Tesla's Smart Summon Technology Detailed In Patent Application

A new patent application from Tesla Inc TSLA describes the company's currently available smart summon ability, which lets owners call their car to pick them up from almost anywhere in a parking lot.

How It Works: The feature was released last year and is one of the first examples of actual self-driving available to consumers, as the ability can be used with no human in the car.

The patent describes finding a geographical location targeted by a user that is not inside of the vehicle. Machine learning is then used to analyze the environment and move the car to the target location. The vehicle uses equipped sensors to gather data and find a safe path to the given destination. 

Benzinga's Take: While Tesla has many patents, the company is known for being open with the technology in its patents, especially if it pertains to safety.

But Tesla is the first company to make such an advancement, and it is a good idea for them to protect this invention. Smart summon was a very popular feature when it was first released, but a lack of improvement in the ability has led to many owners abandoning the feature until upgrades are seen. 

Photo courtesy of Tesla.