Engineer Mark Rober released a two-part video involving a lidar-equipped test vehicle outperforming his Tesla's driver-assist features. The first part features a lidar scan of Disney's Space Mountain, while the second compares the two systems in various challenging scenarios. A significant controversy arose around the perceived unfairness of the tests against Tesla, with critics suggesting Rober's motives were questionable. His experiment critiques Tesla's preference for cost-saving camera systems over lidar, echoing Elon Musk's earlier dismissal of the latter. The video reflects a notable shift in the YouTube landscape regarding the reputations of Tesla and Musk.
Rober's Tesla does not come out ahead. It fails to automatically brake in multiple scenarios where the lidar-equipped car succeeds, thwarted by thick smoke, heavy spraying water, and a fake road superimposed on a foam wall.
The video is clearly intended as a criticism of Tesla's choice to move away from technologies like lidar— a 'fool's errand,' according to Elon Musk—in favor of cheaper but less reliable camera-based systems.
It was also immediately controversial, with critics arguing that the tests were unfairly stacked against Tesla and suggesting that Rober had rigged the result to make the company look bad.
For years, overlapping clusters of Tesla and Musk's reputation were built on platforms like YouTube, but Rober's experiment marks a significant shift.
Collection
[
|
...
]