Waymo defends laser sensors after Elon Musk drags them

Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s recent strongly worded thoughts on LiDAR laser sensors, which bring 3D imaging to a self-driving car’s computer, are still reverberating throughout the autonomous vehicle community. Waymo’s head engineers and scientists are now defending its sensor choices for the company’s self-driving taxi service.

At a Waymo event during the Google I/O developer conference at headquarters in Mountain View, California, the Alphabet-owned company’s CTO Dmitri Dolgov and other engineering leaders all but shook their heads when Musk’s recent comments about autonomous vehicles came up on Wednesday.

Musk has disparaged LiDAR sensors in favor of a camera- and radar-based sensor system for his electric vehicles, which he claims can transform into a fleet of 1 million robo-taxis by next year. He called  LiDAR “lame” and unnecessarily expensive.

While getting into Waymo’s self-driving taxi service, Waymo One, which launched in December in self-driving Chrysler Pacifica minivans, Dolgov was asked by a reporter about Musk’s ambitious goals to have fully self-driving vehicles up and running by the end of next year wherever Tesla owners have cars. Dolgov retorted: “You should probably ask Elon.” 

Waymo, for their part, have been testing in 25 different U.S. cities, but the company’s not ready to give any concrete timelines on expanding its ride service beyond Phoenix. In Phoenix only about 1,000 riders have used the vehicles, and safety operators are still in the front seat. A partnership with ride-hailing app Lyft in the coming months will expand the service in the Phoenix area.

As to the sensors, Dolgov said cameras, radar, and LiDAR systems “complement each other” and that Waymo takes the best of each. The price is dropping and will continue to do so as it becomes more widespread, he explained.

Drago Anguelov, head of research, said LiDAR gives “much richer data that’s much more accurate.” Plus it’s safer, he argued. While Musk is a big believer in the power of cameras, Anguelov said, “just using cameras is more limiting.”

Satish Jeyachandran, head of hardware, immediately spoke up to say that “every sensor is important to create capable and safe self-driving cars.” Waymo has developed its own hardware, including LiDAR sensors that they sell to companies in other industries, like robotics, agriculture, security. Jeyachandran said the company’s are hailed for the improved field of view they provide. 

In contrast to Musk calling out one of the different sensing tools, Jeyachandran said that “when it comes to self-driving, the whole suite is more important than individual inputs.”

Waymo thinks LiDAR is anything but lame.