Autonomous Cars: Waymo Dismantles Tesla’s Strategy!

In the days leading up to the launch of the Cybercab, Waymo is taking a direct stance against Tesla’s technology, which could lead to a deadlock.

Waymo continues to fuel one of the biggest debates in autonomous driving. On one side, Tesla predominantly relies on cameras and artificial intelligence. On the other, Waymo employs multiple “eyes”: cameras, lidars, and radars. And for Alphabet’s subsidiary, the approximately 200 million miles traveled in fully autonomous driving now allow for a decisive conclusion: cameras alone are not sufficient.

This criticism clearly targets the philosophy advocated for years by Elon Musk. His reasoning is straightforward: since humans drive with their eyes and brains, a car should be able to do the same with cameras and neural networks.

Blind Eyes?

In contrast, Waymo believes that this approach ultimately hits a ceiling. A camera excels at recognizing a traffic light, reading a sign, or identifying an object, but it can be disrupted by darkness, fog, heavy rain, or simply poor visibility. Lidar then provides an extremely precise three-dimensional measure of the environment, while radar measures the speed of objects and remains effective when conditions become challenging.

Moreover, Waymo seeks redundancy. If one sensor underperforms, the others continue to supply the car with information. This principle is deemed essential when there is no driver left to take control.

The opposition goes even further. Waymo continues to use highly detailed HD maps, which are also considered an additional source of information, while Tesla favors a car that can understand its environment in real-time.

Thus, two radically different visions. And with the arrival of large-scale robotaxis, the debate will soon no longer be theoretical: the road will determine who was right.

ALSO READ: Tesla Cybercab: the car that was never designed to be driven

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