With the front camera touchscreen parking protection system nearing completion, I’ve had a number of owners PM me about making a DYI kit available.
This post is to determine the level of serious interest in a kit, to set out what the kit will include, and to provide a means for owners to reserve a place in line for the kit when they are available. Here’s what I’m planning.
The basic camera kit will include a custom PCB with the following components soldered on board:
· Three Fakra male plugs for connecting the cables from the touchscreen and from and rear cameras.
· Panasonic or equivalent DPDT digital switch
· Conductive foam shielding to minimize signal interference
· Installation instructions
While I have not made a determination of the final cost of the basic kit, I’m estimating about $200, with the major variable the cost of labor to make the PCBs, drill the component holes, solder on the components, and test it all. I don’t have the time or interest to do this myself so I’ll be jobbing this out to a local supplier.
Additional items needed:
Cables:
A custom cable kit for connecting the front camera, touchscreen and rear camera to the PCB can be purchased separately from a supplier in China with whom I made special arrangements: http://www.rfsupplier.com/. The cable kit will be called “Tesla Front Camera Cable Kit” and should be available next week on the company’s web site and eBay store. The cost should be about $100.
Each cable will have Fakra female jacks on either end for connections to the Fakra PCB male plugs and male Fakra plugs on the ends of the Tesla rear camera cable (and front camera) as well as the touchscreen cable.
Tesla Rear Camera for front mount:
As for the additional Tesla rear camera needed, for now the only recourse appears for each kit buyer to purchase a spare rear camera from Tesla. That will set buyers back about $350. Please note that the image from this camera on the touchscreen will be reversed on the horizontal plane (as of now I’ve not figured out a way to rectify this).
If you’re seriously interested in purchasing the camera PCB kit, please email me at [email protected]. I will keep a list of those expressing interest in the order emails are received, and kits will be sold and delivered in that order. It’s hard to estimate now when the kits will be available, but depending on the level of interest my best judgment now is about 4-6 weeks from now.
This post is to determine the level of serious interest in a kit, to set out what the kit will include, and to provide a means for owners to reserve a place in line for the kit when they are available. Here’s what I’m planning.
The basic camera kit will include a custom PCB with the following components soldered on board:
· Three Fakra male plugs for connecting the cables from the touchscreen and from and rear cameras.
· Panasonic or equivalent DPDT digital switch
· Conductive foam shielding to minimize signal interference
· Installation instructions
While I have not made a determination of the final cost of the basic kit, I’m estimating about $200, with the major variable the cost of labor to make the PCBs, drill the component holes, solder on the components, and test it all. I don’t have the time or interest to do this myself so I’ll be jobbing this out to a local supplier.
Additional items needed:
Cables:
A custom cable kit for connecting the front camera, touchscreen and rear camera to the PCB can be purchased separately from a supplier in China with whom I made special arrangements: http://www.rfsupplier.com/. The cable kit will be called “Tesla Front Camera Cable Kit” and should be available next week on the company’s web site and eBay store. The cost should be about $100.
Each cable will have Fakra female jacks on either end for connections to the Fakra PCB male plugs and male Fakra plugs on the ends of the Tesla rear camera cable (and front camera) as well as the touchscreen cable.
Tesla Rear Camera for front mount:
As for the additional Tesla rear camera needed, for now the only recourse appears for each kit buyer to purchase a spare rear camera from Tesla. That will set buyers back about $350. Please note that the image from this camera on the touchscreen will be reversed on the horizontal plane (as of now I’ve not figured out a way to rectify this).
If you’re seriously interested in purchasing the camera PCB kit, please email me at [email protected]. I will keep a list of those expressing interest in the order emails are received, and kits will be sold and delivered in that order. It’s hard to estimate now when the kits will be available, but depending on the level of interest my best judgment now is about 4-6 weeks from now.
