New Tesla Model S Has 2nd Triple Cam For Autopilot & Pedestrian Noise Unit

[ZachShahan]

Yes, it seems obvious to me: your source either stole the schematics or they violated their Tesla employment contract.

Your desire for a "scoop" is misplaced. Tesla will tell us soon enough if there are AP hardware changes.

Hmm, sorry, do you see it as harmful in some way? This happens quite frequently, esp in the auto world. I've not acted on stories that I thought were harmful, but didn't see this as such. Perhaps I'm missing something...?

Edit: This is about cars already being produced, so it's not something that would harm sales. Again, unless I'm missing something.

 

[David99]

Have there been any studies that have proven with any level of validity that quieter EV's are more dangerous? This seems like a solution to a theoretical problem that likely doesn't really exist? I'm also not sure how much quieter an EV is. It seems there are numerous ICE that you can't hear the engine running.

The primary instance I can think of is someone who is blind but those that I know are quite cautious to always use safe crossings where drivers are highly likely to be aware of them. One that I talked to said that in the city she can't go by sound at all because there are so many sounds that any sound from a car simply blends in.

It is the law. There was a long thread about here, but I can't find it right now. Existing cars don't need to be retrofitted but going forward EV have to make some sound up to 18 mph. I remember reading the proposal of the law and they did make a point about accidents supposedly caused by lack of hearing the vehicle. Personally I think it's BS. The only situations where I see people walk into the street without looking (just depending on their ears) is in parking lots. But those are situations where the driver of a car is 100% expecting to have pedestrians walk randomly and cars pulling out from parking spots.

 

[MorrisonHiker]

It is the law. There was a long thread about here, but I can't find it right now. Existing cars don't need to be retrofitted but going forward EV have to make some sound up to 18 mph. I remember reading the proposal of the law and they did make a point about accidents supposedly caused by lack of hearing the vehicle. Personally I think it's BS. The only situations where I see people walk into the street without looking (just depending on their ears) is in parking lots. But those are situations where the driver of a car is 100% expecting to have pedestrians walk randomly and cars pulling out from parking spots.

Actually, it's not the law yet. It was supposed to be required in 2018 but has been delayed once again.
U.S. delays 'quiet car' rules for hybrids, electric cars
Noise Requirement For Electric Cars Delayed Again

I hope they come up with something else as well. It would be nice if electric cars had a manually operated noise maker of some sort to alert pedestrians but I think it should be activated like a horn. I believe the Chevy Volt has a noise making device such as this which allows the driver to alert the pedestrian without scaring them to death by honking the regular horn at them.

 

[Edmond]

As MobilEye already has pedestrian detection, I think it's a cinch that the cowbells will only ring when it thinks it see a ped.

I gotta say though, their cameras are pretty sorry, if these are the current ones. Full resolution 752 x 480 @60fps. (26.6 Mp/s) That is certainly what's in our cars.

 

[wdolson]

Sorry, I thought it was clear from my article: it comes from a full schematics PDF of the 2016 Model S (just updated). I obviously didn't want to post the full schematics, or even the screenshots (but those were posted in the comments of the article), but looked at the full PDFs and also 2015's.

Guess I just assumed that was clear.

I was going to speculate that this might be schematics from a long range project that isn't in production yet, but if you saw the entire schematic and they are there, that's pretty convincing.

There is someone in the Model S delivery thread who got fast tracked because he's terminally ill. It's a sad story and he definitely deserves to be first in line, but he's probably going to get the first refreshed Model S 90D. I told him a lot of people in the forum will want to know details when he gets it.

 

[tanner]

Haha, what else is Tesla going to call it if Tesla isn't ready to make the announcement publicly?

And as someone said here, Autopilot 1.0 hardware was in place long before the software was ready for consumer use.

True, but in the past they've just confirmed certain things... Like the design refresh, 75kWh, etc

 

[zambono]

I'd rather not go into specifics of the person who supplied them (for obvious reasons). Sorry if that doesn't help much, but if the source wants to remain anonymous, I take that pretty seriously.

Similarly, if Tesla asked me to remove them, I would do so. And they haven't asked.

And if it was a matter that I thought would have a harmful effect and didn't warrant sharing, I wouldn't have.

Hope that helps to some degree.

Edit: Regarding not making certain details of reviewing the schematics explicit in the article, we have a large community of readers who I think know me well enough to know that I'm not going to run a story without some verification and trust in its veracity. I'm very clear when things are sketchy. Naturally, I was thinking about our regular readers when writing the article, and tried to make it fun and cut to the chase rather than write it like a lawyer. In retrospect, given the potential for broader attention, I could have been more explicit, but in the end you're either taking my word for it or not, so I don't know how much of a difference that would make for non-regulars. (Ramble over )

Tesla is too smart to ask you to remove something when its clearly out already. Once its out its out, plus them asking to remove it basically confirms the rumor.

 

[Cosmacelf]

I have little doubt that the triple forward camera setup will be in a future Model S (and X and 3), since that is what the future Mobileye architecture is. However I didn't think it would happen very soon since the required Mobileye chipset isn't shipping in volume yet. Or at least I don't think it is. I suppose in theory, Tesla could outfit current cars with three vid cameras and associated wiring, and then have a replaceable control board for when the Mobileye hardware becomes available. But I highly doubt that.

So the real question, if you want to confirm when this triple video sensor suite will be available, is when is Mobileye shipping their next generation chipset in quantity? And as I said, I don't think that is anytime very soon. So this schematic could very well be for what Tesla is going to do in the future when the chipsets are available.

