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Snow is increased visual noise. How do humans deal with it? We disregard it. How difficult is it to program computer vision to do the same? Self-driving cars a

Snow is increased visual noise. How do humans deal with it? We disregard it. How difficult is it to program computer vision to do the same? Self-driving cars are at the intersection of numerous solved domains, yet integrating these remains strangely difficult for the largest companies in the world.

recursive 9y ago
It's a small matter of engineering. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_matter_of_programming https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_matter_of_programming
- Dylan16807 9y ago
  I don't think it's that. It's a fundamental misreading of the problem snow causes. The part where a few snowflakes go past the camera is relatively simple to deal with. But it's not why snowy conditions are difficult.
rwill128 9y ago
How can you so blindly oversimplify a problem and then act like the rest of the world is incompetent for not solving it already? Snow is not just increased visual noise. Just off the top of my head, with no experience in self-driving cars and limited experience in computer vision: Snow (on the ground and street and curbs) is a vastly lower-contrast visual environment where numerous traditionally distinct features of the landscape are covered by a blanket of white. Snow is a more dangerous and difficult-to-stop-in environment, with totally different physical dynamics. Recognizing pedestrians (and their intentions), road blocks, debris, etc. is probably already a challenging problem, and with snow it's not only more difficult, it needs to be done from a much farther distance to give adequate stopping time. Along with snow there are issues with recognizing icy patches and other especially low traction sections on the road and adjusting control inputs accordingly. I can't tell if you've never driven in snow or never even attempted a basic computer vision or robotics task in your life, or both.
- joshuamorton 9y ago
  You missed the perhaps more important component: snow really messes with LiDAR.
detaro 9y ago
What are the domains you think are solved? I can think of a few relevant ones that aren't: Computer vision is not solved. Sensor fusion is not solved. Predicting human behavior is not solved.

recursive 9y ago

It's a small matter of engineering. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_matter_of_programming https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_matter_of_programming

Dylan16807 9y ago
I don't think it's that. It's a fundamental misreading of the problem snow causes. The part where a few snowflakes go past the camera is relatively simple to deal with. But it's not why snowy conditions are difficult.

rwill128 9y ago

How can you so blindly oversimplify a problem and then act like the rest of the world is incompetent for not solving it already? Snow is not just increased visual noise. Just off the top of my head, with no experience in self-driving cars and limited experience in computer vision: Snow (on the ground and street and curbs) is a vastly lower-contrast visual environment where numerous traditionally distinct features of the landscape are covered by a blanket of white. Snow is a more dangerous and difficult-to-stop-in environment, with totally different physical dynamics. Recognizing pedestrians (and their intentions), road blocks, debris, etc. is probably already a challenging problem, and with snow it's not only more difficult, it needs to be done from a much farther distance to give adequate stopping time. Along with snow there are issues with recognizing icy patches and other especially low traction sections on the road and adjusting control inputs accordingly. I can't tell if you've never driven in snow or never even attempted a basic computer vision or robotics task in your life, or both.

joshuamorton 9y ago
You missed the perhaps more important component: snow really messes with LiDAR.

detaro 9y ago

What are the domains you think are solved? I can think of a few relevant ones that aren't: Computer vision is not solved. Sensor fusion is not solved. Predicting human behavior is not solved.