Tesla Autopilot Fails, Smashes Through A Road Block? New Test Exposes Tesla’s Weakness News24 –

While Tesla’s are famed for their Auto pilot modules their auto pilot’s biggest caveat has been the unavailability of LiDar sensors. There had been previous reports as well about how the controversial use of cameras by the company may put its autopilot system in jeopardy. A similar case has now been reported. A youtuber has been able to showcase the system’s weakness by arranging a test that led to terrifying results. 

Mark Rober the Youtuber wanted to showcase how the system would react and work when compared to that of the LiDar equipped Lexus Rx modified by luminar fare. He arranged a bunch of road hazards to test the vehicle’s capability, these included a child size mannequin placed in the middle of the road as well.

In one of the first tests the Dummy can be seen standing upon the road , the Lexus recognizes the child easily and spots the kid with no problem. But the Tesla fails at recognizing the kid in the middle of the road and drives right through. But the vehicle was able to stop in time when the auto pilot was engaged and the test was done a second time. 

Other tests simulated scenarios where the kid jumped onto the road from behind a parked car and both the vehicles were able to spot brake in time. But the Tesla could not perform so well when in another test the child was obscured by Fog and rain in the next two tests. 

The Final Test

For the final test the road was blocked by a foam brick wall. The wall was painted along one side to look like that of a continuing avenue. The façade was similar to the road that continued beyond it, and both the cars were driven towards the wall to see which one could detect the impediment and stop. 

The Lexus recognized the impediment and stopped in time while the Tesla went right through the wall. The LiDar sensors on the Lexus were easily able to detect an impediment regardless of what the vista might be. But the camera on Tesla recognized the wall as a continuous avenue thanks to its painted façade and went right through it. 

Is Tesla’s Auto Pilot Inferior ?

The situations that were crafted caught the Tesla in a weak zone. A specific limitation to the LiDar less sensor system that works primarily with the help of cameras. The autonomous systems has manual overrides and if such issues ever arise the users would be able top easily bypass the auto suite and take control of the vehicle.