Thinking of this front view camera & video solution

[SteveW25561]

I'm anxiously awaiting the delivery of my MS, and obsessing about the lack of parking aids in this large car when I'm used to an M3.

While I await an official (hopefully to come) Tesla retrofit, I figured adding a front camera would be a nice solution that would complement a future sonar system anyhow. I'm expecting the rear view camera will be good enough.

I found a couple of cameras that offer 3 views in the same camera: including wide angle (190° horizontal and 151° vertical ), corner views and, best of all, an overhead view. Looks like this would be great for parking and curb avoidance.

I found this one by Kenwood ($350)
Kenwood CMOS-310 Universal rear-view camera with multiple view modes at Crutchfield.com


Alpine makes a similar one ($380):
Alpine HCE-C212F Multi-view front camera kit at Crutchfield.com

but the Kenwood has a split screen function displaying an overhead and wide angle view at the same time, which edges it out over the Alpine for me:

Wide angle view:

Top down view:

Picture in picture view (simultaneous top down and wide angle):

The Kenwood can be configured to front or rear view modes (normal vs mirror image), and the park distance overlays can be turned off.

Kenwood manual: https://a248.e.akamai.net/pix.crutchfield.com/Manuals/113/113CMOS210.PDF

I also figured until someone figures out how to hack the video in on the Tesla's 17" screen, to avoid mounting a monitor on the dash and ruining the looks, perhaps a rearview mirror that has a built in LCD screen would keep things (somewhat) nicer looking:

Amazon.com: 7 Inch 16:9 TFT LCD Widescreen Car Rearview Monitor Mirror with Touch Button, 480(W)x 234(H) Screen Resolution, Car /Automobile Rear View Mirror Display Monitor Support Two Ways Of Video Output, V1/V2 Selecting: Car Electronics

or
Amazon.com: Pyle PLCM105 10.2-Inch TFT LCD Rear View Mirror Monitor with Back-Up Camera: Car Electronics

These are (surprisingly/worrisomely) cheap. I don't know how well they function as either mirrors or LCD screens. Any other suggestions?

What do people think of this front camera solution?

 

[JerryNycom]

Love this idea, but WILL NOT put one of those mirrors in my MS. I don't want another screen either. I'm all in if we could send video feed to the touch screen.

 

[SteveW25561]

Love this idea, but WILL NOT put one of those mirrors in my MS. I don't want another screen either. I'm all in if we could send video feed to the touch screen.

The main monitor is the holy grail for any av modification. It can be done if someone figures out how to either hack into the Canbus, split off of the existing rear view camera analog input, or find an already installed (and somehow software activate/access) video input. Given the small number of Teslas on the road, there is probably no business case for this (compared to BMW where I had a very elegantly integrated Canbus hack into the 7" screen for a rear view camera and alternate av input, all done with a split screen with the existing BMW iDrive interface).

Tesla owners are a smart group and likely slant towards a technical side. We just need one amongst us who is willing to take their own car apart and see the touchscreen electronics etc. High end installers like A&E might be able to do this but they would unlikely document and share this and their service would necessarily be local, excluding everyone else.

I'm not technically advanced enough to hack Canbuses nor able to figure out the vagarieites of wiring, but am pretty handy at DIY stuff with kits etc.

Ill likely try this solution out. The mirrors might be janky but are low cost enough to try. Once I get the car I'll see what other ideas I can come up with.

 

[SteveW25561]

I've chosen this mirror to go with the camera, just waiting on shipping. It's by eonon, the L0415. It has a built in DVR front camera but I'll still likely use my blackvue as its better, but I like the very thin design and very sleek bezel. I'll wait to see it in person, but to me it looks nicer than other clip on mirrors.

Still waiting on the car, but from dimensions sent to me from the local SC, this mirror will be about 1" wider and 0.5" taller than the tallest part of Tesla mirror (which angles downward to a point). It's also thinner than other clip ons I've seen so hopefully it won't look like a monstrosity when clipped on.

I found it on eBay for around $85.

Played with the camera last night on my tv at home. The mode switches are impressive and the top down view should give a great view of curbs, stoppers and other low lying hazards.

 

[Musterion]

I've chosen this mirror to go with the camera, just waiting on shipping. It's by eonon, the L0415. It has a built in DVR front camera but I'll still likely use my blackvue as its better, but I like the very thin design and very sleek bezel. I'll wait to see it in person, but to me it looks nicer than other clip on mirrors.

Nice find. Do you happen to know if you can convert the other hardwired AV input into a wireless input, e.g. with a wireless receiver? If so where is a good source for such a thing? This could then be used by a wireless front (nose) camera and only power needs to be connected to both. Thx.

