4 ms·
I wonder if Elon will ever live down his comments that LIDAR "doesn’t make sense" and is "unnecessary" in the context of an autonomous car after this[1]. 1. ht
by avar 10y ago
I wonder if Elon will ever live down his comments that LIDAR "doesn’t make sense" and is "unnecessary" in the context of an autonomous car after this[1].
1. http://9to5google.com/2015/10/16/elon-musk-says-that-the-lidar-google-uses-in-its-self-driving-car-doesnt-make-sense-in-a-car-context/ http://9to5google.com/2015/10/16/elon-musk-says-that-the-lid...
- drcross 10y agoThis is definitely a cost to benefit calculation. LIDAR is not cheap at the moment. In years to come we may have the perspective that LIDAR is necessary but at the moment it doesn't seem worth it.
- avar 10y agoA Tesla isn't cheap either, and Tesla didn't have to introduce their beta-level software/hardware to the public and then claim "you're using it wrong" when some guy's head gets sheared off by a semi.
- mannykannot 10y agoI hope this is intended as sarcasm.
- Animats 10y agoThat remark will probably come up in the lawsuit by the dead driver's survivors. Probably in the context of "gross negligence".
- manicdee 10y agoLIDAR doesn't work in rain and fog.
- stcredzero 10y agoI'm not being a proponent of LIDAR. I'm trying to explain the difference between interpreting 2D visual data as 3D and what a device like LIDAR does. RADAR does work in rain and fog.
- dsfyu404ed 10y agoLooking through rain with LIDAR is like looking through chaff for radar. An X-ray machine wouldn't work very well if there was a cloud of lead dust in the air.
- mannykannot 10y agoDoes any current optical technology work any better in rain and fog? Not that 'optical' is a requirement anyway - what is needed is anything that does work.
- ph0rque 10y agoGround-penetrating radar does: http://news.mit.edu/2016/pinpointing-vehicles-with-high-precision-under-adverse-weather-conditions-0623 http://news.mit.edu/2016/pinpointing-vehicles-with-high-prec...
- izacus 10y agoThe radars other manufacturers use work well - e.g. my Mazda will detect obstacles and start braking even in weather conditions where optical visibility is way worse. Pretty much all other car manufacturers use such radars mounted in front for the adaptive cruise control systems (front) and blind spot monitoring (back).
- Animats 10y agoLIDAR can work quite well in rain and fog with proper processing. There are range gated imagers for that.[1] You tell the imager to ignore anything for a delay of N nanoseconds, and you don't see the fog reflections out to 2N feet. You can run the range gate in and out until you see through the rain and fog. These are available as hand-held devices. This technology was used on ships in fog back in 2004, but now that it's down to hand-held size, it seems to be more of a military thing. There are lots of interesting things you can do with LIDAR that the Velodyne people don't do. "First and last", for example. But enough for tonight. [1] http://www.sensorsinc.com/applications/military/laser-range-gating http://www.sensorsinc.com/applications/military/laser-range-...
- gene-h 10y agoMusk's reasoning is as follows: computer vision is getting better and cameras will always be cheap. We use LIDAR today because computer vision isn't that great. Although, LIDARs and sensors that do the same thing as LIDAR are getting cheaper. One thing that might change the game is the development of sensors that don't require mechanical scanners. DARPA recently demonstrated a non-mechanical way to scan a laser beam very fast and mm-wave radar is starting to approach the capabilities of LIDAR[1]. [0]http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20131014006233/en/Panasonic-Develops-High-Precision-Wide-Field-View http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20131014006233/en/Pana... [1]http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20131014006233/en/Panasonic-Develops-High-Precision-Wide-Field-View http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20131014006233/en/Pana...