AP Cameras badly blinded.... 2019.40.50.5

[ericscottf]

Hi all,

We're at the point in the year where I get to drive with the sun blasting directly into my windshield... Previously, AP handled it well, much to my surprise.

Latest version will readily alert and disengage, and refuse to re-engage until at least 30 seconds after the sun is blocked again (turns, shade from trees, etc). I get the Camera is blinded or needs cleaning message.

This is on a major highway, not small/local roads.

Again, this is the same driving that was handled fine last year in the same car, and 2 previous years just fine in my AP1 S75D.

Just wondering if it is just my car (perhaps condensation in the housing, I haven't looked closely) or a new fun problem to wait for a software fix for...

 

[vjason]

Saw this too yesterday coming back from the beach, also on the same rev and similar conditions regarding the weather. I think that it is being more cautious now as I had never seen it throw quite so many alerts.

In my case the alerts occurred while driving southward and slowing making the turn to head west. Once I was heading in a general western direction things were obviously fine.

 

[Stanwood Steve]

I was experiencing periodic warnings that the cameras were experiencing visibility issues following recent software updates, and I was able to exchange messages with Tesla Tech Support, and this was their reply:

"Thank you for the update. Since I'm not seeing any alerts indicating a connection issue or an issue with module receiving images, this is likely due to something environmental that the autopilot ECU is having a hard time interpreting due to limitations with the current firmware. Our engineering team recently increased the sensitivity of the autopilot ECU toward things like this since there are more features that are relying on those cameras. It's also possible that a droplet of water or frost could have blocked the camera just enough as well."

 

[yerEVan]

I notice when I use the departure scheduler to prep the car to leave by a certain time in the am, the car is nice and warm and as soon as I head out about 5-10 minutes into the ride the windshield fogs up like crazy and I got that warning about AP cameras. I guess the temperature difference in colder weather 25F (as u drive) and the warm glass prior to departure can cause condensation or fogginess in the front camera area.

 

[ericscottf]

I totally get that this could be an issue, and have wondered how they'd deal with direct or near-direct sunlight since I got my first one in 2016... Until now, I have been quite impressed with how it seemed unaffected by blinding light.

That being said, this is obviously something that will have to be dealt with, as excluding self-driving in certain directions to times outside the 90 minutes around sunrise/sunset won't be very good solutions.

 

[SouthSeas]

Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy
Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry
Sunshine on the water looks so lovely
Sunshine almost always makes me high

 

[HappyWino]

I had repeated NOA disengage/reengage on a drive recently so I pulled over to check how dirty the camera really was, turned out there was an oval of condensation on the inside of the glass that the door pillar camera is behind. I've been meaning to ask around here if others have seen this and talked to support about it, not sure if it's a leak in the housing that's allowed moisture in or just expected...?

 

[MrBadger]

In UK, with our cold humid early winter weather, condensation on door pillar cameras is very common. Was told to 'give it an hour' to clear. No noticeable mechanism (airflow etc) to clear these.

 

[mzairboy]

I had repeated NOA disengage/reengage on a drive recently so I pulled over to check how dirty the camera really was, turned out there was an oval of condensation on the inside of the glass that the door pillar camera is behind. I've been meaning to ask around here if others have seen this and talked to support about it, not sure if it's a leak in the housing that's allowed moisture in or just expected...?

This happened to me yesterday. I was parked in my 50 degree garage and went for a 20 minute drive. After about 15 minutes of driving in 35 degree weather an alert popped up on the screen saying that my drivers side A Pillar camera was blocked. I wasn't on autopilot so it wasn't a big deal. When I arrived at the store I got out to see if dirt was covering the camera. It was condensation inside the glass covering the camera, but not on the camera itself, only on the glass of the A Pillar. Went inside the store and after I came out 20 minutes later the condensation was gone. No problems since. I've never experienced this before.

 

[McFlurri]

Thank god i saw this thread.. i thought there was something wrong with my passenger side door pillar camera. Says this all the time when the sun is out.

Never had any issues in 1.5 years of owning my Model 3 until last update..

 

[mystery]

would this be something radar would solve?

 

[strykeroz]

Thank god i saw this thread.. i thought there was something wrong with my passenger side door pillar camera. Says this all the time when the sun is out.

Never had any issues in 1.5 years of owning my Model 3 until last update..

In my case I only have seen it at night, but always the passenger door pillar one so thought it was failing hardware or flakey connectivity too...

Hope glimmers.

 

[SouthSeas]

would this be something radar would solve?

Only if you beam it directly at the fogged glass to disperse the mist. ;-)

 

[ericscottf]

Just giving this thread a bump with a picture... obviously I don't have pics from the other 2 front facing cameras which might be better (tho i don't see why they would be), but this seems really not ideal as far as pictures go. I can't imagine imagery like this could get processed well, and I'm guessing this isn't even a worst case scenario.

 

[arghx7]

had this error on 2019.40.5 , did not get a chance to drive in similar conditions on 2019.40.7

 

[SSonnentag]

I frequently lose cameras around dusk, when everything looks sort of grey outside. It normally only lasts about 5 minutes or so.

 

[dgatwood]

I had the same problem on Sunday on 2019.36 (which MCU1 users seem to be stuck on). It's definitely not specific to .40.

 

[MathijsKok]

My S shows messages about the camera's being inop a lot (often multiple camera's). Called service about that and was told this had to do with EU regulation that makes it mandatory to show these messages when the camera's do not have near perfect vision. It should NOT affect the autodrive options ion any way

I am reluctant to accept that. Anybody some comments on that?

 

[dgatwood]

My S shows messages about the camera's being inop a lot (often multiple camera's). Called service about that and was told this had to do with EU regulation that makes it mandatory to show these messages when the camera's do not have near perfect vision. It should NOT affect the autodrive options ion any way

That's definitely not true. When this occurs, all autopilot functionality is completely disabled, with a "Take Over Immediately". You may be able to re-engage afterwards, but when you do, it usually disengages again within a few seconds. AP starts working again when the sun angle changes enough.

 

[NickP]

I think that I've solved this.
See my post:
Right Pillar Camera Blocked or Blinded