this post was submitted on 16 Mar 2025
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Mark Rober just set up one of the most interesting self-driving tests of 2025, and he did it by imitating Looney Tunes. The former NASA engineer and current YouTube mad scientist recreated the classic gag where Wile E. Coyote paints a tunnel onto a wall to fool the Road Runner.

Only this time, the test subject wasn’t a cartoon bird… it was a self-driving Tesla Model Y.

The result? A full-speed, 40 MPH impact straight into the wall. Watch the video and tell us what you think!

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[–] EaterOfLentils@lemmy.world 7 points 42 minutes ago

Apparently they keep getting tickets in China because they didn't bother to adjust the settings to accommodate Chinese roads and traffic laws. Result is Tesla is getting utterly crushed by BYD in their one major market that doesn't care about Elon's antics.

[–] kameecoding@lemmy.world 38 points 1 hour ago (3 children)

This is why it's fucking stupid Tesla removed Lidar sensors and relies on cameras only.

But also who would want a tesla, fuck em

[–] bitchkat@lemmy.world 8 points 47 minutes ago

They never had lidarr. They used to have radar and uss but they decided "vision" was good enough. This conveniently occurred when they had supply chain issues during covid.

[–] AreaKode@lemmy.world 8 points 1 hour ago

I was horrified when I learned that the autopilot relies entirely on cameras. Nope, nope, nope.

They also removed radar, which is what allowed them to make all of those “it saw something three vehicles ahead and braked to avoid a pileup that hadn’t even started yet” videos. Removing radar was the single most impactful change Tesla made in regards to FSD, and it’s all because Musk basically decided “people drive fine with just their eyes, so cars should too.”

[–] Jyek@sh.itjust.works 1 points 16 minutes ago

Is this video being suppressed by the YouTube algorithm? I wonder if it's because of Tesla or Disney. Or maybe it's because of simulated child harm?

[–] mennorobert@lemmy.world 13 points 1 hour ago

There's a very simple solution to this. BUILD MORE TRAINS!

[–] fubarx@lemmy.world 22 points 2 hours ago (2 children)

There's a very simple solution to autonomous driving vehicles plowing into walls, cars, or people:

Congress will pass a law that makes NOBODY liable -- as long as a human wasn't involved in the decision making process during the incident.

This will be backed by car makers, software providers, and insurance companies, who will lobby hard for it. After all, no SINGLE person or company made the decision to swerve into oncoming traffic. Surely they can't be held liable. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Once that happens, Level 4 driving will come standard and likely be the default mode on most cars. Best of luck everyone else!

[–] Glent@lemmy.ca 9 points 1 hour ago

These same laws will be grandfathered in for ai. This way your health insurance companies computer can murder you by denying care and nobody can be held civilly or criminally liable.

[–] explodicle@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

You can't sue me for my driverless car that drops caltrops, forcing everyone else to take the train.

[–] thatradomguy@lemmy.world 47 points 4 hours ago (1 children)
[–] amon@lemmy.world 24 points 4 hours ago (3 children)

I wish all MAGAs a very DEI

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[–] Billybob22@feddit.uk -5 points 34 minutes ago (2 children)

Don't want to rock the boat but apart from being a you tube money earner this doesn't prove or disprove anything. A lot of humans would be fooled by this also.

I am suspicious of the way the polystyrene wall broke in cartoon like shagged edges, almost like they were precut.

[–] Subverb@lemmy.world 7 points 20 minutes ago

The point of the test is to demonstrate that vision-only, which Tesla has adopted is inadequate. A car with lidar or radar would have been able to "see" that the car was approaching an obstacle without being fooled by the imagary.

So yes, it seems a bit silly, but the underlying point is legitimate. If the software is fooled by this, then can you ever fully trust it? Especially when sensor systems exist that don't have this problem at all. Would you want to be a pedestrian in a crosswalk with this car bearing down on you in FSD?

[–] NOPper@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 29 minutes ago (2 children)

What would the wall being precut have to do with the car deciding to drive through it?

[–] Billybob22@feddit.uk 1 points 1 minute ago

Nothing much is real anymore on YT

[–] Billybob22@feddit.uk 1 points 6 minutes ago

Yes but the main point that has been shown is that putting a screen up with the exact copy of the road and surroundings behind the screen is a daft and dangerous idea. It would be a better test if they had put up a polystyrene tree in the middle of the road and then checked if the car stopped.

I have never driven through a polystyrene wall with a picture of a road on it in 40 years because people just don't put those things up, they don't grow on roads etc etc.

Great YT clip for entertainment though.

[–] Teal@lemm.ee 8 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

Beep beep! Damn things are using ACME LiDAR!

[–] thann@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

Actually elon demanded that lidar be depricated because of phantom breaking years ago, they only use visible spectrum cameras now

[–] superkret@feddit.org 8 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

It wasn't because of phantom braking.
It was to cut costs.

[–] bitchkat@lemmy.world 3 points 45 minutes ago

It was because covid interrupted supply chains. Same reason they removed lumbar support from passenger seats.

[–] Rentlar@lemmy.ca 12 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

Mark Rober's video of the six tests (the remaining section is about mapping Space Mountain as Mark wanted to do since he was a kid)

The wall looking like a road test

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[–] rc__buggy@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 hours ago

Well, I guess we know how to defeat Teslas.

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