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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[–] MidsizedSedan@lemmy.world 5 points 1 hour ago (3 children)

All these years, I always thought all self driving cars used LiDAR or something to see in 3D/through fog. How was this allowed on the roads for so long?

[–] Ledericas@lemm.ee 2 points 13 minutes ago

tesla uses cameras only, i think waymo uses lidar.

[–] Duamerthrax@lemmy.world 3 points 50 minutes ago
[–] Breadhax0r@lemmy.world 3 points 50 minutes ago (2 children)

I remember reading that tesla only uses cameras for it's self driving. My 2018 Honda uses radar for the adaptive cruise so the technology exists, musk is just an idiot.

[–] NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world 1 points 2 minutes ago

Radar doesn't detect stopped objects at high speed. It'd hit the wall too.

This has to be solved by vision and or lidar.

[–] SkyezOpen@lemmy.world 1 points 13 minutes ago

Does it? My 2023 model throws a shit fit if it's cold and I assume the camera covers are iced over.

[–] Gammelfisch@lemmy.world 6 points 1 hour ago

Yep, I could see someone placing a billboard like that with a cliff behind it.

[–] blady_blah@lemmy.world 26 points 4 hours ago (2 children)

Honestly all the fails with the kid dummy were a way bigger deal than the wall test. The kid ones will happen a hundred times more than the wall scenario.

Some sort of radar or lidar should 100% be required on autonomous cars.

[–] whome@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 30 minutes ago

I think insurances will require that is it comes to self driving at least here in Europe.

[–] Sauerkraut@discuss.tchncs.de 7 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago) (1 children)

I fully agree, but sadly, investors likely care more about their cars hitting walls than hitting kids. Killing a kid or pedestrian in the US is often a very cheap fine. When my uncle was run over on a sidewalk next to his son, the police ruled it an accident and the city refused to do anything. Same thing happened when my friend was ran over in a bike lane.... So killing humans is probably cheaper than hitting a wall.

[–] shawn1122@lemm.ee 2 points 1 hour ago

Interesting that in the most consumerist nation on earth, objects have more value than people.

[–] futatorius@lemm.ee 10 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

Suddenly, there are more Yellow Brick Road murals everywhere.

[–] icecream@lemmy.world 5 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 1 hour ago)

A building owner would not want cars crashing into their property though. Why would they get a mural to intentionally deceive a robot car?

[–] nichtburningturtle@feddit.org 36 points 8 hours ago (1 children)
[–] Gammelfisch@lemmy.world 1 points 1 hour ago

+1...a classic!

[–] vga@sopuli.xyz 15 points 8 hours ago
[–] conicalscientist@lemmy.world 67 points 10 hours ago (2 children)

Anyone with half a brain could tell you plain cameras is a non-starter. This is nearly a Juicero level blunder. Tesla is not a serious car company nor tech company. If markets were rational it would have been the end for Tesla.

[–] futatorius@lemm.ee 8 points 5 hours ago

If markets were rational, CEO compensation would never have grown so high, and there'd be no billionaires either.

[–] LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.dbzer0.com 23 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago) (1 children)

Austin should just pull the permits until all the taxis have lidar installed and tested. Or write a bill that fines the manufacturer $100 billion for any self driving car that kills a person and puts the proceeds 50% to the family and 50% to infrastructure. One of the first rules of robotics was always about not harming humans.

[–] Malfeasant@lemm.ee 6 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago)

One of the first rules of robotics was always about not harming humans.

The first, in fact.

[–] happydoors@lemm.ee 41 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

I love that one of the largest YouTubers is the one that did this. Surely, somebody near our federal government will throw a hissy fit if he hears about this but Mark’s audience is ginormous

[–] buddascrayon@lemmy.world 25 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

Honestly I think Mark should be more scared of Disney coming after him for mapping out their space mountain ride.

[–] PraiseTheSoup@lemm.ee 3 points 2 hours ago

He probably just made Disney admissions and security even more annoying for everyone else.

[–] rational_lib@lemmy.world 49 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago) (8 children)

The rain test was far more concerning because it's much more realistic of a scenario. Both a normal person and the lidar would've seen the kid and stopped, but the cameras and image processing just isn't good enough to make out a person in the rain. That's bad. The test portrays it as a person in the middle of a straight road, but I don't see why the same thing wouldn't happen at a crosswalk or other place where pedestrians are often in the path of a vehicle. If an autonomous system cannot make out pedestrians in the rain reliably, that alone should be enough to prevent these vehicles from being legal.

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[–] ShaggySnacks@lemmy.myserv.one 10 points 9 hours ago

A fitting metaphor for Musky and their involvement with the US government.

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