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from the If-only-you-could-see-what-I’ve-seen-with-your-eyes dept.
Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:
It's never good when a giant of the technology business describes your product as "a fool's errand".
But that's how Tesla's chief executive Elon Musk branded the laser scanning system Lidar, which is being touted as the best way for autonomous cars to sense their environment.
In April he said Lidar was "expensive" and "unnecessary". He believes that cameras combined with artificial intelligence will be enough to allow cars to roam the streets without a human driver.
Lidar emits laser beams and measures how long they take to bounce back from objects, and this provides so-called point-clouds to draw 3D maps of the surroundings.
These can be analysed by computers to recognise objects as small as a football or as big as a football field and can measure distances very accurately.
Despite Mr Musk, some argue these $10,000 (£7,750) pieces of kit are going to be essential. "For a car to reach anything close to full autonomy it will need Lidar," says Spardha Taneja of Ptolemus Consulting Group, a mobility consultancy.
But why are experts so divided, and how should investors judge this potential gold mine?
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Monday November 25 2019, @01:22AM (5 children)
No, I think he was arguing that the thing is a big ugly gun turret with heavy but fragile machinery making a lot of monkey motion inside sitting on your roof, and it is. We have to go solid state with this stuff. The only moving parts should be the wheels.
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Monday November 25 2019, @03:44AM (4 children)
https://www.geospatialworld.net/blogs/mems-based-lidar-to-overcome-conventional-lidar-limitations/ [geospatialworld.net]
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Monday November 25 2019, @04:04AM (3 children)
MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical system) mirrors. And with the lasers, there's still too much activity. But for now, what the hell, if the thing runs for a long time without any problems, go with it. I still prefer more passive, inherently more robust sensors. A "camera" can be set up for any frequency, not just visible light. Put a bunch of them on the vehicle, and the computer can triangulate pretty good
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 2) by edIII on Monday November 25 2019, @09:20PM (2 children)
Pretty good? Would you fly in an autonomous vehicle that had "pretty good" spatial recognition?
The computer has to triangulate through some pretty complex math, but much worse than that, it's through the assumption that the pixels represent an object. I know AI is getting pretty dang good, but there is NO substitute for the accuracy of LIDAR at the moment. There is a very good guess from the cameras, and definitive understanding of location from LIDAR. You can FOOL cameras, but to my knowledge, you can't fool LIDAR.
My point is to never fanboy over one sensor type, but to combine all of the data. That way it can operate with limited function when only LIDAR data is available, and likewise when only camera data is available. Those aren't the only two sensor types either.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Monday November 25 2019, @09:44PM (1 child)
Not a "fanboy" of anything. And a centimeter is 'pretty good'. The only real requirement is that it be solid state. It's perfectly fine to use tiny mirrors if they can hold up, for now. I still prefer that something with no moving parts be developed for the long run.
You can FOOL cameras, but to my knowledge, you can't fool LIDAR.
I think spray paint or mud on the glass works for both. That's why low frequency sensors should also be used alongside. Like I said previously above, just use multiple sensors of various types. With lots of them you can be more fault tolerant, and plenty accurate.
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 2) by kazzie on Tuesday November 26 2019, @05:14AM
So, something like compound eyes? That'l look alright on a Beetle.