Tesla Autopilot crash test against wall painted to look like a road

Mark Rober, a former NASA engineer and long-time YouTuber, has tested a Tesla's Autopilot visual imaging detection system against Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), which many other vehicle manufacturers use to detect their surroundings.

The goal of the tests was to demonstrate the strengths/weaknesses of both detection systems, with Tesla being criticized for using visual data-only Autopilot as specific physical obscurifications can result in the system failing to detect a potential danger, resulting in the correct time to break being missed. On the other hand, LiDAR has been criticized by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who has said it's "fricking stupid, expensive and unnecessary," despite its ability to see through physical tests such as fog or heavy rain.

Rober tested various environments on both detection systems and found both the Autopilot system and the LiDAR system stopped the vehicle for a motionless child mannequin in the middle of the road. Both systems also passed the "child running out onto the road test." However, the systems differentiated when the child mannequin was engulfed in fog, as the LiDAR system was able to detect the mannequin through the fog, while Autopilot wasn't. The Tesla failed this test and slammed directly through the mannequin.

The next test was a simulation of heavy rainfall where water trucks sprayed large quantities of water around the child mannequin. Both detection systems didn't show the mannequin on the screen, but only the LiDAR stopped right before hitting the child. The Tesla failed this test as well. The fourth test was the light test to simulate a truck with extremely bright lights shooting at the car. Both detection systems passed this test.

The last test was a foam wall painted to look like the road ahead of it. This test, along with the others, was to demonstrate the limitations of Tesla's visual data-only detection system, as the wall to the system just looked like a clear road when, in fact, it was a wall made of foam with a child mannequin behind it. As Rober expected, the LiDAR system detected the wall immediately, while the Tesla failed the test and slammed through the foam wall, creating a hole and destroying the mannequin child.

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No rainbow road

Some viewers have pointed out what could be a damning piece of evidence as to why the Tesla failed the wall test. In one of the frames in the video it appears there is no "rainbow road" on the Tesla's display, indicating Rober hadn't turned on Autopilot before the test began. However, in a shot after, we can see the rainbow road, but during the footage of the Tesla slamming into the wall, there isn't a rainbow road present.

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Rainbow road

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No rainbow road

Critics of the video have claimed Rober has mischievously edited the video and performed an illegitimate test to make Tesla's camera system look bad to support LiDAR systems, which some claim is an undisclosed advertiser.