Poor detection of cars picked up by the rear camera?

[Dante]

So I don't know how to describe this view, but the "surrounding car" view that shows up on the left hand side of the screen indicating renders of all the vehicles detected surrounding the car. When I first got the car, it only picked up cars in front of you. Many months ago, there was a big software update, and suddenly it was picking up cars all around you (linked to activation of the other cameras I understand). At first it was (and still is) a bit on the jittery side, but it's improved quite a bit. The only thing that I find odd, is that the car immediately behind me is very infrequently detected, and only if it is super close to me. I'm not sure if this is just an issue with my car, or a general issue that everyone has. I keep the rear view camera cleaned, so it's not an issue with a dirty camera. Any feedback about others' experience with this would be greatly helpful!

Thanks

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

Yeah I have perceived the same thing. But have not really studied the range/conditions carefully.

FSD just around the corner though. New HW3 will take care of all this, and just need regulatory approval.

 

[hugh_jassol]

I thought I read.... that the backup camera is not actually part of the EAP sensor suite - it only uses the 7 other cams. Therefore it's only if the car behind you is in the rear-facing blinker cams that it shows in that view. I can't find the reference now though

 

[Dante]

Autopilot

From this description, it sounds like the rear camera is a part of something. Either EAP or FSD. It lists all the cameras, but the FSD description says it turns on 8 instead of only 4 cameras. Interesting question, is which 4 are currently active? Didn’t Trevor do a video way back about which cameras are active?

 

[Dante]

So did some digging and it seems like the 2 rear facing side cameras and two of the three front facing cameras are active for EAP. Guess the side pillar cameras, the third forward facing camera, and the rear camera are only used for FSD. But that doesn’t mean they’re not on/in use in the shadow mode/being used to detect cars in the surrounding car render. Just that they’re not used to make actual driving decisions.

 

[Stateof2]

Dante, no one really answered your question, did they? I have the same issue I think. My center display shows no shadow cars on my right side until they're almost at the front passenger door. It feels to me like the cameras on the passenger side aren't working correctly. I''ve also noticed the car doesn't register the distance of cars near me very accurately. A lot of times cars on the right show on the screen as running into me when in reality they're in their lane. Should I take it in for service?

 

[Dante]

Hahah, no we never really got much pickup on the "issue". Just based on further digging I've done, it looks like the "Reverse/Rear" camera is not actually used for Autopilot, and FSD is what uses all 8 cameras. I have neither AP nor FSD, and my understanding is that the car is always running these things in "shadow" or practice mode. If the car is only using 4 cameras, they are 2 of the 3 forward facing cameras, and the 2 rear facing side cameras. Those 2 rear facing side cameras are not meant to pick up cars very far behind you, so I guess I should only expect the car to show up when it's basically stopped behind me in traffic. If on the other hand, all cameras are active just to generate the "surrounding car view" then I think something is off. I've got bigger issues with the car, so I'm not all that fussed about this thing at the moment.

To answer your question, I've never really had cars appear to drive into me on that view. They dance around, and on occasion they run into each other (or a truck shows up as two trucks). I'm not sure if it's worth worrying about at this stage, but would be interesting to get another Model 3 or tesla car and see how it images these cars and compare it with your own.

 

[Arizona Willie]

So I don't know how to describe this view, but the "surrounding car" view that shows up on the left hand side of the screen indicating renders of all the vehicles detected surrounding the car. When I first got the car, it only picked up cars in front of you. Many months ago, there was a big software update, and suddenly it was picking up cars all around you (linked to activation of the other cameras I understand). At first it was (and still is) a bit on the jittery side, but it's improved quite a bit. The only thing that I find odd, is that the car immediately behind me is very infrequently detected, and only if it is super close to me. I'm not sure if this is just an issue with my car, or a general issue that everyone has. I keep the rear view camera cleaned, so it's not an issue with a dirty camera. Any feedback about others' experience with this would be greatly helpful!

Thanks

The other day I was backing out of a parking space with cars on either side of me and it kept giving me an alarm and STOP came up on the screen but no one was behind me. It was perfectly clear to back up. Only happened once --- so far.

 

[Dante]

I think that's more the ultrasonic sensors, and they are a bit hyperactive in my experience... every time I park in my garage the car goes crazy, including the STOP alarm.