Over the weekend, former NASA engineer and YouTuber Mark Rober printed a video that sought to show the distinction between Tesla’s camera-only Autopilot system and a car outfitted with lidar. He needed to see whether or not the autos would cease routinely earlier than hitting a Wile E. Coyote-style wall that was painted to appear to be a highway.
Spoiler alert: the lidar-equipped car 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 risks posed by Tesla’s driver-assist system. However others accused Rober of faking the video, noting quite a few inconsistencies. Some claimed the video was a secret ploy by Tesla’s enemies to undermine Elon Musk’s mission to superior self-driving vehicles, due to the in depth promotion of Luminar all through the video. I reached out to Rober to see if he needed to deal with any of those claims however haven’t but heard again.
Personally, I take difficulty with the title of Rober’s video, “Are you able to idiot a self-driving automotive.” Neither car within the check was self-driving. Autopilot, which is Tesla’s first-generation driver-assistance characteristic, doesn’t allow a automotive 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 tackle a number of the different points as effectively.
Declare No. 1: Autopilot isn’t on in the course of the check
A lot of the criticism about Rober’s video falls into the bucket of people that suppose he faked the check to make Tesla look unhealthy. They be aware that Autopilot doesn’t seem like engaged in the course of the second when the car smashes via the faux wall, citing pictures of the car’s central show that lack the telltale graphics — blue indicator traces and a rainbow highway — that sign when Autopilot is on.
The noise received so loud that Rober eventually responded by releasing “raw footage” of the test that does certainly present that Autopilot was engaged a couple of seconds earlier than the crash.
Declare No. 2: Autopilot disengages proper earlier than affect
However wait! Eagle-eyed viewers be aware that Autopilot seems to disengage a cut up second earlier than affect. Tesla defenders declare that Rober’s arms on the steering wheel really disengage the system, whereas extra conspiratorially minded folks surprise 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 side of Autopilot has been identified 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 wherein Tesla drivers, whereas utilizing Autopilot, crashed into stationary emergency autos that had been parked on the facet of the highway. In 16 of these crashes, investigators found that Autopilot “aborted car management lower than one second previous to the primary affect.”
Numerous critics assume that is Tesla’s strategy 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 method. However NHTSA didn’t discover any proof that means Tesla’s intentions had been nefarious. And it’s price 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 difficulty with Rober’s use of Autopilot for the check, 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 reveal the distinction between Tesla’s camera-only strategy 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” strategy. Quite a few engineers raised objections on the time — only to be overruled by Musk.
Positive, FSD has a extra subtle software program stack, educated on end-to-end neural networks to incorporate metropolis, freeway, and parking zone driving situations. It’s straightforward to fireplace off a publish on X claiming the system would have braked earlier than operating into Rober’s faux wall. Nevertheless it additionally may have made the identical error. In any case, this is similar firm that knew Autopilot had problem detecting truck trailers crossing the trail of the car and did nothing to repair 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’d say, yeah, no shit. For those who actually suppose a YouTuber with 65 million followers isn’t doing a number of takes in each video earlier than publishing, I’ve some pretty seaside property to promote you in Ohio.
Declare No. 5: it was sponcon
Screenshot: Drive Tesla Canada
The prominence of lidar firm Luminar’s brand all through the video has raised questions on whether or not Rober was paid by the corporate to advertise its know-how. And Luminar has carried out its personal checks towards Tesla’s autos prior to now 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 car 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 a number of the photographs contained in the autos, however some customers on X be aware 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 telephones in previous movies, however there’s no point out of Google as a sponsor of the video.
Yeah, I received nothing right here. It appears fairly sloppy. And I’ll be aware 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 perhaps manipulating.
Declare No. 7: the opening within the wall was faux
That’s one Looney Tunes-shaped gap, if I ever noticed one. For those who’re pre-scoring the opening, it appears clear you’re planning to drive via it. That’s all people.
