabin will be a key priority for automakers. This is especially true considering that electric cars, whose adoption is accelerating, feature no engine noise. And because there is no engine noise, sounds from the road itself are more noticeable. Bose’s QuietComfort RNC tech aims to subdue noise from outside the car’s cabin. 

Teslas are extremely quiet vehicles thanks to their electric motors, but on high speeds, owners and reviewers alike have noted that the road noise inside the cabin could be quite audible. This is especially true for the Model 3, Tesla’s most affordable car today. The Model 3 is a quiet vehicle on its own right, but its spring suspension means that road noise becomes notable, if not significant at times. 

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Tesla has employed a number of optimizations to the Model 3 over the years to improve sound isolation in its cabin. Among the most recent of these are the double-paned windows in the 2021 Model 3, which are currently shipping from the Fremont Factory today. This is impressive in its own right, but with Audio Weaver now supporting Bose’s QuietComfort RNC, Tesla may be able to improve its vehicles’ cabin noise even further. 

Watch Bose’s video about its QuietComfort Road Noise Control tech below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97-dxAHlVZQ&feature=youtu.be

The Teslarati team would appreciate hearing from you. Leave a comment down below or email us at tips@teslarati.com. You can reach me at maria@teslarati.com.

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Maria--aka "M"-- is an experienced writer and book editor. She's written about several topics including health, tech, and politics. As a book editor, she's worked with authors who write Sci-Fi, Romance, and Dark Fantasy. M loves hearing from TESLARATI readers. If you have any tips or article ideas, contact her at maria@teslarati.com or via X, @Writer_01001101.

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Tesla reveals huge Cybercab detail in new guide for First Responders

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla revealed a major new Cybercab detail in a guide it released for First Responders, showing new territory in its beliefs and intentions for the ride-hailing-focused vehicle that entered production in April.

The First Responders Guide is released to give fire departments, paramedics, and other emergency personnel the proper guidance on what to do in the event of an accident, entrapment, or other situation that would require immediate attention.

On one of the pages of the First Responders Guide, Tesla revealed a stark detail about the Cybercab, which could help personnel enter the vehicle more easily in case of an emergency.

Tesla Cybercab has one important piece that AI4 cars might need for FSD

It shows Tesla has no intention of releasing any Cybercab units that were initially proposed for ride-hailing services for the general public with any manual controls, meaning a steering wheel or pedals:

“A Cybercab equipped with steering wheel, brake pedal, and an acceleration pedal is typically an engineering or test vehicle, and operates at SAE Level 2 autonomy. Cybercab is not typically equipped with a steering wheel or acceleration and brake pedals.”

This is a major development for those who continue to believe Tesla planned to release the Cybercab with any sort of manual controls so that passengers could take over if needed. However, when Tesla started manufacturing production versions of the Cybercab in Giga Texas earlier this year, they were spotted without a steering wheel or pedals.

It essentially confirms the company has no intentions of bringing manual controls to the car’s production versions. Some have argued that the likelihood of Tesla having something

There still are some Cybercab units out there with a steering wheel and pedals, and as Tesla said, these cars are engineering or test vehicles, which have Safety Monitors on board to help the car out of a precarious situation or emergency.

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Tesla Full Self-Driving v14 ‘Lite’ Release Notes: new capabilities and features

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(Credit: Megan Gale/Twitter)

Tesla released the Full Self-Driving v14 ‘Lite’ suite to owners of Hardware 3 or AI3 vehicles today, adding several new features to the vehicles that were once believed to be capable of unsupervised self-driving.

Now, Tesla has released this modified suite to older Tesla vehicles, adding plenty of new features and capabilities.

Here are the full release notes for the suite:

  • Distilled the intelligence from HW4 V14 into HW3. This allows HW3 to directly learn how to handle scenarios using HW4 V14 as a guide. This process unlocks the improvements that have been made to HW4 including Reinforcement Learning (RL) and offline models for HW3.
  • Improved both proactive and reactive responsiveness across a wide variety of categories including navigation handling, merges and forks, pedestrian interactions, traffic lights, and vehicle cut-in scenarios.
  • Improved general comfort in nominal scenarios through fewer false slowdowns, smoother steering and more consistent lane centering.
  • Introduced parking, unparking, and reversing capabilities.
  • Added Arrival Options for you to select where FSD should park: in a Parking Lot, on the Street, in a Driveway, or at the Curbside.
  • Speed Profiles are now available at all times, to further customize driving style preference.

These improvements, according to Tesla’s Head of AI, Ashok Elluswamy, help distill the driving behavior from AI4’s v14 series into both the camera and compute configurations of AI3.

Tesla Full Self-Driving v14 ‘Lite’ for older cars finally gets released

He added:

“It includes destination options and speed profiles on city roads, but more importantly significantly improved safety. We hope you’ll enjoy it, once the build ships wide.”

Tesla will continue to roll out the v14 Lite suite more widely in the coming weeks, the company said.

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Tesla Full Self-Driving v14 ‘Lite’ for older cars finally gets released

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tesla model 3 model y
Credit: Tesla Inc.

Tesla has finally released its Full Self-Driving v14 ‘Lite’ suite for older cars that equip the Hardware 3 or AI 3 chip, which have not been able to handle the newest versions of the company’s driver assistance software.

Tesla officially started releasing the v14 Lite suite to owners in the Early Access Program last night. The company’s Head of AI, Ashok Elluswamy, said that the rollout will continue over the next few weeks. The build distills the driving behavior from AI4’s v14 series into both the camera and compute configurations of an AI3 car.

It also includes a variety of new features that were available to AI4 cars running v14, including:

  • Start Self-Driving from Park
  • Arrival and Parking Options
  • Speed Profiles

The release is highly anticipated because those owners with AI3 vehicles were early adopters into the FSD platform and were promised that their cars would be capable of achieving Full Self-Driving.

However, Tesla CEO Elon Musk admitted during the company’s recent Q1 Earnings Call that these vehicles would not be capable of achieving unsupervised Full Self-Driving, which is what Tesla had originally said.

Owners were not pleased with this answer, or the idea that their commitment to buying the suite outright for thousands of dollars would not yield the ability to drive without operating the car. Tesla gave some solutions for this, including a discount on a new car, or an upgrade to an AI4 or AI5 self-driving computer and new, upgraded cameras.

Tesla owners do not seem pleased with these options, as they require giving the company more money.

Nevertheless, it is important to note that Tesla came through for owners here by releasing v14 Lite before the end of Q2, something it had promised owners during the previous Earnings Call. Tesla has had trouble keeping up with timelines, but this is a big achievement for the team.

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