How do Tesla cameras self clean?

[banned-66611]

For FSD to work the cameras must have some way to clean themselves. It's clearly no good if your car gets splashed with mud or simple build up of dust/soot and can't self drive any more, stranding it far from where you are and without any means to recover.

Obviously the front camera has the windscreen wipers. What about the others, how do they recover from dirt?

 

[roblab]

The one I saw today had dirty side cameras, but since they are up high between the windows, there isn't much accumulation. The rear camera might get dusty. I would think that the owner might take a swipe at the cameras with a cloth or something, but they seem to be able to see through a little dirt.

But since I am not living in the Netherlands, my experiences are different. California hardly has any rain, much less mud.

 

[JohnSnowNW]

They are positioned where dirt doesn't generally accumulate, sans rear-view camera. You may need to clean the car every once in a while, however.

 

[croman]

They are positioned where dirt doesn't generally accumulate, sans rear-view camera. You may need to clean the car every once in a while, however.

And there's nothing defective about that. I think Tesla did a fine job with the hardware aspect. The repeaters don't get that dirty and the B-pillars stay 100% clean. The BUC needs cleaning, especially in winter, due to salt accumulation (diminishing functionality until completely occluded).

The tri-cams are cleaned by the spray and main wipers.

 

[jsmay311]

If the imagined FSD future is one where the car is supposed to be able to drive itself around all day independently like an Uber driver as part of the Tesla Network, simply saying that someone will have to clean off the cameras if they get dirty doesn't sound like a sufficient answer.

 

[banned-66611]

If the imagined FSD future is one where the car is supposed to be able to drive itself around all day independently like an Uber driver as part of the Tesla Network, simply saying that someone will have to clean off the cameras if they get dirty doesn't sound like a sufficient answer.

Quite. If I summon it from far away it's gonna have to cope with dirt on its own. Google's cars have wipers.

 

[Padelford]

The side camera high in the B-pillar and the aft-facing camera in the upper front fender are protected from a lot of crud.

What I’ve seen of other FSD systems, they typically include a large package on the roof with forward facing optics. They will get road crud build-up just like the front of a car, and they will need some active cleaning system.

 

[AnxietyRanger]

All the cameras have heaters. Only the front three have any cleaning beyond that.

I agree the data so far is that the backup camera is by far the most susceptible. It is not just snow, it is also rain that will overwhelm the heating very quickly. The rest of the cameras seem better off in this regard.

There is also the fact that aside from the backup cam and the front fisheye (which has the secondary job of seeing rain) the cameras are focused in such a manner that they can see "past" some rain/dirt because their focus is on the distance. Front fisheye is susceptible to rain just like the backup camera, but it has the washers and wipers...

See rain respecially on front fisheye and backup cam:

 

[AnxietyRanger]

Beyond camera wipers, one cleaning idea Tesla might want to explore in the future is the washer nozzle e.g. Audi uses in their nose night vision cameras. A small area like a camera lens does not necessarily need a wiper to clean, a purpose-pointed heated washer right next to it might do the trick much of the time.

 

[mknox]

I don't have an autopilot car, but I can tell you there is so much road salt accumulation on the side of my car right now, you can barely see the repeater on the front fender flash with the turn signals. If there was a camera there (like newer cars), there's no way it would be seeing anything.

 

[googleiscoul]

It sounds like once it becomes a bigger problem (especially backup camera) someone can retrofit something to clean?

 

[Cirion]

If the imagined FSD future is one where the car is supposed to be able to drive itself around all day independently like an Uber driver as part of the Tesla Network, simply saying that someone will have to clean off the cameras if they get dirty doesn't sound like a sufficient answer.

Why would it not use a carwash if it has FSD?

 

[croman]

I don't have an autopilot car, but I can tell you there is so much road salt accumulation on the side of my car right now, you can barely see the repeater on the front fender flash with the turn signals. If there was a camera there (like newer cars), there's no way it would be seeing anything.

It's shielded. Mine has a couple small white spots. My car is otherwise caked on salt.

 

[croman]

See photo.

 

[croman]

Anyone that complains about having to clean their cameras shouldn't own anything. All things need maintenance. If you don't, there are consequences. If my 2 year old gets it, why can't everyone?

The cameras don't get that dirty that quickly. Even the BUC needs just a weekly cleaning (yes, even with rain!). Even with rain droplets you can still see (I leave the BUC up all the time and I can tell things I'm sure a computer can use algos to figure it out better than I can).

There are much bigger fisheyes to fry.

 

[Pluto]

Beyond camera wipers, one cleaning idea Tesla might want to explore in the future is the washer nozzle e.g. Audi uses in their nose night vision cameras. A small area like a camera lens does not necessarily need a wiper to clean, a purpose-pointed heated washer right next to it might do the trick much of the time.

Why not have a single wiper repeatedly wipe between 90% and 100% positions only? I'm guessing this behavior can be software controlled. It would be so bizarre watching a car driving in the rain do this though.

 

[AnxietyRanger]

Anyone that complains about having to clean their cameras shouldn't own anything. All things need maintenance. If you don't, there are consequences. If my 2 year old gets it, why can't everyone?

The cameras don't get that dirty that quickly. Even the BUC needs just a weekly cleaning (yes, even with rain!). Even with rain droplets you can still see (I leave the BUC up all the time and I can tell things I'm sure a computer can use algos to figure it out better than I can).

There are much bigger fisheyes to fry.

I'm not sure if this thread is about complaing, more about wondering?

A lot of people indeed wonder how fully autonomous cars will handle cleaning of sensors. I mean, Elon's Summon from the other side of the country idea...

Speaking of which, we shouldn't forget that even the front radar as a bit of question mark too even in light snow, if suitable weather strikes... AP2 - Snow radar failure

 

[AnxietyRanger]

Why not have a single wiper repeatedly wipe between 90% and 100% positions only? I'm guessing this behavior can be software controlled. It would be so bizarre watching a car driving in the rain do this though.

An interesting idea. Anyway, I was speaking of future improvements to rear and side cameras etc... that have no wipers at this time... washer nozzles there night do the trick.

 

[mknox]

Anyone that complains about having to clean their cameras shouldn't own anything. All things need maintenance. If you don't, there are consequences. If my 2 year old gets it, why can't everyone?

I'm not sure if this thread is about complaing, more about wondering?

Exactly. This is supposedly the hardware that will enable full self-driving capability. When I land at the airport and hail my car to come get me, I can't have it suddenly blinded on the way when some truck splashes mud or slush over the sensors.

 

[JohnSnowNW]

My car isn't quite as dirty as Croman's, but you can clearly see a rather nice delineation of crud on the side of the vehicle, and almost no dirt on the B-pillar. Otherwise your vehicle will need to be cleaned periodically, and stating the obvious isn't sidestepping the concern.

I'm not quite sure why people believe that Tesla doesn't consider these issues during the design phase...