Tesla keeps making headlines because one of the brand’s vehicles is involved in an accident while the “autopilot” is active. And what does Tesla boss Elon Musk do? Instead of using more sensors for safety, he simply leaves out the radar sensors! Model 3 and Model Y produced for the USA will in future be oriented exclusively via cameras.
Autonomous driver assistants in modern cars usually use everything they can get in terms of sensors so that they stay safely in lane and brake at the right moment, you could say. In other words: Manufacturers not only use (stereo) cameras, but also high-tech sensors such as radar or even lidar, which generate a three-dimensional laser image.
A Tesla doesn’t need any of that, says Elon Musk. Or, as one spokesman explains: “We believe that a camera-only system is ultimately all that is needed for full autonomy. Our software architecture based on artificial intelligence is increasingly based on camera data, so that the radar is no longer needed sooner than expected. Therefore, our full self-driving team is fully focused on the development towards a camera-based autonomous system. ”
How and whether this really works remains to be seen. In one of the “most famous” fatal Tesla accidents, the camera system mistook a semitrailer truck standing across the road for an advertising poster. The radar sensor had correctly recognized the obstacle, but was ranked in the system priority.
Radar sees more than cameras
In addition, a radar sensor “sees” things that remain hidden from a camera because the rays can reach under a car, for example. This video clearly shows how a Tesla stops automatically because the radar sensor detects that the car suddenly comes to a stop in front of the person in front. This vehicle in front drives up, the Tesla remains unharmed.
Eight cameras have already been installed in Tesla models.
With the system called “Tesla Vision”, Musk not only wants to control safety features and assistance systems such as automated driving called “autopilot”, but also actually control autonomous driving.
Use immediately
The radarless Model 3 and Y are already in production. Anyone who ordered their car in the USA before May no longer receives a radar sensor. The affected customers will be informed of the change, but cannot reorder.
It doesn’t seem to be that fully developed. Initially, the assistance functions should only be available to a limited extent, sometimes with a lower maximum speed or greater distances.
It looks like Elon Musk is outsourcing development work from his engineers in the lab to the customers on the streets. The fact is: Radar still works in visibility conditions that make it impossible for a camera to work, and radar can also measure distances.