 

[SteveW25561]

I've not found nor really looked for the wireless receiver and senders. They are bundled with other camera and mirror kits I can see on eBay and they're simply small boxes attached to the wiring.

You light be able to ask eBay vendors if they'll just sell the wireless parts.

I think this mirror only offers the second AV input and the first is dedicated to the built in camera. Again I'm not keen on that camera as I have a Blackvue but heck it's built in and thus more subtle.

For me, using the slick Kenwood camera I need to make a wired connection thus moot for me. Now the question is has anyone documented a good access via the firewall from the frunk?


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[Musterion]

For me, using the slick Kenwood camera I need to make a wired connection thus moot for me. Now the question is has anyone documented a good access via the firewall from the frunk?

You might want to check out some of the radar detector installation threads with photos. For example, http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/show...diffuser/page5?p=263999&viewfull=1#post263999. The "firewall" is rather substantial and the complexity of wiring routing into the cabin made me want to try wireless video first.

 

[detlefo]

I've chosen this mirror to go with the camera, just waiting on shipping. It's by eonon, the L0415. It has a built in DVR front camera but I'll still likely use my blackvue as its better, but I like the very thin design and very sleek bezel. I'll wait to see it in person, but to me it looks nicer than other clip on mirrors.

Still waiting on the car, but from dimensions sent to me from the local SC, this mirror will be about 1" wider and 0.5" taller than the tallest part of Tesla mirror (which angles downward to a point). It's also thinner than other clip ons I've seen so hopefully it won't look like a monstrosity when clipped on.

I found it on eBay for around $85.

Played with the camera last night on my tv at home. The mode switches are impressive and the top down view should give a great view of curbs, stoppers and other low lying hazards.

Have you figured out how to get power to the mirror monitor?

 

[SteveW25561]

Not yet but probably will tap into the connector near the bottom of the touchscreen that's accessible if you remove some of the assigner side of the Center console area. There are other threads showing this. Ill see if I can link later on. I'm still awaiting shipment of the mirror.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2

 

[detlefo]

I've chosen this mirror to go with the camera, just waiting on shipping. It's by eonon, the L0415. It has a built in DVR front camera but I'll still likely use my blackvue as its better, but I like the very thin design and very sleek bezel. I'll wait to see it in person, but to me it looks nicer than other clip on mirrors.

Still waiting on the car, but from dimensions sent to me from the local SC, this mirror will be about 1" wider and 0.5" taller than the tallest part of Tesla mirror (which angles downward to a point). It's also thinner than other clip ons I've seen so hopefully it won't look like a monstrosity when clipped on.

I found it on eBay for around $85.

Played with the camera last night on my tv at home. The mode switches are impressive and the top down view should give a great view of curbs, stoppers and other low lying hazards.

Finally found the solution. There is an unused 12v ciruit behind the speaker grill. This link gives detailed instructions http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/15800-How-about-a-DashCam-option/page2

 

[lloyds]

Awaiting to see results from a brave MS owner.

 

[detlefo]

Finally found the solution. There is an unused 12v ciruit behind the speaker grill. This link gives detailed instructions http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/15800-How-about-a-DashCam-option/page2

The good news is that the design of this unit is as good as the photos. The bad news is that if you have a pano roof forget it. The light from the roof washes out the monitor image. Additionally, the unit came set up in Japanese and the English directions appear to have been written by a non English speaker using a dictionary. I did finally get the language to English and got most of the functions working. My primary reason for getting this was to display a front mounted camera and since it accepts a second input this should work, but only if you have a solid roof. Unit is probably going back. If you have a solid roof and are interested PM me and I'll make you a killer deal.

 

[SteveW25561]

I just got mine today and agree: the video display is so washed out by ambient light (I also have the piano roof, but even just the daylight from the side window the video is too light ).

Too bad because I think this mirror looks much nicer than some other clip ons. I saw the one artscii is using but prefer a different look. This one had clean lines and a very minimal bezel, and I thought it matched the Tesla interior better even though it is larger than the stock mirror. Too bad about the most crucial part!

I'll be sending it back as well. One mod I did consider is taking it apart and sanding off a very thin layer of the reflective material in front of the LCD since I think that's the reason why its so dim (but also why the mirror itself looks so nice with video off). Not sure I want to bother.

I'm gonna look at other options. I actually took the factory mirror off to see what the mount looks like since there are some mirror options which use the existing windshield mount (making them look OEM rather than clip on). I'll post pics tomorrow.

