4 ms·

Tesla moves 'Robotaxi' safety monitor from passenger to driver's seat

33 points by TheAlchemist 1y ago

netsharc 1y ago
I was wondering if their taxi turned from an inconvenient 2-seater to a very incovenient 1-seater plus a dummy driver, but I guess they're testing with model Xes, not the 2-seaters they demoed...
- toomuchtodo 1y ago
  They are cosplaying robotaxis to hold the stock price up.
  - SR2Z 1y ago
    I wonder if Musk will just give up on this whole "camera only" thing and use LiDAR and RADAR the way a Waymo would, but with less redundancy and huge economies of scale. This could actually be a decent opportunity for Tesla to branch out into manufacturing these sensors. Of course, it's much more likely he clings to "camera only" until he dies.
    - Zigurd 1y ago
      I think the discussion about sensors leaves out some important aspects. If you don't have the geospatial data, a lidar point cloud isn't going to be as useful. Tesla has a lot of 2-D image data and could easily get a lot more. But if 3-D sensing and geospatial data turn out to be a large advantage, what's the value of all that 2-D imagery? Of course there are some inherent advantages to lidar sensing without Google's data muscle behind it, like sensing at night and in glaring sun. And then there's the radar and maybe sonar sensing for up-close obstacles. But, overall, I think the value of Google's data is underappreciated.
      - SR2Z 1y ago
        Musk did give up on the "no maps" thing a while ago. Tesla does map places for FSD.
    - toomuchtodo 1y ago
      Musk could deploy a bespoke robotaxi fleet today, with only those units upgraded with lidar and sensor fusion after they roll off the manufacturing line, similar to Waymo’s fleet. Waymo only has ~2k-3k vehicles in their fleet, for example. Why does he not? Is it because he really believes camera over lidar? Or it because he doesn’t care enough to because investors keep believing the marketing which continues to keep him wealthy and in power with no effort?
1123581321 1y ago
Is there any publicly accessible data on the engagement rate of the safety monitors?
kelnos 1y ago
It is absolutely hilarious to me that they call these "robotaxis". But this is just another in a long line of examples of Tesla naming things in ways just so they can sound like their capabilities are much more than they are.
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
mullingitover 1y ago
Investors should've known they were being taken for the proverbial 'ride' when Tesla didn't even trust their driverless cars to operate without a driver in an access-restricted Las Vegas tunnel, where Tesla controls the environment top to bottom.
aaron695 1y ago
[dead]
anonym29 1y ago
Missing from the headline: 1. This is not true for the existing commercial robotaxi fleet that the public can get rides in today. 2. This is true only for the engineering sample vehicles, which do not have the robotaxi decal applied, and which the public cannot get a ride in. 3. This is being done in the engineering sample vehicles because they are testing performance on highways now. s̶o̶m̶e̶t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶W̶a̶y̶m̶o̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶o̶t̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶c̶o̶m̶p̶e̶t̶i̶t̶o̶r̶s̶ ̶a̶r̶e̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶e̶v̶e̶n̶ ̶a̶t̶t̶e̶m̶p̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶t̶e̶s̶t̶
- FireBeyond 1y ago
  > This is not true for the existing commercial robotaxi fleet that the public can get rides in today. The public? Must have opened things up, then, because it was only available to a select few recently (generally Tesla-positive influencers and vloggers). The existing commercial robotaxi fleet? You mean the "10-20" vehicles in Austin? Sorry, Tesla announced that they'd increased the fleet size by 50%, so "15-30". > This is being done in the engineering sample vehicles because they are testing performance on highways now - something Waymo and other competitors aren't even attempting to test. You're out of date. Waymo has been testing and is able to operate on California highways for the last year and a half (https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/2/24088454/waymo-california-highway-expansion-los-angeles-bay-area https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/2/24088454/waymo-california-...).
  - anonym29 1y ago
    Thanks for the heads up about Waymo. I've updated my original post.
    - TheAlchemist 1y ago
      You can also update the rest of it. There is no "existing commercial robotaxi fleet that the public can get rides in today" - it's open to pretty much influencers only, not to the public. But I suppose you know that already.
      - 1y ago

