I am optimistic about self driving, just not Teslas. Unlike other self driving cars, Tesla is exlusively reliant on cameras. Others, like Waymo, have cameras, lidarr sensors and radar.
venusaur@lemmy.world 6 days ago
The article doesn’t mention anything about where the cars will be driving in Austin, but I reluctantly took a Waymo from the airport in Phoenix to a hotel and it did really well. Even slowed down for a guy who was jaywalking.
It ended up taking longer than expected because apparently they’re either require or trained on different roads than you would normally take (e.g. no highways). It did such a good job, though, that I ended up taking a Waymo a second time while there.
All this to say that it may not be ready for all roads, but is ready for some. Definitely still scary though.
FiskFisk33@startrek.website 6 days ago
frunch@lemmy.world 6 days ago
It’s weird–Tesla at least projected some sort of ‘higher-end’ quality back when they first started coming around but as time has gone on it’s proven itself to be a very cheaply-made vehicle.
The fact they insist on using their proven-inferior tech for FSD tells you all you need to know: they aren’t looking to innovate or even bring themselves up to modern standards. They are determined to make their cars with the cheapest, shittiest tech and they’ll just grease the right palms in order to proceed as necessary.
Plebcouncilman@sh.itjust.works 6 days ago
Elon’s success as a businessman beyond being very good at self promotion is that he’s a brilliant cost cutter. SpaceX exists as it does today thanks to his exceptional ability to make people do great things with the least amount of resources and processes possible. The problem is at this point he has bought in too much into his own myth to the point he’s a caricature of his own self. Sensors are expensive and ugly, so he doesn’t want to use them and his argument is that humans don’t have sensors, only eyes. Which is a fine philosophy if you’re trying to create a system that is as dangerous as humans behind the wheel but I thought the idea was to make something better.
otter@lemmy.ca 6 days ago
I believe Waymo has a better set of sensors (Lidar + Radar+ Cameras instead of just cameras), more processing power, and more research / time / resources spent on it compared to Tesla.
So I think this is less about not being ready for self driving taxis, and more about which cars are ready to provide that service
ShittyBeatlesFCPres@lemmy.world 6 days ago
I think Waymo is also trying to prioritize safety. I was in San Francisco recently and took one, just out of curiosity, from my hotel to a Giants game. It seemed to stop when pedestrian traffic got heavy instead of going all the way to the stadium. So, like three blocks from the stadium. No biggie. I might have told a human taxi driver I could walk from there.
I’m not sure if it’s a California regulation or Waymo trying to play it safe but I will never get in a self-driving car regulated by Texas and designed to the specifications of one of history’s biggest dumbasses.
dumbpotato@lemmy.cafe 6 days ago
Texas is a shithole that only exists to serve businessmen at this point.
That’s why elon and republicans love it so much.
fluxion@lemmy.world 6 days ago
Working with cities to regulate self-driving and plan out specific routes/infrastructure was always going to be the only path to widespread adoption but Elon was too busy grifting off bullshit claims like everyone’s Teslas moonlighting as self-driving taxis and paying for themselves.
venusaur@lemmy.world 6 days ago
Makes sense. There were sensors alll over that thing.
BrianTheeBiscuiteer@lemmy.world 6 days ago
That’s part of the reason Teslas are not well-suited for this. One camera, each direction, with no other sensors to help make decisions, is a really bad way to ensure safety.
Humans normally have two “front facing cameras” (i.e. two eyes) so we have depth perception. We also process light differently than cameras do so infrared light (for one) doesn’t affect our decisions. We also have ears so the sound of a loud motorcycle engine tips us off if we just see a spec in the distance. We also use context clues to help our decisions, like if other drivers change lanes quickly we are extra observant of road obstacles.
Not that technology can never be as good as a human at driving, but we use a lot more than a single “moving picture” to decide what we should do.
IphtashuFitz@lemmy.world 6 days ago
To be fair, the Tesla vision system has 3 cameras facing forward. One in the center above the front bumper grille and two behind the rear view mirror. Those two provide some level of stereoscopic vision to help judge distances.
But yeah, the lack of other sensors is a huge issue. Anything from bug splatter to mud to snow etc. can easily obscure one or more cameras and render the whole vision system unreliable.