According to reports, Tesla has filed a new high-resolution radar unit with the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and its Office of Engineering and Technology Authorization and Evaluation Divisions.
Even though the registration will allow Tesla to sell automobiles with the units installed in the United States, the documents do not explain how Tesla intends to use the latest radar systems. According to Drive Tesla Canada, they could be included in the unannounced Hardware 4.0 (HW 4.0) package.
However, one must be taken aback because Elon Musk previously indicated that Tesla plans to achieve self-driving using only camera-based vision. “Tesla Vision” technology is based on the idea that the current road system is designed for human drivers who operate cars with their eyes and neural networks. The EV manufacturer claims that by replacing eyes with cameras and the brain with silicon-powered neural networks, it can create a safer system than human drivers.
“The probability of safety will be higher with pure vision than vision+radar, not lower. Vision has become so good that radar actually reduces signal/noise,” Musk said last year after Tesla stopped using its radar.
The CEO did, though, added that “a very high-resolution radar would be better than pure vision, but such a radar does not exist.” I mean, vision with high-resolution radar would be better than pure vision.”
According to Tesla driver and hacker Green, the new radar devices have identical frequency ranges to the Bosch and Continental systems Tesla previously employed. As a result, the devices could be used for imaging in the same way that LiDAR uses a laser beam to map its surroundings.
In response to another tweet, Green noted that high-resolution radar provides the same advantages as radar but with a better resolution. That’s logical. He went on to say that it could have a better frame rate but that this was just speculation for now.
Tesla sparked a stir in 2021 when it removed radar from its newly manufactured vehicles. The freshly manufactured autos rely solely on vision. Perhaps Tesla intends to reintroduce radar into its cars. Some may think this is a smart move, while others may mock it.
However, one thing’s for sure: working with Tesla is always a new learning adventure.