 

[SteveW25561]

While artsci works on his elegant front view camera integration with the touchscreen, I thought I'd continue with my project. It uses a similar install as his mirror but I chose a different mirror and camera, plus this is the first demo I know of using the touchscreen homelink to control accessories (thanks to vfx who pointed this out!).

While I do really like the idea of the video on the touchscreen, this solution allows both front and rearviews at the same time.

Parts:
1. Kenwood CMOS 310 front/rearview camera - $250 http://amzn.com/B007M9ZBG0 -- this camera has several different view modes from a single unit (wide angle, very wide angle, top down, corner views and split screen).
2. Rearview mirror with 5" LCD (clip on) - ebay $30 5 Digital Color TFT LCD Car Rearview Mirror Reverse Monitor for Camera DVD VCR | eBay

3. Oracle Dual Channel LED Multifunction Controller Remote Kit - $80 Oracle Dual Channel Multifunction Strobe Dimmer Wireless Remote Controller | eBay

Install tips:

1. I ran the wires for the camera from the nosecone --> along the passenger side frunk seal ---> entered into the car using the gap between the outside of the passenger A pillar and the passenger door.

2. The mirror is a clip on item, and I routed the wires through the headliner up the the microphone grill area. I also took the mirror stalk cover and routed the wires there to make it less visible. I put the controller for the camera on the driver's side of the cubby below the touchscreen --it's nearly invisible unless you look for it.

3. 12V power is from the accessory port plug located under the passenger side footwell under the touchscreen. I took the pins out and soldered wires to this to allow me to add 12V 'ignition on' accessories. The pins are hard to take out: you have to remove an orange clip in the front of the connector then push on a metal retaining tab on each of the pins to back them out of the housing. Sorry I forgot pics of that. The fusebox I used was this one from amazon: http://amzn.com/B000THQ0CQ -- it makes it a breeze to add new circuits afterwards (my V1, dashcam, Cheetah speed camera and mirror, frontview camera/Oracle switch are all connected via this box).

4. I hooked the power for the rearview mirror AND the frontview camera together on the same output from the Oracle LED controller: I found if I only connected one of them, even if I switched the Oracle unit off, the mirror or the front camera wouldn't shut off -- not sure why this is the case but suspect since they are connected by a common ground (composite video cable), there must be some way the voltage was still making it to the other part).

5. I programmed the Homelink to button "D" of the Oracle's RF remote: button D shuts off the entire Oracle unit, whereas buttons A-C cycle different modes like strobe, pulse, on/off -- too unreliable and potentially risky for the camera/mirror. The Oracle unit remembers the last setting you had so if I set the Oracle to have the mirror/camera ON, if I shut the Oracle off, the whole thing shuts down, and when I turn the Oracle back ON, the camera/mirror turn back on. Thus, program button D into the MS's homelink.

Here are videos of the stuff in action:
1. Overview of the system, with Homelink function working:

2. Demo of the different views on the Kenwood CMOS310. Note the relatively low mounting point under the nosecone likely diminishes the utility of these views, plus the guidelines don't match the right perspective (they are adjustable in the camera software menus, but limited).

3. A demo of driving up to my gate, assisted by the front camera. Note I thought the final park distance was 6-8 inches but it's actually 4.5".

 

[Akikiki]

@stevew25561, nice what you have come up with here. Cleverly done. Question: Do I see that correctly? The Oracle Remote Control system has a built-in interface that is Homelink compatible and you can control the Oracle Remote switch via the Homelink controls on the S? If so, WOW!!

 

[SteveW25561]

@stevew25561, nice what you have come up with here. Cleverly done. Question: Do I see that correctly? The Oracle Remote Control system has a built-in interface that is Homelink compatible and you can control the Oracle Remote switch via the Homelink controls on the S? If so, WOW!!

Yes! The Oracle device was brought up by another member (vfx if I recall correctly) and it was the key to making this look almost like a factory control. I wish we could have more home links as the Oracle has 4 buttons but I like what it does already!

 

[JerryNycom]

Excellent work Steve! Can't wait to see what other ideas with home link and the oracle switcher people come up with.

 

[wormhole]

Wow, incredibly well done! Now if I could only coerce you to coming down to NY to install for me!

 

[Morristhecat]

Wow SteveW, nice job. I have been for a front parking solution and thus following artsci's work, but your solution is quite clean. I am seriously going to consider this.

One question, are the parking lines on the mirror screen adjustable?

 

[Musterion]

@steve,this is awesome!

1) Can you post a picture of the front of the reassembled car to see how visible the camera is?
2) How is the brightness of the video compared to your earlier try with the nice looking mirror?