I think AI driver give a good summary of some of issues with the Mark Rober showcase of LIDAR.
- Some of the bias Mark Rober friendships with the LIDAR supplier.
- Not using Tesla full self driving
- Being so nervous that he accidentally disables autopilot, twice.
- The one sided view in LIDAR, with not show examples of LIDAR have issues.
- Give a way forward to do the tests with FSD
- Mark Rober not giving the test his full attention, fun vs scientific process
The friendships with LIDAR suppliers aside (always a problem with these kinds of things),
Yup, LIDAR isn’t a silver bullet for every situation to do sensing. But it’s a damn sight better than pure cameras. And Musk would have known this if he was a good engineer. But hes not. Hes a spoiled, rich, apartheid-loving, racist asshole that thinks he’s a good programmer and engineer.
I know sadly that Tesla has lost a lot of respect due to Elon, especially over the last 4 years.
Engineer is in large part about balancing cost vs features. Yes the will be cases where LIDAR is better, but it comes at high cost. Think about it what is break over point the where the 0.1% edge case where LIDAR will do better, justify the cost.
If the test that Mark show to unexpected drivers I think many humans drivers will failed. Like spoting a dark stationary object in fog or heavy rain, is very difficult.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=9KyIWpAevNs