Tesla highlighted its Full Self-Driving (Supervised) system’s robustness this week by sharing dashcam footage of a automobile in FSD navigating pitch-black San Francisco streets throughout the metropolis’s widespread energy outage.
Whereas Waymo’s robotaxis stalled and brought about visitors jams, Tesla’s vision-only method saved working seamlessly with out distant intervention. Elon Musk amplified the clip, highlighting the distinction between the 2 techniques.
Tesla FSD handles complete darkness
The @Tesla_AI account posted a video from a Mannequin Y working on FSD throughout San Francisco’s blackout. As may very well be seen within the video, streetlights, visitors alerts, and surrounding illumination had been fully out, however the automobile drove confidently and cautiously, identical to a proficient human driver.
Musk reposted the clip, including context to studies of Waymo automobiles struggling in the identical circumstances. “Tesla Robotaxis had been unaffected by the SF energy outage,” Musk wrote in his put up.
Musk and the Tesla AI staff’s posts spotlight the concept FSD operates lots like every skilled human driver. Because the system doesn’t depend on quite a lot of sensors and a sophisticated symphony of things, automobiles may technically navigate difficult circumstances as they emerge. This positively gave the impression to be the case in San Francisco.
Waymo’s blackout struggles
Waymo confronted scrutiny after a number of self-driving Jaguar I-PACE taxis stopped functioning throughout the blackout, blocking lanes, inflicting visitors jams, and requiring handbook retrieval. Movies shared throughout the energy outage confirmed fleets of Waymo automobiles simply stopping in the course of the street, seemingly confused about what to do when the lights exit.
In a remarkWaymo acknowledged that its automobiles deal with nonfunctional alerts as four-way stops, however “the sheer scale of the outage led to cases the place automobiles remained stationary longer than regular to verify the state of the affected intersections. This contributed to visitors friction throughout the top of the congestion.”
An organization spokesperson additionally shared some ideas in regards to the incidents. “Yesterday’s energy outage was a widespread occasion that brought about gridlock throughout San Francisco, with non-functioning visitors alerts and transit disruptions. Whereas the failure of the utility infrastructure was vital, we’re dedicated to making sure our know-how adjusts to visitors circulate throughout such occasions,” the Waymo spokesperson acknowledged, including that it’s “centered on quickly integrating the teachings discovered from this occasion, and are dedicated to incomes and sustaining the belief of the communities we serve on daily basis.”
