4 ms·

I did a search for "lidar" in this thread and found nothing. But this seems like the kind of obstacle that lidar would detect every time? I'm not an autonomous

I did a search for "lidar" in this thread and found nothing. But this seems like the kind of obstacle that lidar would detect every time? I'm not an autonomous vehicle engineer, so can anyone more qualified comment on whether this crash is a symptom of Tesla's decision to avoid lidar?

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
MPSimmons 6y ago
The number of obstacles that LIDAR could prevent hitting, which Autopilot would not pick up, over the average life of a car, is very small. Whether LIDAR would be worth the money is, I suppose, an academic exercise. You could calculate the number of Teslas involved in such crashes, and divide the price of a Tesla by the price of LIDAR, to decide if it is worth it (I suspect not, at current prices), but ultimately, things will happen even with LIDAR. It isn't a silver bullet. I'm on my second Tesla. I'm totally biased. It has saved me from inattention several times. I probably wouldn't actually have crashed any of those, but I might have. Regardless, I'm glad I have it, and I am safer with it than without it. Sure, I could screw up and crash on autopilot, but it would be easier to crash without autopilot.
- Dylan16807 6y ago
  If the LIDAR is the critical piece to get the car above level 2 automation on the highway, then that's worth quite a bit of money.
  - booi 6y ago
    afaik LIDAR is not useful in even minor precipitation (rain/snow/fog). If the car is dependent on LIDAR at highway speeds then this needs to be addressed. Being dependent on cameras is similar to a human situation and is (hopefully) no worse.
    - Dylan16807 6y ago
      If the car can let me stop paying attention to the road, but only when there's no precipitation, that's still a big improvement over a car that always makes me pay attention. At least in most climates.

4 ms·

I did a search for "lidar" in this thread and found nothing. But this seems like the kind of obstacle that lidar would detect every time? I'm not an autonomous

by darwinwhy 6y ago

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
MPSimmons 6y ago
The number of obstacles that LIDAR could prevent hitting, which Autopilot would not pick up, over the average life of a car, is very small. Whether LIDAR would be worth the money is, I suppose, an academic exercise. You could calculate the number of Teslas involved in such crashes, and divide the price of a Tesla by the price of LIDAR, to decide if it is worth it (I suspect not, at current prices), but ultimately, things will happen even with LIDAR. It isn't a silver bullet. I'm on my second Tesla. I'm totally biased. It has saved me from inattention several times. I probably wouldn't actually have crashed any of those, but I might have. Regardless, I'm glad I have it, and I am safer with it than without it. Sure, I could screw up and crash on autopilot, but it would be easier to crash without autopilot.
- Dylan16807 6y ago
  If the LIDAR is the critical piece to get the car above level 2 automation on the highway, then that's worth quite a bit of money.
  - booi 6y ago
    afaik LIDAR is not useful in even minor precipitation (rain/snow/fog). If the car is dependent on LIDAR at highway speeds then this needs to be addressed. Being dependent on cameras is similar to a human situation and is (hopefully) no worse.
    - Dylan16807 6y ago
      If the car can let me stop paying attention to the road, but only when there's no precipitation, that's still a big improvement over a car that always makes me pay attention. At least in most climates.