Ford CEO Jim Farley has said he believes that Lidar is “missionary” for any autonomous driving system and that when a brand like Ford explores the technology, it has “to be truly careful” in his approach.
Farley, who spoke at Aspen Ideas Festival last week, was pushed by Elon Musk cinema Walter Isaacson to compare both Teslas and Waymo’s current autonomous driving systems, asking which approach was most sensible.
Farley’s answer was “For us, Waymo”, according to Fortune, as he continued to explain that Waymo had made a “lot of progress” in self -driving.
In STARK contract for Waymo’s approach, which in its current sixth generation sees a package of 13 cameras, 4 Lidar, 6 radar and a number of external audio recipients act as its eyes and ears, Tesla uses a network of only eight cameras to give the vehicles a 360-degree image of surroundings.
Elon Musk has long been a spokesman for a “Camera-Kun” approach to autonomous driving technology, calling Lidar “LAME” during an autonomous day in 2019 and then removed sensors from his cars, instead choosing to refine his camera technology and software in an attempt to streamline the manufacturing process and reduce costs.
“The problem with Waymo’s cars is that it costs more money,” Musk explained during Tesla’s quarterly revenue call in April. “The car is very expensive, made in low volume. Teslas probably costs 25% or 20% of what a Waymo costs and is made in very high volume.”
Although Ford is no longer pursuing his autonomous driving joint venture with Volkswagen (called Argo AI), it has continued to develop its own bluecruise technology that takes cruise control a step further by allowing drivers to remove their hands from the steering wheel when certain driving criteria are met.
Analysis: Better to be safe than sorry
Elon Musk believes that artificial intelligence has improved at such a speed that the need for voluminous and expensive lidar, ultrasound and camera technology is not required for the highest levels of autonomous driving.
But so far, his Robotaxi business has only been seen on public roads with a security operator in the passenger seat, and it is already under investigation for the alleged erratic behavior of some vehicles.
Above all, it still has some way to go before it catches up with Waymo’s operation, which is already fully active in a number of US cities.
Use only eight cameras, unlike the skilled suite, that Waymo is running limits the amount of redundancy systems available.
As Jim Farley points out, “Where the camera will be completely blinded, the Lidar system will see exactly what’s in front of you.”
Building a failed and reliable autonomous driving system is the only way to build public confidence in the technology. Once at that time, companies must then look at ways to improve technology and reduce costs rather than hurry to cut corners.
