It's not LIDAR alone it's a combo. The problem of course is that Tesla/Elon is being stubborn and unwilling to put the "expensive" lidar claiming that pictures is enough to work on.
My guess is that there is so much technical debt that adding LIDAR is a tough choice for TESLA. They would need to throw out all the visual only data they have to-date and start over.
Like others have said, this would be less of a problem if Tesla relied on LIDAR like others. Tesla uniquely has this problem that's unsolveable because it's relying on cameras only.
The stated reason is "your eyes dont shoot lasers, so a camera is good enough". But the implied reason is cost for sure. With how fast the price of lidar drops, and its abilities increase (think solid state lidar), I wonder how long until first tesla with lidar rolls down the production line, or if Elon is too proud to ever allow that
Perhaps it's time they consider lidar? Elon hasn't seen the WHY yet?
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has stated that cameras are the only sensors self-driving vehicles need, and that Tesla's electric vehicles do not use lidars. Musk has previously called lidar "expensive appendices" and "a fools' errand". He has also said that any company that relies on lidar for its autonomous capabilities is "doomed".
In my opinion, the problem is Tesla and Elon refuse to acknowledge the value of LIDAR. A fused sensor approach is the only way we're going to get full autonomy. I was in this field in 2007 on the DARPA Urban challenge so maybe the state of the art indicates otherwise now however, from the NHTSA investigations into crashes from Tesla's autopilot all of them would have been fixed with even basic LIDAR.
Tesla didn't use LIDAR because it is more expensive [0]. Quoting Musk:
> Anyone relying on LIDAR is doomed. Doomed. Expensive sensors that are unnecessary. It’s like having a whole bunch of expensive appendices... you’ll see.
It's staggering that Tesla don't use LIDAR at all.
Sure LIDAR is more expensive but the data quality is very stable and good. Cameras won't work that well or at all in night or when the sun rays blend in morning / evening or in bad weather conditions like heavy rain or snow. All other self-driving cars I know of have at least a small LIDAR beside several other types of sensors.
Yeah it's nonsense. It's an after the fact reframing of a decision that was made for other reasons. Lidar + camera is better for this kind of problem. It's because current lidar are too expensive and too fragile (1-2year life) to put in a production car, not because they aren't much better. If this wasn't the case he'd definitely be using them. Elon cannot use a lidar in a Tesla even if he wants too so he's coming up with some FUD to dismiss any completely reasonable questions in advance.
AFAIK Tesla uses cameras instead of LIDAR because LIDAR, by itself, will not be able to tell you what a thing is. It cannot tell you, for example, whether the thing standing at the side of the road is a stationary trash can or a human about to cross the road. Hence you have to solve vision anyway. And if you have to solve vision, you might as well go all in on cameras.
Absense of lidar is just a symptom. Tesla only recently started to work with 3d model (which they get from cameras like one can get it from lidar) It just that the people who use lidar usually work with 3d model from the beginning.
As far as I know, no car manufacturer ships cars equipped with LIDAR. Nor do they seem to have a camera setup as extensive as Tesla. So I fail to see how Tesla has painted itself into a corner. The worst case is, that they are not reaching full autonomy with the current hardware setup. It certainly would be a big marketing blunder if they don't, but if necessary they can add LIDAR to the production, if they choose to.
They've never used LIDAR. Tesla have always been all-in on a vision based system, with Elon stating that LIDAR is a "crutch," and a "fools errand"
> Andrej Karparthy, Senior Director of AI, took the stage and explained that the world is built for visual recognition. Lidar systems, he said, have a hard time deciphering between a plastic bag and a rubber tire. Large scale neural network training and visual recognition are necessary for Level 4 and Level 5 autonomy, he said.
> “In that sense, lidar is really a shortcut,” Karparthy said. “It sidesteps the fundamental problems, the important problem of visual recognition, that is necessary for autonomy. It gives a false sense of progress, and is ultimately a crutch. It does give, like, really fast demos!”
Maybe it is, but not today.
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