33 points by TheAlchemist 1y ago

I was wondering if their taxi turned from an inconvenient 2-seater to a very incovenient 1-seater plus a dummy driver, but I guess they're testing with model Xes, not the 2-seaters they demoed...

toomuchtodo 1y ago
They are cosplaying robotaxis to hold the stock price up.
- SR2Z 1y ago
  I wonder if Musk will just give up on this whole "camera only" thing and use LiDAR and RADAR the way a Waymo would, but with less redundancy and huge economies of scale. This could actually be a decent opportunity for Tesla to branch out into manufacturing these sensors. Of course, it's much more likely he clings to "camera only" until he dies.
  - Zigurd 1y ago
    I think the discussion about sensors leaves out some important aspects. If you don't have the geospatial data, a lidar point cloud isn't going to be as useful. Tesla has a lot of 2-D image data and could easily get a lot more. But if 3-D sensing and geospatial data turn out to be a large advantage, what's the value of all that 2-D imagery? Of course there are some inherent advantages to lidar sensing without Google's data muscle behind it, like sensing at night and in glaring sun. And then there's the radar and maybe sonar sensing for up-close obstacles. But, overall, I think the value of Google's data is underappreciated.
    - SR2Z 1y ago
      Musk did give up on the "no maps" thing a while ago. Tesla does map places for FSD.
  - toomuchtodo 1y ago
    Musk could deploy a bespoke robotaxi fleet today, with only those units upgraded with lidar and sensor fusion after they roll off the manufacturing line, similar to Waymo’s fleet. Waymo only has ~2k-3k vehicles in their fleet, for example. Why does he not? Is it because he really believes camera over lidar? Or it because he doesn’t care enough to because investors keep believing the marketing which continues to keep him wealthy and in power with no effort?

1123581321 1y ago

Is there any publicly accessible data on the engagement rate of the safety monitors?

kelnos 1y ago

It is absolutely hilarious to me that they call these "robotaxis". But this is just another in a long line of examples of Tesla naming things in ways just so they can sound like their capabilities are much more than they are.

deleted 1y ago
[deleted]

mullingitover 1y ago

Investors should've known they were being taken for the proverbial 'ride' when Tesla didn't even trust their driverless cars to operate without a driver in an access-restricted Las Vegas tunnel, where Tesla controls the environment top to bottom.

aaron695 1y ago

[dead]

anonym29 1y ago

Missing from the headline: 1. This is not true for the existing commercial robotaxi fleet that the public can get rides in today. 2. This is true only for the engineering sample vehicles, which do not have the robotaxi decal applied, and which the public cannot get a ride in. 3. This is being done in the engineering sample vehicles because they are testing performance on highways now. s̶o̶m̶e̶t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶W̶a̶y̶m̶o̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶o̶t̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶c̶o̶m̶p̶e̶t̶i̶t̶o̶r̶s̶ ̶a̶r̶e̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶e̶v̶e̶n̶ ̶a̶t̶t̶e̶m̶p̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶t̶e̶s̶t̶

FireBeyond 1y ago
> This is not true for the existing commercial robotaxi fleet that the public can get rides in today. The public? Must have opened things up, then, because it was only available to a select few recently (generally Tesla-positive influencers and vloggers). The existing commercial robotaxi fleet? You mean the "10-20" vehicles in Austin? Sorry, Tesla announced that they'd increased the fleet size by 50%, so "15-30". > This is being done in the engineering sample vehicles because they are testing performance on highways now - something Waymo and other competitors aren't even attempting to test. You're out of date. Waymo has been testing and is able to operate on California highways for the last year and a half (https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/2/24088454/waymo-california-highway-expansion-los-angeles-bay-area https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/2/24088454/waymo-california-...).
- anonym29 1y ago
  Thanks for the heads up about Waymo. I've updated my original post.
  - TheAlchemist 1y ago
    You can also update the rest of it. There is no "existing commercial robotaxi fleet that the public can get rides in today" - it's open to pretty much influencers only, not to the public. But I suppose you know that already.
    - 1y ago