Is this really a "We don't need radar anymore" or a "we can't possibly get enough radar components (at the price we want for margins), so we are going to switch earlier then hoped"?
I'm guessing this is a "what could possibly go wrong??"
Looks like Tesla has deleted their old blog post about how great their radar is!
It also mentions how bad image only systems are such as handling reflective surfaces etc.
Even though models S and X will continue to have radar sensors, software development that uses those sensors has probably stopped.
> eight cameras embedded in each car (and 12 ultrasonic sensors)
So presumably emergency braking will still at least use ultrasonics?
Emergency braking requires quite a bit of range, which ultrasonic sensors on these vehicles definitely cannot replace. They can probably see 10 feet in front of themselves at most; any reaction would be way too late.
Subaru has a pretty good lane keep (eg autopilot) functionality that relies on cameras only. So does Volvo.
Who needs radar when you have center mounted monocular vision system ... :(
So pretty much the same as humans. Our depth perception doesn't extend very far, so when we're driving, we're not really relying on our stereo vision.