10-07-2021, 05:53 PM
space-time wrote:
[quote=ztirffritz]
The media is largely clueless about what Tesla are doing and don't understand what's happening. ...
Do you?
I work for one of their competitors so I probably know something about self-driving cars.
I currently own a Corvair.
I know enough to question the media when they say the vehicle was driving autonomously with Autopilot engaged that you need to question all the rest of the details of the story. Autopilot is essentially glorified cruise control / ADAS in it's current version. The difference is that Tesla are building a closed loop system that is supposedly iteratively improving as it gains experience. The ADAS on a GM/Ford/VW/etc car is the same on the day the car is crushed as it was when it rolled off of the assembly line. Tesla are pushing updates that improve the system, similar to how a driver with a Learner's Permit learns everyday. They are doing something that no one else has attempted. I won't say that I'm an expert on autonomous driving, but I know more than the average person on the street. I've watched quite a few companies and college efforts burn out when they hit a wall. It's a bigger problem than most anyone wants to admit, and it will be a messy process perfecting it. It will make mistakes. The question is, does it make fewer than people do? I remember when CMU had a red Hummer with LIDAR mounted all over it assessing it's surroundings and it struggled with DARPA's tests. We've made the sensors smaller, but generally everyone except Tesla are going down the same path as that Red Hummer from CMU. Ford's Blue Cruise couldn't navigate a bend on a highway. Waymo can only drive in Chandler AZ. Chevy's Super Cruise (CRUZ sp?) is limited to highways that have been surveyed. They all have their strengths, but none of them are trying to do what Tesla are doing.
