Tesla TACC v Adaptive Cruise Control

Posted on September 23, 2022 by way0utwest

Recently I was traveling out of town and rented a car. Actually, I was gone twice, and I wanted to compare cruise control in the rental with Tesla’s Traffic Aware Cruise Control (TACC). I’ll do two cars in this post: a 2021 Ford Explorer and a 2018/2019 Chrysler 300.

This is part of a series that covers my experience with a Tesla Model Y.

The Ford Explorer

My wife really liked the Explorer. We rented one a few years ago and she really enjoyed it, so when I went to New York, with a 2 1/2 drive to see my daughter, I grabbed a Limited, 2021 version.

This had adaptive cruise control, which watches the car in front of you and tries to match the speed of it. The cruise felt clunky. You press a button to enable it, then a toggle will raise of lower the limit. Getting this up or down was clunky, pressing it multiple times. I was often on roads where the speed changed quickly from 55 to 45 to 30, and I could hold down the toggle, or click it. For 55 to 45, I wasn’t sure which was better as I sometime held it too long and got to 40.

I didn’t see how to change following distance. That was something I’d want to do when I’m following a large dump truck with gravel. Don’t want to be too close.

However, this slows smoothly and speeds up quickly. At least compared to the Tesla. However, it’s not perfect.

There was a stretch of road that bended to the right (US, right side drive). A car in front of my slipped into the left lane for a left turn, so as I came up on the turn, I was heading straight towards the car. The road would lead me past, but the car started to emergency slow, and I had to press the accelerator to keep going and not have cars behind me stack up.

A linear view of the world works well for cruise control in many situations but not all.

Tesla TACC

Tesla gives you Traffic Aware Cruise Control as a part of the basic package. This is easy to use, but not great.

Enabling this is easy, pulling down  on the right stalk once (twice is Autosteer). This set the car at the current speed plus whatever offset you’ve configured. If I want to change following distance, the right scroll wheel on the steering wheel can be clicked left or right to change the number of car lengths.

However, cruise can be annoying. The acceleration is slow. Most cars pull away substantially quicker at any speed and the Tesla is slow to catch up. It also can be slow to recognize cars in front of me and gets a little too close at times (for my comfort) before slowing.

It lags, which isn’t comforting.

However, the situations on turns aren’t a problem. At least fairly rarely. The Tesla recognizes another lane and keeps cruising. There is some phantom braking, but not a lot. It’s definitely gotten better in a year.

Perhaps the part that I really don’t like is the Tesla reads speed limit signs. At times, especially in CO, there are speed signs for the exits that are a little too close to the highway. They are yellow instead of white, but if I’m in the right lane, I’ve had the car think the highway is a 45 all of a sudden and brake. Or think it’s a 55 on a 65mph road.

That I don’t like.

Basic Chrysler Cruise

This is like my BMW X5. It sets a speed and follows it. Doesn’t slow down and will hit a car in front of you.

I hate this now.

I rarely used it in Hawaii because of the lack of watching cars in front and there being plenty of traffic. I needed to focus more, so I decided this wasn’t helpful. Also, not a lot of hills in Hawaii, which is where I appreciate it more.

I do use this in my BMW, but usually only when I’m on rural roads with no traffic. In Hawaii, it felt old and less useful. I definitely don’t like the old style cruise control in traffic.

Final Thoughts

I like the Tesla idea, but the execution is poor. If the car sped up quicker and slowed down quicker (using radar to measure distance), I could live with the occasional slow down for a speed limit sign.  However, the lag is frustrating to me, and other drives, so it’s less useful than I’d like.

I felt the Adaptive on the Ford worked well enough that it was a smooth drive, other than a few sweeping turn slowdowns.

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The Communication Channels at Work

Posted on September 23, 2022 by way0utwest

Recently a friend started a new job that didn’t have Slack used as a communication vehicle. The new employer was considering Teams, but most of the communication among employees was done through email or a live meeting.

