Over the weekend, former NASA engineer and YouTuber Mark Rober printed a video that sought to reveal the distinction between Tesla’s camera-only Autopilot system and a automobile geared up with lidar. He needed to see whether or not the autos would cease robotically earlier than hitting a Wile E. Coyote-style wall that was painted to seem like a highway.
Spoiler alert: the lidar-equipped automobile brakes earlier than crashing into the wall, whereas the Tesla Mannequin Y plows proper via it.
The video was an enormous hit, amassing 10 million views in simply two days. A lot of people praised Rober for exposing the hazards posed by Tesla’s driver-assist system. However others accused Rober of faking the video, noting quite a lot of inconsistencies. Some claimed the video was a secret ploy by Tesla’s enemies to undermine Elon Musk’s mission to superior self-driving automobiles, due to the intensive promotion of Luminar all through the video. I reached out to Rober to see if he needed to handle any of those claims however haven’t but heard again.
Personally, I take problem with the title of Rober’s video, “Are you able to idiot a self-driving automobile.” Neither automobile within the take a look at was self-driving. Autopilot, which is Tesla’s first-generation driver-assistance characteristic, doesn’t allow a automobile to drive itself. And Tesla really warns drivers to stay engaged and take note of the highway whereas utilizing Autopilot. Rober falls sufferer to that basic blunder: conflating superior driver help with self-driving. We’ve all been there.
Let’s see if we are able to handle among the different points as properly.
Declare No. 1: Autopilot isn’t on through the take a look at
A lot of the criticism about Rober’s video falls into the bucket of people that suppose he faked the take a look at to make Tesla look dangerous. They word that Autopilot doesn’t look like engaged through the second when the automobile smashes via the faux wall, citing photos of the automobile’s central show that lack the telltale graphics — blue indicator traces and a rainbow highway — that sign when Autopilot is on.
The noise obtained so loud that Rober eventually responded by releasing “raw footage” of the test that does certainly present that Autopilot was engaged a number of seconds earlier than the crash.
Declare No. 2: Autopilot disengages proper earlier than affect
However wait! Eagle-eyed viewers word that Autopilot seems to disengage a break up second earlier than affect. Tesla defenders declare that Rober’s fingers on the steering wheel really disengage the system, whereas extra conspiratorially minded people marvel if this is actually a huge scandal. Is Autopilot programmed by Tesla to show off moments earlier than a crash to keep away from taking the blame?
Sure and no. This facet of Autopilot has been recognized for a few years. Rober didn’t uncover it, however that doesn’t make it any much less questionable.
In 2022, the Nationwide Freeway Visitors Security Administration (NHTSA) released an investigation into dozens of incidents by which Tesla drivers, whereas utilizing Autopilot, crashed into stationary emergency autos that had been parked on the aspect of the highway. In 16 of these crashes, investigators found that Autopilot “aborted automobile management lower than one second previous to the primary affect.”
A variety of critics assume that is Tesla’s solution to keep away from getting blamed when its Autopilot system fails to answer an imminent crash. And yeah, I can see the way it actually appears that manner. However NHTSA didn’t discover any proof that implies Tesla’s intentions had been nefarious. And it’s value noting {that a} crash that takes place inside 5 seconds of Autopilot being deactivated remains to be registered by Tesla as an Autopilot crash.
Declare No. 3: Autopilot is an outdated system
Tesla followers additionally took problem with Rober’s use of Autopilot for the take a look at, noting that the system hasn’t been up to date in years and that Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) characteristic is the extra up-to-date and succesful system.
But when the aim of Rober’s video was to show the distinction between Tesla’s camera-only method to self-driving and people counting on cameras alongside lidar and different sensors, it doesn’t actually make sense to criticize his use of Autopilot. FSD could also be extra technologically mature than Autopilot, however it nonetheless depends on the identical cameras as its predecessor.
Tesla infamously eliminated the forward-facing radar and ultrasonic sensors from its autos in 2021 in favor of the brand new “Tesla Imaginative and prescient” method. Various engineers raised objections on the time — only to be overruled by Musk.
Certain, FSD has a extra subtle software program stack, skilled on end-to-end neural networks to incorporate metropolis, freeway, and parking zone driving situations. It’s straightforward to fireside off a publish on X claiming the system would have braked earlier than operating into Rober’s faux wall. However it additionally might have made the identical error. In any case, this is identical firm that knew Autopilot had problem detecting truck trailers crossing the trail of the automobile and did nothing to fix it.
Declare No. 4: there have been a number of takes
Within the authentic video posted on YouTube, Rober engages Autopilot whereas touring at 39mph. However within the “uncooked footage” he posted on X, the system is activated at 42mph — elevating hypothesis that there have been a number of takes and that Rober is heightening the drama for his YouTube viewers.
To which I might say, yeah, no shit. Should you actually suppose a YouTuber with 65 million followers isn’t doing a number of takes in each video earlier than publishing, I’ve some beautiful seaside property to promote you in Ohio.
Declare No. 5: it was sponcon
The prominence of lidar firm Luminar’s emblem all through the video has raised questions on whether or not Rober was paid by the corporate to advertise its expertise. And Luminar has carried out its personal assessments towards Tesla’s autos previously to point out the benefits of the laser sensor over a camera-only system. As famous by Drive Tesla Canada, Luminar even promoted Rober’s video by itself web site earlier than eradicating it.
Within the video’s notes, Rober thanks Luminar for using its lidar-equipped automobile however notes that “no compensation was given, and this isn’t a paid promotion.”
Declare No. 6: the Pixel cellphone within the video was photoshopped
Rober supposedly makes use of a Pixel cellphone to movie among the pictures contained in the autos, however some customers on X word that the “G” on the again of the cellphone is vertical even when the cellphone is in panorama, which has led some to speculate that he’s actually filming with an iPhone. Rober has used Pixel phones in past videos, however there’s no point out of Google as a sponsor of the video.
Yeah, I obtained nothing right here. It appears fairly sloppy. And I’ll word that utilizing Photoshop in a video with out disclosing it to your viewers opens you as much as many legitimate questions on what else you is likely to be manipulating.
Declare No. 7: the outlet within the wall was faux
That’s one Looney Tunes-shaped gap, if I ever noticed one. Should you’re pre-scoring the outlet, it appears clear you’re planning to drive via it. That’s all of us.
