“ All we know, based on Musk’s announcement, is that the Cybercab will get an unsupervised version of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) kit, which is exclusively camera-based (no radar, no lidar) but gets AI support to be, according to Musk, ‘10 times safer than a human driver’.”

Well thank the goddess that Musk isn’t one to toss around meaningless superlatives.

🙄

No LiDAR? Big problem. Cameras can only do so much. In one of Tesla’s accidents the camera was blinded. It did not end well.

@feloneouscat I worked in that space (until one day I realized how problematic it felt) and... yeah, all-camera-no-LIDAR freaks me out badly. No, just no.

@agunn

I’ve done hardware/software for forty years. LiDAR and other non-passive tech is very good and important. Understanding tech is the first step in knowing the pros and cons. Which cameras are useful, the flaws (mud, dirt, being blinded by reflections—you know, the real world) are dangerous. My EV has them, and the engineering is very good, but the algorithms are simplistic. I can spot intent—a head twisting, the tires angling, right before someone jumps into my lane…

@agunn

… these algorithms are okay for simple stuff, but intent is purely emotional. The number of factors (is traffic moving too slow, is it too hot outside, even whether it is sunny or cloudy) affects traffic. I can look down the road and see cars are stopped. I can prepare for people slamming on their brakes.

Autonomous driving is incredibly complex. Musk thinks it’s about traffic, because he is not an engineer and does not understand social interaction.

@feloneouscat Precisely. I live a few blocks from a major Seattle thoroughfare known for having ... uhh ... a lively outdoor market in freelance pharmaceuticals and professiobal companionship. Much of this happens at night, and some of it involves people interacting in unexpectedly ways with the curb and the lane next to. Also, it rain here, a lot, and has thick marine layer, a lot. I have seen Elmo's concept in action. It ain't up to the task.