New Tesla Model S Has 2nd Triple Cam For Autopilot & Pedestrian Noise Unit

[ecarfan]

What is the source of that schematic and how is it known that it depicts a Tesla design?

It means nothing to just post a schematic with no explanation or attribution.

View attachment 175204

 

[tanner]

Why this makes sense at this time (doesn't mean it's true):

• Elon talked about very robust SDC capability in 2018.
  
• The Model 3 is expected to have the hardware to support such capability, and it is likely Tesla will want to deliver this in their flagship cars (S/X) before the Model 3.
• MobilEye CTO mentioned the triple front camera in several technical talks, with 2017 as the launch year.
• Tesla Autopilot has probably gone as far as it can with the current sensor suit. To advance, they need many more sensors. And Tesla is not known to go slow or conservative. Meaning if Autopilot v1 is done, time to expect signs of v2.
• Tesla introduced autopilot v1 hardware into the car in October 2014 and only enabled the function in October 2015 - a full year later. So if Tesla wants Autopilot v2 running in the S/X in mid 2017 (a few months before people get it in the Model 3), it is very possible it will start putting the hardware in the cars mid 2016.

I agree with the last point... But it's confirmed to just have that single camera unit - more cameras would be required for AP 2.0

 

[tanner]

What is the source of that schematic and how is it known that it depicts a Tesla design?

It means nothing to just post a schematic with no explanation or attribution.

True! Also, they're suggesting this is a single unit with three separate lenses - right?
edit: Electrek just updated their article w/ "Unlikely" now in the title after a TSLA spokesperson referred to it as "speculation"

 

[tanner]

Electrek just updated their article w/ "Unlikely" now in the title after a TSLA spokesperson referred to it as "speculation"

 

[NovemberXray]

I wonder if this hardware is already on the X, or if this is only going to be on the new S.

 

[Saghost]

I wonder if this hardware is already on the X, or if this is only going to be on the new S.

This is exactly why I was thinking AP 2.0 wouldn't show up until next year. Folks who waited several years for a car will be disappointed if they update the sensor set 6 months later and don't offer an upgrade.

I suppose it's possible that all the Xs are different and no one noticed, but it seems unlikely.

 

[2virgule5]

Well, The X got delayed several time so one can presume the AP team did continue on its road map. Would Tesla delay Autopilot 1.5 (if there indeed is such a thing) not to upset a few thousands X owners? Staying on the leading edge whenever possible seems to have been Tesla's approach so far.

 

[Edmond]

The radar does ranging and rate of change as it's doppler, so cameras aren't currently used for that; images couldn't be processed fast enough yet in current hardware for that.

The front camera at the bottom of the prints is the MobilEye, which does all autopilot control internally... it is simply joined onto the CAN bus as it always has been.

What's interesting is the new Autopilot ECU receives pure video inputs from the new Main, Narrow, and Fisheye cams. This implies to me that video from one or more of these will be available on the MCU.

My theory is this is not Autopilot2 (or even 1.5), but just a video recording system -- Main out front, Fisheye out back, and Narrow Idk. Maybe there is some additional functionality. Or maybe the regular MobilEye will be used for now, and the new hardware will be enabled in the future; they probably can't be used together.

Maybe Ingineer will have a theory. I'll ask.

 

[ZachShahan]

What is the source of that schematic and how is it known that it depicts a Tesla design?

It means nothing to just post a schematic with no explanation or attribution.

Sorry, I thought it was clear from my article: it comes from a full schematics PDF of the 2016 Model S (just updated). I obviously didn't want to post the full schematics, or even the screenshots (but those were posted in the comments of the article), but looked at the full PDFs and also 2015's.

Guess I just assumed that was clear.

 

[ZachShahan]

True! Also, they're suggesting this is a single unit with three separate lenses - right?
edit: Electrek just updated their article w/ "Unlikely" now in the title after a TSLA spokesperson referred to it as "speculation"

Haha, what else is Tesla going to call it if Tesla isn't ready to make the announcement publicly?

