Will Tesla add a bird's eye view feature to newer vehicles?
@zzapcars
Tesla’s forthcoming hardware 4.0 computer reveals that Tesla will be able to connect up 12 cameras with its new FSD hardware suite, up from the current nine it uses today.
Earlier this week, Tesla owner and hacker Greentheonly leaked information and pictures of Tesla’s anticipated hardware 4.0. Green confirmed some big and subtle improvements to the hardware.
12 Cameras in Hardware 4
The new hardware's main board will accept up to 12 cameras, with one of them labeled as a spare. Tesla currently uses nine cameras in its current hardware and is expected to reduce the front-facing cameras by one. Based on this information and the labels on the camera connectors, it appears that Tesla will include three additional cameras with FSD hardware 4.0.
When Greentheonly revealed these hardware 4 details, Twitter user StayLameBro1 inquired about where the new cameras will be placed around the vehicle. “There are seemingly 3 bumper cameras,” Green responds. “One up front the other two are left and right so in the corners somewhere.”
Green adds that the addition of bumper cameras and HD radar will remove blind spots. This is a big deal alone. Lastly, Green added that these additional cameras could allow Tesla to incorporate a real bird’s eye view into its vehicles, a feature many Tesla owners have been requesting.
There's currently a large blind spot in front of the vehicle
Munro
Bird’s Eye View
Bird's eye view is a feature that many other automakers have had for a while now, including Toyota, Honda, BMW, and Lucid. It allows for drivers to see a top-down view of their vehicle and surroundings, increasing safety and spatial awareness.
Last fall, Tesla announced they’re transitioning their fleet to their own Tesla Vision. The company added that vehicles built in October 2022 and beyond would no longer include ultrasonic sensors (USS). This sent confusion around the Tesla community given the blind spots, but hardware 4 will seemingly address these concerns.
The removal of the USS saves Tesla approximately $114 per vehicle. This is in line with “Project Highland,” a cost-cutting project for the upcoming revamped Model 3.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk told investors that upgrading hardware 3 to hardware 4 is difficult and expensive.
“The cost and difficulty of retrofitting hardware 3 with hardware 4 is quite significant,” Musk said. “So, it would not be, I think, economically feasible to do so.”
After the leak of hardware 4, we now begin to understand Musk's statement. We're not only talking about a new computer with hardware 4, but higher-resolution cameras, additional cameras, possibly a new bumper design and an HD radar unit.
Musk has also reiterated that hardware 3 will be capable of driving safer than a human, however, it's not clear under which constraints that would be, such as specific roads and weather conditions, or whether a human driver would always be required to be attentive.
Update: We have now confirmed that FSD Hardware 4.0 will not include additional cameras in the bumper or elsewhere, which means that the vehicle will still have a blind spot. However, we have been told that the 'bumper' camera connectors on HW4.0 are for future expansion, but will not be used initially.
FSD v12.4 has been in the works for quite a while now, with Elon Musk previously suggesting that it would arrive near the end of May.
Musk has now given us an update on the state of v12.4, saying that FSD v12.4.2 will start rolling out to employees today.
FSD V12.4.2
FSD V12.4 initially launched with V12.4.1 to select customers on build 2024.15.5, bringing the much anticipated no-nag update alongside it. V12.4.1 had some issues according to Tesla’s early access customers who received the update in early June, with lane drifting and lane selection still being issues. On the flipside, V12.4 tends to be more assertive and less hesitant in intersections and parking lots.
Elon also mentioned that FSD 12.4.2 is much smoother, but the challenge is “keeping safety high, while also increasing ride comfort.”
Although v12.4 didn’t come with Banish Autopark and Park Seek, it did include the new vison monitoring that lets the vehicle not nag you under certain conditions.
Expected Release
We just need to confirm there are no safety regressions
-Elon Musk
So, now with the new confirmation that 12.4.2 is going to roll out to internal testers and employees soon, how far away is it for customers? It looks like it may be at least a few days away at the earliest for customers that are on FSD v12.4.1, and probably at least a week away from adding additional owners, assuming that testing goes well with this upcoming build.
When asked if V12.4.2 would come to customers on the July 1st weekend, Musk said “we just need to confirm there are no safety regressions”, which means it could be closer than we expect for ordinary customers.
FSD V12.5
So, with V12.4.2 on the horizon, what in the world is happening with V12.5? And what features will it bring with it?
In terms of features, Elon previously mentioned that V12.5 is supposed to bring Actually Smart Summon, along with fleet-based vehicle communications, and further reduce the likelihood of driver interventions. It’s also supposed to be the first iteration of Autopilot and FSD that the Cybertruck will be receiving.
It was previously supposed to arrive in early July, but that estimate is clearly out of the window given how delayed V12.4 has become. We could honestly expect FSD V12.5 to arrive alongside the 8/8 Robotaxi announcement, which would be fairly fitting.
Today, alongside update 2024.20.6, Tesla has launched its new vision-based Autopark feature to vehicles with and without USS (Ultrasonic Sensors), outside of North America.
Availability
This is the first time that the vision Autopark update has come to countries outside North America, and we have confirmed that it is currently available in European countries including Spain, Germany, France, and Italy, amongst others.
It could also be available outside of Europe, but we haven’t had confirmation yet. The specific hardware of your vehicle doesn’t matter much. It’s being made available on vehicles with HW3 or higher, Intel and AMD-based vehicles and for vehicles with and without ultrasonic sensors.
However, it does require Enhanced Autopilot or Tesla’s Full Self-Driving package on your vehicle.
Vision Autopark Features
This newest iteration of vision Autopark is quite unique and comes alongside new visuals. However, High-Fidelity Park Assist is unique to AMD processors – which displays a 3D reconstruction of your surroundings. On Intel vehicles, a top-down 2D view will be displayed instead (differences between Intel and AMD Autopark visuals).
Vision Autopark is much faster than the old USS-based Autopark, and far more accurate. It can also park in tighter spots than before, being just slightly wider than the maximum width of the vehicle you’re driving.
Keep in mind that the new vision-based Autopark still functions for backing into parking spots, and for parallel parking. It does not support driving face-in to parking spots nor diagonal parking spots at this time.
This marks the first time that Autopark is available on vehicles without ultrasonic sensors outside of North America. Looking forward, given that vision Autopark has arrived for vehicles outside of North America, there is a good chance that Smarter Summon, Park Seek, and Banish Autopark will likely also come to these vehicles when it rolls presumably in an upcoming FSD release soon.
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