Tesla on Autopilot Rams Wall with Empty Road Image

Autopilot technologies in transport provide plenty of food for inquisitive minds, and popular US blogger and engineer Mark Rober went so far in his experiments that he crashed a Tesla Model Y electric car into a wall that depicted an open road to show the imperfection of the proprietary sensor complex.

Image source: YouTube, Mark Rober

It has long been known that Tesla is actively getting rid of unnecessary, in its opinion, sensors on its electric cars, tirelessly repeating that a person only needs eyes and a brain to assess the road situation. Tesla’s active driver assistance systems currently rely primarily on data received from a set of onboard cameras. More cautious automakers prefer to add at least ultrasonic sensors, and ideally rely on optical radar (lidar) data that recognizes obstacles even in conditions of limited visibility.

Blogger Mark Robert compared the efficiency of autopilot systems equipped with lidar and relying solely on camera images. In the first case, a prototype based on a Lexus crossover was tested, equipped with additional equipment, including lidar. In the second case, the standard on-board system of the Tesla Model Y was compared with it. The latter, as had to be found out after a series of experiments, failed to detect a pedestrian dummy in conditions of heavy fog or rain.

In addition, Elon Musk’s brainchild failed the main test, which required the most serious preparation. The organizers literally blocked the road with a wall made of a destructible frame with “photo wallpaper” across the entire width, which from the driver’s point of view created a reliable illusion of movement on a free road. The on-board cameras of the Tesla Model Y were thus deceived, so the car rammed the wall at full speed without noticing the trick. The prototype with a lidar stopped in front of such an “invisible wall”, since it identified it as an obstacle.