Tesla has started to leverage the cabin camera in new Model 3 and Model Y vehicles that are delivering without radar for Autopilot, instead of relying on cameras only for Tesla Vision.
According to Kevin Smith based in Tennessee, who took delivery of a Dual Motor Model Y on Thursday, the vehicle came with software update 2021.4.15.11, which now has the cabin camera activated.
“The cabin camera above your rearview mirror can detect and alert driver inattentiveness while Autopilot is engaged. Camera data does not leave the car itself which means the system cannot save or transmit information unless data sharing is enabled,” reads the update.
Delivery was super smooth. Summon and lane departure avoidance disabled for now, increased follow distance, hard cap at 75, requires auto brights or kicks out of AP, cabin camera for driver monitoring.. nothing unexpected yet. pic.twitter.com/gKIkHSGNI7
— Kevin Smith (@spleck) May 27, 2021
According to Smith, “Delivery was super smooth. Summon and lane departure avoidance disabled for now, increased follow distance, hard cap at 75, requires auto brights or kicks out of AP, cabin camera for driver monitoring.. nothing unexpected yet.”
As expected, Emergency Lane Departure Avoidance is greyed out and cannot be used. Tesla says it will “be enabled in a future software release”, due to the transition to Tesla Vision. Blind Spot Collision Warning Chime, Automatic Emergency Braking and Obstacle-Aware Acceleration is available.
Under Autopilot, Autosteer, Navigate on Autopilot, Traffic Light and Stop Sign Control, Green Traffic Light Chime and Full Self-Driving Visualization Preview is available, but Summon is not, as it too will be enabled in a future software update.
Back in April, we saw what the cabin camera within the Tesla Model 3 and Model Y can see in colour.
According to Tesla hacker @greentheonly, the user expects Tesla to roll out the cabin camera for all Model 3 and Model Y owners at some point.
The release note is for firmware that appeared on such cars for now. The actual detections have been happening for months (but not necessarily fed anywhere).
I fully expect a wide release incorporating this for all model 3/y cars soon.
— green (@greentheonly) May 27, 2021
Lately, Tesla’s Autopilot has been under scrutiny as some drivers ignored explicit rules to maintain control of steering wheels when using the driver assistance feature.
Update: As for how this version of Autopilot without radar works on his Model Y? Smith notes, “yes I felt I could tell the difference in how it was tracking the car in front of me. Felt more aggressive in the tracking, if that makes sense?”.
I was holding off responding to a similar question earlier until I had more time on AP but hit the nail on the head of my feedback, yes I felt I could tell the difference in how it was tracking the car in front of me. Felt more aggressive in the tracking, if that makes sense?
— Kevin Smith (@spleck) May 27, 2021
