Blinded by the sun

[fseir]

I know we’ve talked about this before, but what will it take for Tesla to fix it?

High speed shutter?
Mechanical collimators?
Electronic polarizing filters?
Higher iso camera?

It seems if it were just a software issue, they would’ve solved it already.

 

[Wennfred]

Maui Jim’s, the ultimate Tesla’s best friend.

I posted a YouTube video a while back of a guy that used the film off those old Red/Blue 3D glasses and he taped them on the side camera’s and it worked.


Fred

 

[android04]

If it's the front cameras that are getting blinded, make sure that you don't have any pits in the glass (from rocks hitting the glass). I used to get the message about the front cameras being blinded every morning on my way home from work and noticed 3 small pits in the glass right in front of the cameras. I think the sun would hit them and affect the cameras. The blinding episodes were reduced to almost never after I had the pits filled at a place that does windows and windshields (they even did it for free).

I still had rare blinding of the cameras, until I got the FSD computer (HW 3.0) installed. I think I've only had it happen once since then, in 3 months.

 

[SMAlset]

If it's the front cameras that are getting blinded, make sure that you don't have any pits in the glass (from rocks hitting the glass). I used to get the message about the front cameras being blinded every morning on my way home from work and noticed 3 small pits in the glass right in front of the cameras. I think the sun would hit them and affect the cameras. The blinding episodes were reduced to almost never after I had the pits filled at a place that does windows and windshields (they even did it for free).

I still had rare blinding of the cameras, until I got the FSD computer (HW 3.0) installed. I think I've only had it happen once since then, in 3 months.

Interesting point about the solar reflection on the glass if chipped.

As for HW3 handling it better, unless you are driving at the same time of year and hour on same route that it happened before not sure you can really judge. When I’ve had morning side camera sensor “blindness” alerts it was during winter and early a.m. while driving same route for morning coffee. I pretty much could drive and know I’d see it come up when my car would make a right or left turn on the route I took every day. As weeks went by and as the sun’s position changed, my alerts eventually disappeared.

During the winter when the car would have condensation on it and I’d be anxious to leave the house and hadn’t set the pre-heating to defrost the cameras I made it a habit to have a kleenex out and just wipe off the side pillar cameras, sometimes the front, to clear them sooner. Don’t know if that helped at all but figured good to keep the cameras clean anyway. Also would wipe the rear camera which sometimes had rain drops on it or frozen ice drops interfering with the view from it. First car with cameras all over.

 

[Silicon Desert]

I know we’ve talked about this before, but what will it take for Tesla to fix it?

High speed shutter?
Mechanical collimators?
Electronic polarizing filters?
Higher iso camera?

It seems if it were just a software issue, they would’ve solved it already.

hmmmm, my MX has never experienced this that I have notice in the last 4 years. If it did, then it must have been so quick that I didn't observe it.

 

[android04]

Interesting point about the solar reflection on the glass if chipped.

As for HW3 handling it better, unless you are driving at the same time of year and hour on same route that it happened before not sure you can really judge. When I’ve had morning side camera sensor “blindness” alerts it was during winter and early a.m. while driving same route for morning coffee. I pretty much could drive and know I’d see it come up when my car would make a right or left turn on the route I took every day. As weeks went by and as the sun’s position changed, my alerts eventually disappeared.

During the winter when the car would have condensation on it and I’d be anxious to leave the house and hadn’t set the pre-heating to defrost the cameras I made it a habit to have a kleenex out and just wipe off the side pillar cameras, sometimes the front, to clear them sooner. Don’t know if that helped at all. Also would wipe the rear camera which sometimes had rain drops on it or frozen ice drops interfering with the view from it. First car with cameras all over.

I agree on there being a difference in the sun at different times of the year. But, I work pretty much every day and my changes in blinding (or not blinding) were from one day to the next. I guess I'll know for sure early next year.

 

[fseir]

If it's the front cameras that are getting blinded, make sure that you don't have any pits in the glass (from rocks hitting the glass). I used to get the message about the front cameras being blinded every morning on my way home from work and noticed 3 small pits in the glass right in front of the cameras. I think the sun would hit them and affect the cameras. The blinding episodes were reduced to almost never after I had the pits filled at a place that does windows and windshields (they even did it for free).

I still had rare blinding of the cameras, until I got the FSD computer (HW 3.0) installed. I think I've only had it happen once since then, in 3 months.

I checked and don’t see any glass damage. There’s definitely differences throughout the year for me, depending on where the sun is during my morning and evening commutes. It may have to do with the East-West orientation of H1 freeway, here on Oahu, that I happen to experience blinding of the front camera pretty regularly in the evening (the ko’olau mountains block the sunrise).

It’s interesting that when this happens, I just flip down my sun visor and can see fine. That’s why I thought maybe an electronic sun visor (collimators) for the front camera might become necessary if level 5 autonomy is ever to be achieved.