 

[Saghost]

So the real question, if you want to confirm when this triple video sensor suite will be available, is when is Mobileye shipping their next generation chipset in quantity? And as I said, I don't think that is anytime very soon. So this schematic could very well be for what Tesla is going to do in the future when the chipsets are available.

The other real question is whether Tesla will make upgrades available. This seems like it is only changing the AP ECM and camera modules, so it seems like it could be doable - actually, they might even be prewired for it, depending on how much they've known about the architecture for how long. Or they might not offer any upgrades.

 

[ZachShahan]

I was going to speculate that this might be schematics from a long range project that isn't in production yet, but if you saw the entire schematic and they are there, that's pretty convincing.

There is someone in the Model S delivery thread who got fast tracked because he's terminally ill. It's a sad story and he definitely deserves to be first in line, but he's probably going to get the first refreshed Model S 90D. I told him a lot of people in the forum will want to know details when he gets it.

Oh my, that's really sad.

...

 

[ZachShahan]

Tesla is too smart to ask you to remove something when its clearly out already. Once its out its out, plus them asking to remove it basically confirms the rumor.

They asked us once to fix some mistakes that were originally made by a German outlet. I'd think that they'd ask it removed if *not* correct.

But yes, you make some good points. Hard to know for sure what the approach would/should be.

 

[EarlyAdopter]

That diagram seems like it would just be something from the Tesla technical repair manual, available to any resident of Massachusetts who wants to pay for access to that site. No reason to think it had to be inside information leaked, right?

 

[Canuck]

My theory is that this is a deliberate leak by Tesla of which ZachShanan (thank you, by the way) may not even know -- and they may have set it up so it doesn't look like an intentional leak to him (so denying it doesn't change my theory).

This makes sense after the AP 1.0 release fiasco, and the many unhappy customers, and the long Tesla bashing threads about it here. Along with this leak, and to mitigate matters further by Tesla, I think we won't see this in vehicles for a few months at least. The hardcore fans who come here will postpone, or delay ordering, of course, but that's good for Tesla because those will be the number one complainers. So this is a great plan since it won't affect the vast majority of people looking to order who will still get the vintage AP. Good thinking Tesla!

Tesla runs too tight of a ship for this to be a genuine leak, and that's aside from the fact that tracking leaks is relatively easy and the penalties are too great, for someone to risk this leak with no apparent gain. That's my theory -- or guess -- anyway.

That diagram seems like it would just be something from the Tesla technical repair manual, available to any resident of Massachusetts who wants to pay for access to that site. No reason to think it had to be inside information leaked, right?

Who needs to repair something that is not yet in production?

 

[ZachShahan]

My theory is that this is a deliberate leak by Tesla of which ZachShanan (thank you, by the way) may not even know -- and they may have set it up so it doesn't look like an intentional leak to him (so denying it doesn't change my theory).

This makes sense after the AP 1.0 release fiasco, and the many unhappy customers, and the long Tesla bashing threads about it here. Along with this leak, and to mitigate matters further by Tesla, I think we won't see this in vehicles for a few months at least. The hardcore fans who come here will postpone, or delay ordering, of course, but that's good for Tesla because those will be the number one complainers. So this is a great plan since it won't affect the vast majority of people looking to order who will still get the vintage AP. Good thinking Tesla!

Tesla runs too tight of a ship for this to be a genuine leak, and that's aside from the fact that tracking leaks is relatively easy and the penalties are too great, for someone to risk this leak with no apparent gain. That's my theory -- or guess -- anyway.

That's quite an interesting theory. I honestly don't know if it is correct or not (but that's the point, eh?).

The car industry is known to do this so much, and we haven't known Tesla to, but there could be benefits. And I really don't see any downsides (for Tesla), which is why I felt fine posting it (unlike in some other scenarios).

 

[Canuck]

That's quite an interesting theory. I honestly don't know if it is correct or not (but that's the point, eh?).

It's not the point but I am in the process of arranging a polygraph for you take, just to narrow the issues a bit...

 

[ZachShahan]

It's not the point but I am in the process of arranging a polygraph for you take, just to narrow the issues a bit...

lol gave me a big genuine smile.

and honestly, i guess i am so used to how people judge me who know me in person, it didn't even cross my mind that people wouldn't believe me / think i was being honest. have to remember the interworlds are not like the fleshworlds.

 

[electrik]

I was going to speculate that this might be schematics from a long range project that isn't in production yet, but if you saw the entire schematic and they are there, that's pretty convincing.

There is someone in the Model S delivery thread who got fast tracked because he's terminally ill. It's a sad story and he definitely deserves to be first in line, but he's probably going to get the first refreshed Model S 90D. I told him a lot of people in the forum will want to know details when he gets it.

That would be me

I'll definitely look for as much as I can. I assume if the cameras have been updated it will be pretty obvious on the windshield. And I'll check out the battery pack.

 

[ZachShahan]

That would be me

I'll definitely look for as much as I can. I assume if the cameras have been updated it will be pretty obvious on the windshield. And I'll check out the battery pack.

Good that you have a positive approach to it all -- the other side of the coin with birth is always the same. Wishing you the absolute best.

And thanks for sharing

 

[Canuck]

That would be me

I'll definitely look for as much as I can. I assume if the cameras have been updated it will be pretty obvious on the windshield. And I'll check out the battery pack.

Your positive attitude is an inspiration to us all. I too wish you all the best.

 

[EarlyAdopter]

Who needs to repair something that is not yet in production?

Documentation gets released ahead of product from time to time. It happens. Keeping both release dates synchronized is hard. I don't think I've worked at a tech company where this didn't happen at least once.

And of course, you think "Whoops - that wasn't supposed to go out yet. Well, no big deal - I'm sure no one will notice before the launch."

They always notice.