The Need for Radar and Visual Cameras for Autonomous Driving

 

The promise of fully autonomous driving, glimpsed by the emergence of Tesla, may have hit a speed bump.

The FCC granted approval for Tesla to use a new radar in its vehicles. And Tesla recently filed for an extension to this confidential treatment. But didn’t Tesla remove radar on some of its cars in favor of ultrasonic sensors earlier this year? That change, known as Tesla Vision, removed radar on the 3 and Y models. The new radar device will hit the market mid-January to provide an additional level of passenger safety.

The moves call into question Tesla’s approach to autonomous driving and the current need for radar and visual cameras for safe self-driving until technology advancements catch up with Tesla’s long-term strategy.

Chuck Gershman, Co-Founder & CEO at Owl Autonomous Imaging, wonders what the right approach to is keep forward momentum on autonomous driving.

Chuck’s Thoughts

“Hi, this is Chuck Gershman, co-founder and CEO at Owl Autonomous Imaging Previous. Previously, we endorsed Tesla adding radar sensors as a compliment to their vision only camera sensor suite for safe vehicle operation. However, at the time I did mention that we do not believe that radar and visual cameras are the final step.

So, the question has now been raised with Tesla oscillating on their sensor hardware plans, what type of sensors are truly required to ensure safe hands-free Adas operation and beyond? A little background, simply matching the level of safety of today’s driving public is not a reasonable goal. Robotic safety systems must be dramatically better than humans.

To put this in perspective, annually, 1.3 million people are killed in automobile accidents with more than half of the fatalities being persons not in the vehicle. Moreover, when it comes to nighttime operation, we humans really degrade. Of the approximately 700,000 pedestrians and cyclists killed each year, 76% of them are killed at night.

To be safer than humans, sensors must deliver robust operation under a very broad set of environmental operating conditions. With the true challenge of ensuring that no object of interest or vulnerable road user goes unidentified under all driving conditions.

Sensors in an instant must be able to answer the following questions:

Is there something out there? What is it? Where is it? Where’s it going?

Furthermore, the system must be modality redundant. No one’s sensor modality may be relied on to answer any one of these questions alone. Up until recently, three modalities were considered sufficient, that being the fusion of vision cameras, which provide rich detail and color radar, which provides the ability to detect and locate objects under all environmental conditions and lidar, which provides more detail than radar and adds very accurate range.

Those in the know and we at Owl concur that an additional camera modality is required known as 3D thermal imaging. This camera modality delivers passive rich detail both at night and day with operation under degraded visual environments, thereby dramatically supplementing visual cameras.

It also delivers location and range information, thereby supplementing LIDAR and IMP and improving radar fusion. So, in summary, the fusion of visual cameras, lidar, radar, and 3D thermal cameras are the required sensor suite to save lives.”

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Image

Latest

Advancing Global Competency Frameworks for the Nursing Profession - Live from ICN
Advancing Global Competency Frameworks for the Nursing Profession – Live from ICN
June 13, 2025

In this special episode recorded at the 2025 International Council of Nurses Congress in Helsinki, host Lea Sims sits down with Professor Sylvia Fung, President of the Hong Kong Academy of Nursing & Midwifery, and Professor Ying Zhou of Guangzhou Huashang College. Together, they discuss how the nursing profession is evolving in Asia and the…

Read More
grain storage
Revolutionizing Grain Storage: A Peek into MKC and Producer Ag’s Innovative Facilities
June 12, 2025

Embrace the future of grain storage as Jon Brown, Director of Facilities for MKC Properties and Producer Ag, guides you through their state-of-the-art, automation-driven facilities. Discover how they truly set industry standards for efficiency in loading, unloading, and handling grain. What You’ll Learn — The Evolution of MKC and Producer Ag’s Grain Facilities —…

Read More
Advancing Rehabilitative Care Through Global Practice Standards and Credentialing | Andrea Christie and Karlene Miller | EP#2 - Live from ICN
Advancing Rehabilitative Care Through Global Practice Standards and Credentialing – Live from ICN
June 12, 2025

Broadcasting from the 2025 International Council of Nurses Congress in Helsinki, host Lea Sims welcomes two inspiring Jamaican nurses—Andrea Christie, MSc, BSN, ENLAC, RM, RN, JP, and Karlene Miller, RN—to discuss the vital but often overlooked specialty of rehabilitative nursing. With decades of combined experience in rehabilitation and midwifery, both guests offer an impassioned…

Read More
career resilience
Asking Questions Works: Career Resilience, Mentorship, and Real Growth in Real Estate and Beyond
June 11, 2025

In this inspiring episode of PQ: Conversations That Build Equity, host Jason Winningham sits down with Rosanna Hudson—affectionately known as “RoRo”—to explore how career resilience fuels the development of professional equity through trust, adaptability, and the courage to ask better questions. Rosanna is a seasoned real estate broker licensed in both Texas and California,…

Read More