Using raspberry zero instead of flash drive for sentry mode??? Some feedbacks?

[Nickà]

Hi

I should get my m3 in a couple of weeks and i’m reading tons of threads about it

I’m currently looking for the best solution for sentry mode drive. It seems usb drive are crappy, etc..

i have found some folks that have configured a raspberry zero w for the sentry mode. Car sees it as a usb drive, it seems to be able to repair broken files and when you’re home, it upload the videos directly to your nas thanks to your wifi..

well, i use a lot of rpi for many projects and i love them, but i would like to know if some of you use this solution and so get your feedbacks.

if some are interested, here is the link to the project

marcone/teslausb

Have a good day

 

[Watts_Up]

The TeslaUSB project provides a lot of the functionalities of a typical dash cam,
however I would still recommend getting a dash cam such as the Black Vue DR900S 4K UHD.
The TeslaCam don't provides enough definition for reading license plate numbers.

 

[BluestarE3]

Lots of info and discussion here:
Anyone still rocking a Pi Zero W smart drive for TeslaCam on Sentry Mode?

 

[ErinBoBerin]

Honestly, I just use an Endurance card with an SD to USB adapter. I did buy a Pi Zero W and threw Marcone’s TeslaUSB on there, and ran it for a couple days. I had two issues:

1. While TeslaCam recorded to it, some of the footage was missing from sentry events.
2. I don’t want to use the APIs to keep the car awake during upload. I have sentry off at home and either my car was going to sleep a lot faster than I anticipated, or the Pi was having issues finishing uploads to my NAS. My WiFi in the garage is fine.

So now, I am back to the legacy method and use the Tesla-DashCam project to merge the files together. I also got an adapter so I can plug the SD card into my iPhone in the event I want to review footage in the car. I’m bummed out about the Pi method but I prefer reliability over convenience. Now I have yet another extra Pi.

 

[woof]

There's a commercial solution (no idea if it's any good...just passing along the link):
Roadie for Tesla

 

[linux-works]

I'm working on yet another fork of the rasp pi projects. it takes a different approach toward usb storage and also about security.

the plan: use a USB a/b switch (such as https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JX3Q28Y/ ) and put a micro-sd/usb storage module on the 'middle port', the computer A port goes to the tesla usb front port and the computer port B goes to a rasp pi on its normal usb port (not the OTG one, as we are not emulating a usb storage device; we are just SWITCHING the existing real one).

the rpi will have some GPIO tied to the A/B switches and it will have some stateful knowledge of when it should connect to the car and when it should connect to the pi (it, being the usb storage thing where the videos are written by the car).

what I plan is to send a control signal of some kind to the rpi and have it toggle the a/b switch, mount the usb drive, fsck the disk if needed, get any new files from it and startup a wifi AP so that my phone or laptop can get the new files). I then send another control signal to the rpi and it toggles the A/B switch back and turns off the wifi AP (probably also cleans the sd-card fresh again).

what I'm trying to accomplish; not have the rpi be an always-on wifi station. I want to selectively enable the wifi section and keep it only for only a short duration, ideally while I'm present in the car. I might use a physical hidden button to trigger this. I don't need it to be remotely triggerable; that's a security hole that I'd rather not deal with right now.

this will be mocked up with off the shelf parts, to see if I like how it all works. if it works out, I'll consider integrating a proper sd-card socket, usb-sd bridge chip and make it a 'shield' that plugs into a normal rpi and eliminates as many wires and contacts as I can.

I don't love the OTG idea. the rpi isn't ideal for that and I'd rather there be very little between the car and the storage system. a hardware based a/b switch is trustable; it just needs a controller and that will be the rpi and a gpio wire or two.

 

[hugh_jassol]

Hi

I should get my m3 in a couple of weeks and i’m reading tons of threads about it

I’m currently looking for the best solution for sentry mode drive. It seems usb drive are crappy, etc..

i have found some folks that have configured a raspberry zero w for the sentry mode. Car sees it as a usb drive, it seems to be able to repair broken files and when you’re home, it upload the videos directly to your nas thanks to your wifi..

well, i use a lot of rpi for many projects and i love them, but i would like to know if some of you use this solution and so get your feedbacks.

if some are interested, here is the link to the project

marcone/teslausb

Have a good day

I've been using this since June. Works well for me - never had an issue with it. I park in a garage at work an home, so I rarely use sentry mode, but when I do, it uploads to my NAS as soon as I pull into the garage. I don't use the feature where it keeps the car awake, and it's never missed uploading anything.

I use a PiZeroW with a 32 GB Samsung EVO Select SD card.

