FSD Semi Testing
Photos recently surfaced on twitter of a Tesla Semi test vehicle touring around Palo Alto, California with an unexpected bit of equipment bolted to the front end.
EV Content creators at The Kilowatts posted the images on February 16th which showed the Semi prototype vehicle sporting a relatively discrete LiDAR device from XenomatiX.
This is strange for two reasons.
First, Tesla hasn’t said anything about the Semi’s Full Self Driving capabilities since its launch in December 2022 - and while the company has said in the past that all production vehicles would have FSD capability, the Semi had yet to get any sort of treatment aside from the installation of the required hardware - namely the cameras.
Secondly, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has famously been very critical of the use of LiDAR in the past - going so far as to say that any company relying on the popular mapping technology is “doomed”. Tesla has opted instead to go with a visual system as a result.
And if you dig into what LiDAR is, you can see why Elon was so confident about his choice.
LiDAR is “light” or “laser imaging, detection, and ranging.” and originally started its use as a surveying method for weather. Basically, a LiDAR sensor shoots out a laser beam, and then counts the time it takes for that laser to bounce off something and return to the sensor.
This technology has helped us map everything from storm fronts to the surface of the Moon and Mars - it’s a very useful tool, but Elon is convinced it’s a crutch when it comes to vehicle navigation and automation.
Because LiDAR uses a shotgun approach. An array of sensors shoots lasers in as many directions as possible, calculates the return times, and builds a map with that data. That’s not a bad way to go about sensing road conditions - if that was all we had access to.
However camera tech has gotten much better over the last decade, and as we humans use visual cues to drive, it makes more sense - in Tesla’s opinion - to build a visual system that uses those same cues for automation.
This doesn’t solve all of the issues with developing an automated driving system - but it certainly makes more sense. LiDAR can map an area in real time, but driving takes a degree of prediction that’s informed by visual signals like 4-Way stop signs or traffic lights. Given enough time to work out the kinks, Tesla’s camera-based system could be trained to use those signals while LiDAR could never really operate like that.
Okay, so, if Tesla has been so adamant about not using LiDAR, why is there clearly a LiDAR device on this Semi in Palo Alto?
Well, this time we actually have an answer from Tesla itself.
In response to the excited chatting of Tesla fans about the possibility of the company walking back their policy on LiDAR for their big Semi vehicle, the company came forwards with a comment, saying:
“The claim that Tesla may be planning to use LiDAR [...] is fundamentally untrue. We regularly test our own technologies against other sensors to calibrate our camera, sonar and radar system.”
And that makes a tonne of sense.
Just because Tesla doesn’t want to use LiDAR for their vehicles doesn’t mean they’re going to disregard the technology completely. Tesla’s system is designed to be robust in similar ways to LiDAR, so while testing their own hardware, why wouldn’t they measure it against the benchmark set by such a well-tested and widely used tool?
This isn’t even the first time Tesla has fitted a prototype with LiDAR for testing.
This is a tweet from an EV blog called Whole Mars Catalog. Back in August 2022, they posted this image of a Cybertruck prototype fitted with the same - or at least similar - LiDAR setup as the one in the Semi images. People have been snapping shots of Tesla’s with LiDAR tech for years now. The company has been using LiDAR to set a baseline to compare their FSD development to for a while.
The take away from these images of a Semi making laps around Palo Alto with a LiDAR should be that the company is actively testing their automation systems on that vehicle. We knew that was a major goal once they started getting the Semi on the streets - even limited automation would take a huge load off of long-haul truckers. These people spend huge amounts of time in the seat, driving back and forth on the highways and they could really use a hand for that sort of tedious work.
So don’t be fooled when you see a LiDAR setup on a Tesla. They’re not thinking of switching up their FSD hardware - they’re making sure it measures up to the current workhorse of the imaging industry.