Right door pillar camera blocked or blinded

[GalacticHero]

I started getting this recently as well. It happens in the morning when the sun is blasting straight at the camera in question. Could be a recent software update, but it could also be we're now at the right time of the year for this to happen (i.e. the angle is right to cause the problem during people's likely commute time.)

 

[drtimhill]

This is happening every day lately and seems related to sun blinding left or right cameras. This and the bad weather detected. Makes you wander how will this car ever self drive when a little sun, a little rain, a little tight curve are throwing it off its game.... lack of radar and lidar might have been a fatal call!!!

But even if it had Lidar, blocked cameras would still defeat self-driving. Lidar gives, range, but nothing much else .. its up to the cameras and AI to figure out WHAT the object is at that location.

And the car already has Radar.

 

[drtimhill]

I started getting this recently as well. It happens in the morning when the sun is blasting straight at the camera in question. Could be a recent software update, but it could also be we're now at the right time of the year for this to happen (i.e. the angle is right to cause the problem during people's likely commute time.)

Probably a bit of both. Tesla certainly added these warnings (and the checks behind them) with a recent software update. There have been a lot of people complaining about them on various threads, which puzzles me somewhat. Would they rather NOT know that the camera was blocked? Would they rather AP carried on driving and hoped for the best?

 

[GalacticHero]

Probably a bit of both. Tesla certainly added these warnings (and the checks behind them) with a recent software update. There have been a lot of people complaining about them on various threads, which puzzles me somewhat. Would they rather NOT know that the camera was blocked? Would they rather AP carried on driving and hoped for the best?

Agreed. The detection part is possibly not even new, they could have just decided to reveal -why- Autosteer is temporarily unavailable. I like knowing, but Tesla risks opening up the can of worms you mentioned where the conversation can go down an unlimited number of rabbit holes.

 

[ilyak]

Agreed. The detection part is possibly not even new, they could have just decided to reveal -why- Autosteer is temporarily unavailable. I like knowing, but Tesla risks opening up the can of worms you mentioned where the conversation can go down an unlimited number of rabbit holes.

Indeed, it’s not new - NoA/auto lane change unavailable message started appearing a couple of updates before the camera blinded message came to be.

 

[Chuck305]

Well the weather is cooling on SoFla again and the side of the car that gets blinded is fogged. I simply wipe it with a microfiber cloth before leaving home.

 

[ilyak]

Well the weather is cooling on SoFla again and the side of the car that gets blinded is fogged. I simply wipe it with a microfiber cloth before leaving home.

The fogging discussed on this thread is on the interior surface of the camera cover. It cannot be wiped off without removing and disassembling the b-pillar appliques.

 

[Chuck305]

The fogging discussed on this thread is on the interior surface of the camera cover. It cannot be wiped off without removing and disassembling the b-pillar appliques.

Yes apparently there are many ways to blind the pillar cam. The blinding I experienced is caused by fogging/condensation on the outside.. wiping off with a microfiber cloth solves the issue for me. It's not cold here often and maybe not cold enough to cause fog on the inside.

 

[Coxrk2000]

I have been driving in dark and rainy conditions the last few nights and I have been getting the messages saying various cameras cannot see. I can't really see how Tesla expects these cars to safely navigate roads when the cameras can be so easy blocked with water/dirt/snow. Seems like they really should have included some rear radars like basically every other automotive manufacturer since they didn't include any way for the car to automatically clean the cameras.

Yes, totally agree. My camera lenses are clean, but still get that annoying message at night on back roads with road signs that reflect a lot of light

 

[drtimhill]

it's not dirt, it's just the camera software not finding anything it can identify (because, well, it's dark or blinded). Basically it's saying "I dont see any objects, so it might be a camera malfunction, so to be safe I'll assume that, disable systems that depend on that, and inform the driver." Which seems the safe thing to do to me.

 

[LuckySlydog]

Anyone seen this before. Started happening last Sunday and occurs every morning when I leave for work. It goes away after about 10 to 15 minutes of running the car and does not reappear till the following morning.

I'm taking it in to service, but my brief experience with the service center they pretty much don't want to troubleshoot anything.

Happens to me all the time, but mostly in the same area. Fluctuates in frequency changing from update to update.

 

[drtimhill]

Happens to me all the time, but mostly in the same area. Fluctuates in frequency changing from update to update.

Understand that this will happen when the camera cannot "see" anything. so it can happen simply because you are driving on a very dark road at night .. it's just a warning in case the camera is genuinely broken. if it goes away as soon as you hit a lit street then there is nothing wrong.

 

[LuckySlydog]

Understand that this will happen when the camera cannot "see" anything. so it can happen simply because you are driving on a very dark road at night .. it's just a warning in case the camera is genuinely broken. if it goes away as soon as you hit a lit street then there is nothing wrong.

Pretty much.

 

[Rotorian]

It has been happening to me since I took delivery Thursday. I have a service call for panel alignments and added this. Specially since today on a clear almost no humidity day I received a multiple cameras as well. However, the right pillar is like one alert every 30mins it seems.

 

[Rotorian]

The tech re-calibrated the camera system. Although the camera calibration was completed while driving. So, maybe the driving calibration didnt finish it's job?

We'll see how it goes.

 

[drtimhill]

The tech re-calibrated the camera system. Although the camera calibration was completed while driving. So, maybe the driving calibration didnt finish it's job?

We'll see how it goes.

hmm sounds like "reboot computer" to me .. camera calibration has nothing to do with that error message (or at least should not have).

 

[Rotorian]

hmm sounds like "reboot computer" to me .. camera calibration has nothing to do with that error message (or at least should not have).

Rgr, we will see how it goes.