And as someone said here, Autopilot 1.0 hardware was in place long before the software was ready for consumer use.

 

[Dilbagh]

Seems like the current cars under production are going to have this new unit.

 

[Edmond]

Zach were you able to independently confirm this story?

 

[ZachShahan]

Zach were you able to independently confirm this story?

Like I said, I personally went through 3 PDFs of schematics (2 for 2016 Model S and 1 for 2015 Model S).

 

[ecarfan]

Sorry, I thought it was clear from my article: it comes from a full schematics PDF of the 2016 Model S (just updated). I obviously didn't want to post the full schematics, or even the screenshots (but those were posted in the comments of the article), but looked at the full PDFs and also 2015's.

Guess I just assumed that was clear.

Okay Zach, I reviewed your article at New Tesla Model S Has 2nd Triple Cam For Autopilot & Pedestrian Noise Unit (CleanTechnica Exclusive)

Your article certainly is not clear as to how you obtained schematics of a Model S. In my opinion, the likely explanation is that someone at Telsa illegally provided them to you. It seems unlikely that Tesla willingly provided them to you.

Please dissuade me of my conclusions.

 

[ZachShahan]

Okay Zach, I reviewed your article at New Tesla Model S Has 2nd Triple Cam For Autopilot & Pedestrian Noise Unit (CleanTechnica Exclusive)

Your article certainly is not clear as to how you obtained schematics of a Model S. In my opinion, the likely explanation is that someone at Telsa illegally provided them to you. It seems unlikely that Tesla willingly provided them to you.

Please dissuade me of my conclusions.

I'd rather not go into specifics of the person who supplied them (for obvious reasons). Sorry if that doesn't help much, but if the source wants to remain anonymous, I take that pretty seriously.

Similarly, if Tesla asked me to remove them, I would do so. And they haven't asked.

And if it was a matter that I thought would have a harmful effect and didn't warrant sharing, I wouldn't have.

Hope that helps to some degree.

Edit: Regarding not making certain details of reviewing the schematics explicit in the article, we have a large community of readers who I think know me well enough to know that I'm not going to run a story without some verification and trust in its veracity. I'm very clear when things are sketchy. Naturally, I was thinking about our regular readers when writing the article, and tried to make it fun and cut to the chase rather than write it like a lawyer. In retrospect, given the potential for broader attention, I could have been more explicit, but in the end you're either taking my word for it or not, so I don't know how much of a difference that would make for non-regulars. (Ramble over )

 

[2virgule5]

So if it's part of the 'resfresh' we will know for sure by the time the first one is delivered - that is by the end of the month - unless we are given an official confirmation by then. If that's the case I'll be twice happier that I waited for the rumored refresh before ordering.

 

[mhan00]

Is this confirmed to be in production now, or are the schematics for a future version of the S (and presumably X)?

 

[Saghost]

Is this confirmed to be in production now, or are the schematics for a future version of the S (and presumably X)?

Not confirmed. At least three other threads discussing what is still a rumor so far (though I haven't seen schematics attached to a made up rumor recently...)

 

[ecarfan]

I'd rather not go into specifics of the person who supplied them (for obvious reasons

Yes, it seems obvious to me: your source either stole the schematics or they violated their Tesla employment contract.

Your desire for a "scoop" is misplaced. Tesla will tell us soon enough if there are AP hardware changes.

 

[Gizmotoy]

Assuming the pedigree of the schematics is as claimed, it's pretty interesting to me that the "Forward" camera remains in addition to the new block of three cameras that itself contains a "Main camera".

It does look suspiciously like the EyeQ4 chip we've been hearing rumblings about, though: 3 or more cameras hooked up to a stand-alone processing board.

MobilEye describes its three-camera setup like this:

These systems would require three monocular cameras working together focused at different widths and depths to approximate a driver's view.

One camera would have a narrow 20-degree field of view to see what's coming far down the road. A second would have a wide 150-degree view to see what is around the vehicle. The third would have a midrange 50-degree view.