Tesla Shipping Cars Without Radar Sensors!!
Elon Musk is known for creating innovations that are out of this world.
If you thought the Tech CEO had outdone himself when he introduced his line of electric self-driving
cars, then these new updates will blow your mind!
If you want to know what this new update is going to be, then keep on watching!
Welcome to Elon Musk Zone.
When a baby is learning to walk, it has to fail multiple times to finally succeed.
Tesla uses a similar approach.
The company tries countless times, trying different tactics and using their myriad of
strengths, to finally succeed.
Musk constantly adds new features to his cars, and with each iteration, the car becomes unmatched.
Ever since Tesla released new information regarding its latest update, people have been
curious about its impact.
Tesla announced that it would be shifting to a "pure vision" system for its Autopilot
Beta tech and Full Self-Driving.
Tesla has taken the initiative to provide us with some details, and these new modifications
might surprise you!
If you are not aware, Tesla has an Autopilot feature which is an advanced driver-assistance
system.
Tesla announced its first version of Autopilot back in 2014.
As we speak, countless drivers are using Tesla's traffic-aware cruise control, self-parking,
lane centering, automatic lane changes, and semi-autonomous navigation.
Autopilot and full self-driving are both accomplished using a variety of devices in the car, including
the use of cameras and radar.
There is no doubt about it; Tesla's Autopilot system and full driving suite are safer than
humans.
But with that said, there are certain limitations.
Tesla does not claim to be fully self-driving; the driver is in charge, and the vehicle must
be constantly monitored.
Tesla has always been transparent about its vision-only-based Autopilot system, and it
seems like there has been significant progress.
The company has stated that the future of Autopilot will be dependent on vision and
will now rely only on the cameras to do all of the functions.
The bad news is Tesla has decided that it is time to completely abandon radar.
What a bummer.
In May 2021, Elon Musk tweeted that "Pure vision Autopilot" is being implemented.
The "Tesla Vision" system replaces the forward-facing radar in the Autopilot hardware package in
Model 3 and Model Y vehicles.
The new cars will have eight cameras mounted around it with no radar.
The cameras will send images to computer networks which will recognize and analyze objects.
For those of you who think this is an upgrade, critics believe Elon is making the wrong move.
Radars are critical for identifying and responding to forward-moving objects.
It can accurately measure distances and calculate the speed at which two cars are approaching
each other.
Radars are one of the sensors that enable safety features like automated emergency braking
since they can identify fast-approaching objects even in low visibility.
This approach, though not perfect, is exceptionally accurate and has served as the industry benchmark
for quite some time.
Like many other Tesla decisions, the choice to stop using the sensor goes against the
industry standard.
Due to the lack of a radar system, Tesla cars will now rely on cameras.
There's no denying that Tesla has made the most development in vision systems in their
vehicles, namely, Autopilot features.
However, a camera cannot tell distance with the same precision as a radar device.
Because radar is so good at correctly estimating distances, its loss could impact emergency
braking to avoid crashes with slowed vehicles.
To attain the same accuracy in features like measuring distance and closing speed, Tesla
will now have to manually enter this into the code.
Sounds impossible?
I know.
But this is Elon Musk we’re talking about.
This man has made the craziest ideas come to life!
Musk has praised the capabilities of the company's branded "Tesla Vision" system for relying
only on cameras and its "neural net" processing to understand and detect what is going on
in the area around the vehicle and then respond accordingly.
Neural nets are a type of machine learning that works in the same way as humans do.
It is a powerful artificial intelligence method that allows a computer to learn by identifying
patterns in data via a series of connected networks.
The loss of radar impairs driver-assistance capabilities to the point where they are less
usable, if not completely unusable, in adverse weather conditions.
Moisture or the sun might cause cameras to be obscured from time to time.
There are no backup systems on board in such instances to help overcome what has just been
turned off.
In addition, the cameras will be impossible to function in bad weather because their resolution
is insufficient to determine the shape of objects precisely.
As a result, Autopilot will not be available in those circumstances.
So say goodbye to the times where you could relax and enjoy the rain while you sat in
your Tesla that drove itself.
There are several drawbacks to implementing this throughout the entire fleet.
Then why did the multi-billionaire make this decision?
Musk believes the new camera-only system will be safer than radar because there will be
less "noise" or confused signals.
Even though the feature seems like the company is compromising on safety and is taking a
step back in a technological sense, the new update can significantly reduce the cost of
components.
It also makes the process less complex because you won't have to put a radar system in each
vehicle.
Given the present electronics scarcity, this could potentially help with the supply chain
problem.
Musk also stated that the vision system had improved so much that it was better off without
radar.
For vehicles; without the radar, some driver-assist capabilities may be temporarily limited or
inactive upon delivery; this includes the lane-keeping feature known as Autosteer.
But don’t be afraid; the company said it is beginning to reinstate the features through
software updates in the coming weeks.
There is a significant hurdle in making a vision system as safe as radar, and Tesla
will have to demonstrate that this was the right decision over time.
Tesla is presently testing its vehicles with this new system in the North American market
and will progressively expand with time.
However, the company must research how to fulfill the code requirements and fine-tune
the system before sending out the vehicles globally.
What do you think about this new change?
Do you think the new vision system will be as safe as radar?
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