At Redgate, we use Slack extensively. I also use Teams for some work with Microsoft, and in general, I find I prefer Slack. That might be because I don’t spend enough time in Teams, but regardless, I find myself preferring email for discussions with MS employees over Teams. That’s my preference, but really, what I value is the instantaneous, yet async, nature of using messaging tools over email.

I think one of the reasons I like tools like Slack is the separation of topics into various threads based on some subject. We have more channels at Redgate than people, but this is because there are different needs. For example, there are a few different “ask” channels. One is for advocates (Grant and I), one for tech questions, one for licensing, one for each country, and one populated by queries coming in from customers. We have a public channel for each product, as well as one or more private team channels for their daily work. We have automated channels updated by releases and deployments, and we create quick channels when there is a sales discussion or internal issue to keep our conversations focused on an issue.

Perhaps focus is the real reason that I find these messaging tools handy. If everyone is online, we can have a real-time discussion. If people are not available, we can leave a message and hope they see it later. The one downside I’ve learned is that I can’t assume someone has read a message if they don’t reply or leave a reaction. If I do need someone, I message them in some other way to ask them to look at something in Slack.

I also extensively use messaging options on Linked In, Twitter, Facebook, and other platforms as well. While I do find email nice for many things, there are a lot of short exchanges that work well in another format. Email tends to work better for me when there is a need for more than a couple of replies and we need to keep track of the discussion. A fast-flowing stream of messages in Slack or Teams can be hard to sort through after a few days.

In some sense, I miss the old days of walking to someone’s desk or calling a short meeting and having a discussion. I still take those opportunities when they present themselves, but most of my communication takes place electronically, and messaging dominates.

Do you feel the same way? Does your company or team use messaging tools? Are they handy? How do you decide where to post things, and is there a good separation of topics and subjects for you? Let me know today.

Steve Jones

Listen to the podcast at Libsyn, Stitcher, Spotify, or iTunes.

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Daily Coping 23 Sep 2022

Posted on September 23, 2022 by way0utwest

Today’s coping tip is to notice what you are feeling without any judgment.

Today I’m stressed. I have been traveling a bit and trying to work remotely from my normal remote work at home. I’ve been in hotels, airplanes, airports, and elsewhere getting things done.

I’m also looking forward, and still have a number of trips. I’m in London today, heading to Venice for a few days of holiday, but then I’m back in London for work, then off to Boston next week, with Toronto, Seattle, perhaps London again.

This is both normal and expected, and hard. I get into these situations where a number of things get scheduled in short order, but I know that I’ll get through it and it’s not too much. I’ve been watching the schedule, and there are some downtimes, but this stretch of late Sept through Oct is tough.

I’m not making decisions or regretting things, just accepting the busy, stressful time and working through it. One day at a time.

I started to add a daily coping tip to the SQL Server Central newsletter and to the Community Circle, which is helping me deal with the issues in the world. I’m adding my responses for each day here. All my coping tips are under this tag.

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Daily Coping 22 Sep 2022

Posted on September 22, 2022 by way0utwest

Today’s coping tip is to ask a trusted friend to tell you what strengths they see in you.

On one hand this would seem easy. On the other, it feels very narcissistic. That means for me, this is tough to do. They might say something I didn’t expect, or not appreciate something I think I do well.

A conundrum, but I’m taking a chance. I’m asking someone I know well what they think are the characteristics of me that are positive and useful. Here’s what I got back:

  • Someone who is analytical
  • Someone who gets things done
  • I bring people together
  • I can flex when needed
  • Good technical and business IQ
  • Not afraid to fail
  • Doesn’t need oversight
  • Passionate
  • Gives good hugs

I particularly like the last one.

I started to add a daily coping tip to the SQL Server Central newsletter and to the Community Circle, which is helping me deal with the issues in the world. I’m adding my responses for each day here. All my coping tips are under this tag.

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