Above the rearview mirror in the Tesla Model 3, there is a camera as we all know. Previously, Elon said that after achieving Robotaxi, this camera will be used to monitor the inside of the car and record the situation inside the car when the vehicle is automatically performing tasks, in order to prevent disputes.
Earlier this year, the well-known Tesla hacker, Green, discovered that Tesla had activated this camera. Recently, Green found from the backend code that Tesla seems to be using this camera for driver monitoring related functions.
The monitored content includes whether the driver is sleeping, the direction of the eyes, the direction of the head, and whether the driver is using a phone, etc.
At present, after Tesla enables assisted driving, the driver monitoring method is steering wheel torque sensing. Many people have criticized this because if the force is too small, the vehicle cannot sense the presence of the driver, and if the force is too large, the assisted driving will directly quit. Therefore, torque sensing is not a very good monitoring method, especially for friends who use assisted driving for the first time. This is not a painless monitoring method.
Currently, another driver monitoring method on the market is to rely on a camera to monitor the driver’s face to determine if the driver is distracted.
Compared with other systems that rely on cameras to monitor the driver’s face to determine if the driver is distracted, Tesla’s in-car camera lacks an infrared fill light system. That is to say, once the driver wears sunglasses, the system may not be able to function properly.
However, we have to admire the strong hardware squeezing ability of Tesla. It is really an imposing manner that the hardware can be reused several times without duplication.
PS. Friends who have poor grasp of the torque required for Tesla’s steering wheel torque sensor can also eliminate alarm reminders by turning the scroll wheel of the steering wheel when the system prompts to take control.
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.