On self-driving, Waymo is playing chess while Tesla plays checkers

So the article repeats, several times, “waymo relies on remote operators”. I don’t think the author knows what “self-driving” means.

Elon ripped out the LiDAR, I don’t have any faith at all in Tesla’s FSD.

Yeah Waymo has been silently ticking away over here for years. On the east side they are all over the place. It will take longer to get to freeway speeds but I think Waymo's approach is far safer. But fuck Google too

Google En Passat

I used to be so excited for self driving cars, but my naive younger self assumed they'd actually make sure they're safe before putting them on public roads.

I was wrong.

They both suck and Waymo's has a whole ass sensor thingie on the roof. So it's insane that Tesla's is even legal given that they rely entirely on cameras and fate.

And Cruise is playing bumper cars

Waymo is literally being investigated for self-driving incidents lol... They've also only been able to operate in a small area. I wouldn't really call that chess.

I’m starting to get the feeling that “X is playing chess while Y is playing checkers” is an indicator species for a terrible take.

Am I remembering correctly that Tesla removed sensors for self driving?

Chess is a very complex rules game, while Checkers is quite simple. Waymo has a complex approach to self driving:

• Expensive suite of sensors
• High resolution maps of operating areas
• Remote operators standing by

While Teslas approach is simple:

• Capture a bazillion miles of camera footage, feed into AI, profit?
• Unpaid volunteers teach the AI safe driving
• Car has only a basic map for routing, the rest is inferred in real time from cameras

Waymo’s successful approach scales linearly. They have to high-res map every city they want to operate in, and they can gradually bring down the cost of the sensors. They will require fewer remote operator interactions over time.

Teslas success is more difficult, but it scales exponentially. They already produce vehicles at scale and full control over all the equipment on board. The existing fleet would be able to participate as well. If they succeed, they may want to offer buy-backs for customers who didnt buy FSD - the cars would be worth more to Tesla than the owner.

In both checkers and chess, the player gains super powers for reaching the other side of the board. Time will tell who reaches the other side of the board first. They are playing different games on the same board. Okay that’s fair.

This is a fascinating comparison between Waymo and Tesla's approaches to autonomous driving. Waymo's methodical and comprehensive strategy, akin to playing chess, emphasizes safety and thorough testing, which is crucial for public trust in self-driving technology. On the other hand, Tesla's more aggressive, iterative approach—playing checkers—allows for rapid deployment and data collection but raises questions about safety and regulatory compliance. Both strategies have their merits, but in the end, the one that ensures both innovation and safety will likely lead the industry. It'll be interesting to see how these contrasting philosophies play out in the long run.

And still Mercedes is the car company with the highest autonomy level of any car manufacturer. And no one talks about that.

I just watched a video of one of these going down the wrong side of the road yesterday

We should abandon self driving cars and instead make the roads more safe and provide multi modal transportation options like trains.

But who's playing Clue?

I still want to see someone slap an airplane grade INS suite into a car and load it up with some maps to see how far it can go without relying on GPS lol.

Not that it would functionally change much, but I find it annoying only self driving cars are still using dedicated navigation setups.

Google Maps has an aneurysm if you're not going above 5mph even though the accelerometer really should have made this a non problem. Its even more dumb to be using your tiny phone receiver for vehicle navigation. GMaps still has to wait until you're past a spot before finally deciding where you actually are.

Both are risking the lives and safety of the non-consenting public as they beta test 2-ton vehicles on public streets. Damn them both.

OK but put it into cars for sale. Ain't worth shit if I can't buy it

And in the news this just in.... Tesla runs over checkered flag and flagman at Daytona. Shortly after, it burst into flames. As it burned it was discovered that the car's emblems melted into the shape of Toyota emblems....

It really is an insult for checkers as a game. It is a common misconception that it's simple. The game has surprising amount of depth, and the saying "x is playing chess while y is playing checkers" should really die.

X is playing chess while Y is playing tictactoe would be a better analogy.

Comparing Tesla with Waymo is stupid. They are doing fundamentally different things, and people like this author don't realize that. Waymo's technology, like a few self-driving products from Ford or GM, rely on having a centimeter level 3D scan of the road ahead of time. This allows a crap ton of pre-processing so fewer decisions need to be made in the car. It's a developmental shortcut, but it also means their cars will only work on roads that have been scanned and processed and approved ahead of time. Tesla's system doesn't pre scan roads. It makes all the decisions on the fly based solely on what the car is seeing as it drives. That means that it can theoretically work on any road, in any situation, without advance preparation.

Tesla's approach tackles a MUCH harder problem. And that must be considered when comparing the two technologies.

Otherwise it's like looking at two people at the gym, William lifts 25lb weights and can now lift them 10 times, Tom lifts 250 lb weights and can now lift them 9 times, and saying that William is in better shape than Tom because he can do more reps. No, Tom is in better shape because he is lifting a lot more weight. Even though he can't lift it as many times, he's doing a lot more work in his workout.