3 ms·
I see many comments wondering why does Tesla not recognize stationary objects when it has a forward looking radar. The radar can't distinguish between overhead
by timewarrior 8y ago
I see many comments wondering why does Tesla not recognize stationary objects when it has a forward looking radar.
The radar can't distinguish between overhead signs, trees and things on the side of road. It only track moving things, otherwise there would be too many false positives and the car will keep braking every few minutes. Other Level 2 autonomous systems have the same limitation.
You might recall, Tesla hit a stationary fire truck in Jan [0]. This was caused due to a similar limitation in their software. Tesla was following a car at a slow speed. When that car suddenly moved out of the way to avoid hitting the Fire truck, Tesla AutoPilot accelerated to match the set speed and hit the fire truck. To summarize, if a moving car suddenly moves out of the way, Tesla will almost always hit whatever is stopped further down the lane. They even call this out in their User Manual.
Tesla is hoping that it would be able to get it's Vision capabilities to the point where it would be able figure out obstructions using cameras working in conjunction with the radar. But there is no committed timeline for this.
LIDAR is able to avoid this by using directed LASERs to build a 3d outline of all the surrounding objects. A system relying on LIDAR would have challenges in RAIN and falling snow. However under natural conditions (where most Tesla deaths with Autopilot have occurred - hitting a SEMI from side, hitting the barrier recently), LIDAR would be able to completely avoid the accidents.
However, if and when, Tesla vision capabilities are able to detect obstructions, they might be much cheaper and more effective than LIDAR in all kind of weather condition. Hoping they can get there soon. And I also wish they would fix their marketing to more accurately reflect the capabilities of the driver assist system and stop misleading the public.
[0] https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/01/22/tesla-on-autopilot-slams-into-parked-fire-truck-on-freeway/ https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/01/22/tesla-on-autopilot-sl...
- wilburTheDog 8y agoIf this is true then how can we have had Collision Avoidance systems[1] in cars for years that are able to automatically apply the brakes to prevent this sort of accident? And If the answer is 'autopilot doesn't work that way' then why not use both systems, with the collision avoidance system taking precedence as it deems necessary? 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collision_avoidance_system https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collision_avoidance_system
- timewarrior 8y agoAll the systems which work on radar have similar limitations. More details: https://www.wired.com/story/tesla-autopilot-why-crash-radar/ https://www.wired.com/story/tesla-autopilot-why-crash-radar/
- wilburTheDog 8y agoAfter reading about this for a while, just now, I'm much less comfortable with the idea of trusting an automotive autopilot system. Just imagine if your taxi driver told you "I will drive perfectly safely, except if there is a truck parked in the road. Then I will run into it at speed." It seems like such a glaring omission. If I were an engineer I don't think I would be comfortable releasing an autopilot system with this kind of safety issue.
- azernik 8y agoWhich is why most companies aren't willing to call these things "autopilots" - Mobileye, for example, pitches its systems as assistants which will catch some of the driver's mistakes, similar to the "collision avoidance" language. This also comes with the corollary that they often aren't willing to give these systems as much control of the car as Tesla does.
- dingo_bat 8y agoDon't many cars have simple collision prevention or auto braking that kicks in as soon as there is a stationary obstacle in the front? Why doesn't or can't tesla use the same approach?