3 ms·
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
by 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 agoIf 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 agoafaik 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 agoIf 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.