A mesmerizing trip down the Tail
The Tail of the Dragon is touted as one of the best stretches of asphalt to drive in the United States. Over its 11 miles, it incorporates 318 turns as it winds through a mountain pass on the border of North Carolina and Tennessee. While there are hundreds, probably thousands, of videos of it on the internet, there are none quite like this.
Not only is footage you see above generated using the eight cameras of the 2.5 version hardware needed for Autopilot in a Tesla vehicle — we’re not sure exactly which model is used here — it also offers a 360-degree view. This means you can pan around as the video plays and see all the angles that the system captures.
The footage, which appeared on the Pranav Kodali YouTube channel, wasn’t taken from their car. Apparently, they used footage posted on the greentheonly YouTube channel which showed the different camera views separately. Clearly using magic, these individual streams were put together to create the mesmerizing video above. We’ve embedded the original clip below for your edification and amusement.
According to the video description of the original poster, Autopilot was actually engaged up until about the 3:30 mark. Then, the car went way over the line separating the lanes. The driver assistance system software is, of course, not intended for usage on this type of secondary road and we’re surprised it managed as well as it did up until that point.
The original poster was asked how they gathered the stream and answered only, “Sorry, it’s not public for obvious reason that we still want them to continue working for as long as possible.” Enjoy!
Video description:
A visualization of the data eight autopilot cameras see when driving on the famous Tail of the Dragon course. Data for visualization was taken directly from an autopilot 2.5 car. Pan around for a full immersive experience.
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