The fatal flaw in the dashcam as implemented by Tesla is if the car is awake, it's recording. And it only records an hour unless you a) press the icon on the screen to save a "clip" or b) have Sentry on and it records an event. So... if you are driving and something happens... and maybe you know, in the heat of the moment you aren't thinking about pressing the tiny camera icon on your screen... you only have an hour until that recording is gone. Even if you come home and park, the car goes to sleep, and then later that day you think "Oh let me pull the footage!" The instant the car wakes up, bam! it deletes all of the files because they are now more than an hour old.

I might be inclined to go back to "just" a USB drive if they implement viewing of the recordings on the screen in the car. Most of the time, I just quickly glance at them on my laptop and then delete. If I could do that from the dash, that would be awesome.

 

[denisj]

Just for subscribe to the thread

 

[Watts_Up]

Just for subscribe to the thread

There is a "Watch Thread" on the top right, just for that reason...

 

[woodguyatl]

I've been using this since June. Works well for me - never had an issue with it. I park in a garage at work an home, so I rarely use sentry mode, but when I do, it uploads to my NAS as soon as I pull into the garage. I don't use the feature where it keeps the car awake, and it's never missed uploading anything.

I use a PiZeroW with a 32 GB Samsung EVO Select SD card.

The fatal flaw in the dashcam as implemented by Tesla is if the car is awake, it's recording. And it only records an hour unless you a) press the icon on the screen to save a "clip" or b) have Sentry on and it records an event. So... if you are driving and something happens... and maybe you know, in the heat of the moment you aren't thinking about pressing the tiny camera icon on your screen... you only have an hour until that recording is gone. Even if you come home and park, the car goes to sleep, and then later that day you think "Oh let me pull the footage!" The instant the car wakes up, bam! it deletes all of the files because they are now more than an hour old.

I might be inclined to go back to "just" a USB drive if they implement viewing of the recordings on the screen in the car. Most of the time, I just quickly glance at them on my laptop and then delete. If I could do that from the dash, that would be awesome.

Also, beeping the horn saves the footage just like pushing the red button.

 

[Kevy Baby]

There's a commercial solution (no idea if it's any good...just passing along the link):
Roadie for Tesla

I bought one and it works exactly it is supposed to. And the developer is a small guy (not some big corporation) and is on TMC @Roadie

 

[denisj]

There is a "Watch Thread" on the top right, just for that reason...

Ah ok... thanks a lot
Denis

 

[Farzag]

I'm working on yet another fork of the rasp pi projects. it takes a different approach toward usb storage and also about security.

This sounds exactly like what I’d like. Did you make progress with it, and do you have anything to share?

 

[linux-works]

I have the a/b switch but the project has not gotton any time; been busy with other things.

this is now a low prio project for me; since my car is not moving/parked and with the lockdown going on, it won't be much use to me for another month or even two. at that point, I may restart my project.

and, with the addition of the tesla-supported sentry viewer, there's even less reason to transfer the data to your pc. most of the time, I would assume you'll view things, delete them and only very rarely will you want to remove the drive and make a copy to your pc.

before, you HAD to, just to view the videos. now, when they have the view feature fully working, I see much less need to have a switched usb thumbdrive.

I still do see a need to hide the thumbdrive; but that's really just a cable trick, at this point. put a dummy up front, remove the cable jack from the back and install a male-female extension wire that's 6' or so and run the other end in the glovebox or somwhere else hidden.

 

[Watts_Up]

I have the a/b switch but the project has not gotton any time; been busy with other things.
and, with the addition of the tesla-supported sentry viewer,
there's even less reason to transfer the data to your pc.
most of the time, I would assume you'll view things, delete them and only
very rarely will you want to remove the drive and make a copy to your pc.

I still do see a need to hide the thumbdrive; but that's really just a cable trick, at this point.
put a dummy up front, remove the cable jack from the back and install a male-female extension
wire that's 6' or so and run the other end in the glovebox or somwhere else hidden.

It would still be nice to get an alert on your phone and be able to check some video or images snapshot remotely on your phone.
May be Raspberry could provide this functionality? Similarly to a Blackvue dashcam content that you can check in the cloud.

Currently the Tesla browser don't provides deleting several files together, or by time period...
May be Raspberry could be used to do this?

Note: To provide a simple way to hide the USB cables, and make the area cleaner, I put a center console tray organizer.
If you insert and push this tray a little bit hard, it becomes difficult to remove it.
Thus if someone break into your car, unless to be familiar with this car, it seems that it cannot be removed.

 

[linux-works]

lol, I have that same center console (or one close to it) and yes, it will slow down a thief. maybe it will delay him long enough; but still, I'd rather really hide the usb and put a fake there so he thinks he's done and will leave.