Wireless rear view camera that could be used on the 1.5 cars?

[ecarfan]

This product looks like it could be ideal for the Roadster: a license plate frame with a camera mounted in it, the frame contains batteries to power the camera and to connect your phone over a locally generated wifi network which displays the camera image, plus the frame has a small solar cell to recharge the batteries (read that in a news story about the product, it's not on the company website, see These Three Apple Engineers Want To Put A Backup Camera With Computer Vision On Your Car).

Company website is here: Pearl - No New Car Required

Claimed to be shipping in September. Let's see if they can execute.

One concern I have: it appears there is something that you plug into the car's OBD port to make it work. I already have an OVMS plugged into my Roadster which I do not want to go without. The Pearl Auto website gives no specifics about the product so it doesn't describe that.

Pearl Automation’s license plate cover puts a car backup camera on your phone

Apple Alums Dream Up a $500 Backup Camera For Any Car

 

[MileHighMotoring]

Wow, that's a great product idea. I wish it weren't 13.5x the price of a camera licence plate alone <gulp> Amazon.com: Esky 170° Viewing Angle Universal Car License Plate Frame Mount Rear View Camera, 8 IR LED: Cell Phones & Accessories

 

[ecarfan]

Yes it is expensive, but it's wireless so you don't have to provide power to the camera or run a line from the camera to the dash display.

 

[supersnoop]

Yes it is expensive, but it's wireless so you don't have to provide power to the camera or run a line from the camera to the dash display.

How is it powered???

 

[jeremyz]

I would guess magic. Or maybe a piezoelectric charger or magnet moving back and forth through a coil that is using the car's motion to charge a battery.

 

[Habious]

One concern I have: it appears there is something that you plug into the car's OBD port to make it work. I already have an OVMS plugged into my Roadster which I do not want to go without. The Pearl Auto website gives no specifics about the product so it doesn't describe that.

The OVMS module plugs into the Roadster's DIAGNOSTIC port (which is located in the passenger footwell), not the OBD-II port (which is required to be located in the driver's footwell...within a certain distance of the steering wheel).

 

[MileHighMotoring]

How is it powered???

plus the frame has a small solar cell to recharge the batteries

 

[markwj]

Not a lot of information, but I guess they are getting at least the following from the OBDII port:

a) Gear selected (reverse, forward, park, etc)
b) Speed (the camera shuts off once you’re rolling forward at 10 mph)
c) Power for the dongle

The Roadster OBDII wont provide (a) or (b), so this probably won't work.

From a point of view of co-existing with OVMS, there won't be a problem. They use different ports (roadster uses DIAG port, this uses OBDII port).

 

[ecarfan]

Mark, thanks for clarifying, my ignorance about modern car electronics knows no limits.

If the Roadster OBD II port won't provide your a) or b) I think the product may still work, the camera image could just be on all the time which in fact would be my preference! I leave my S rear view camera image on all the time at the top of the center display. That is what I have always wanted in my 1.5.

 

[ecarfan]

Wow, that's a great product idea. I wish it weren't 13.5x the price of a camera licence plate alone <gulp>

Keep in mind that this product is 2 cameras for stereo vision with image processing to determine distance from objects and alert the driver of the car is close. Pretty cool. If it works well.

 

[Rolf68]

Not a lot of information, but I guess they are getting at least the following from the OBDII port:

a) Gear selected (reverse, forward, park, etc)
b) Speed (the camera shuts off once you’re rolling forward at 10 mph)
c) Power for the dongle

The Roadster OBDII wont provide (a) or (b), so this probably won't work.

From a point of view of co-existing with OVMS, there won't be a problem. They use different ports (roadster uses DIAG port, this uses OBDII port).

Hello markwj

I didn't know that the Roadster indeed had a ODB-II installed. I once wanted to buy a HUD to cast the speed on the windshield, as I find it hard to read on the display, but I abandonned the idea once I discovered that those products mainly plugs in a ODB-II and I didn't find any reference to it in the manual.

You say there's one in the Roadster, but if it doesn't provide gear nor speed, then what's the purpose of this stuff??

Best regards

 

[Habious]

Hello markwj

I didn't know that the Roadster indeed had a ODB-II installed. I once wanted to buy a HUD to cast the speed on the windshield, as I find it hard to read on the display, but I abandonned the idea once I discovered that those products mainly plugs in a ODB-II and I didn't find any reference to it in the manual.

You say there's one in the Roadster, but if it doesn't provide gear nor speed, then what's the purpose of this stuff??

Best regards

I bought a OBD-II HUD display from Amazon once. Plugged it in...didn't work (it got power but, no usable data from the car.) I ended up going with a GPS-based HUD unit...works really well in the Roadster.

So, yeah, there is an OBD-II port for sure on the Roadster (they're required on all passenger cars by the Clean Air Act of 1996) but from a user perspective, it isn't of much use.

 

[markwj]

You say there's one in the Roadster, but if it doesn't provide gear nor speed, then what's the purpose of this stuff??

Good question. From what I can see, there is very little of interest on that port. About the only uses of it are (a) for the TPMS reset tool to talk to the TPMS controller box, and (b) to get 12V power for accessories. There is certainly no standard OBDII controller on it, and it doesn't respond to any of the normal OBDII standard commands.

Perhaps there is legislation to say that all cars have to have an OBDII port, but doesn't specify they have to provide any data on that port if they don't need to provide emissions data (which is the original purpose of the port in the first place)?

 

[Habious]

The first generation of On-Board Diagnostic requirements, called OBD I, was developed by the California Air Resources Board (ARB) and implemented in 1988. As technology and the desire to expand On-Board Diagnostic capability increased, a second-generation of On-Board Diagnostics requirements was developed. This second version of On-Board Diagnostic capabilities is called "OBD II". The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 mandated that, beginning with the 1996 model year, all light-duty vehicle and trucks made available for sale outside of the state of California must also be equipped with OBDII.

The OBD II system monitors virtually every component that can affect the emission performance of the vehicle to ensure that the vehicle remains as clean as possible over its entire life, and assists repair technicians in diagnosing and fixing problems with the computerized engine controls. If a problem is detected, the OBD II system illuminates a warning lamp on the vehicle instrument panel to alert the driver. This warning lamp typically contains the phrase Check Engine or Service Engine Soon. The system will also store important information about the detected malfunction so that a repair technician can accurately find and fix the problem.

Source: Link

 

[Rolf68]

I bought a OBD-II HUD display from Amazon once. Plugged it in...didn't work (it got power but, no usable data from the car.) I ended up going with a GPS-based HUD unit...works really well in the Roadster.

So, yeah, there is an OBD-II port for sure on the Roadster (they're required on all passenger cars by the Clean Air Act of 1996) but from a user perspective, it isn't of much use.

Ok, so if I understand correctly, its presence is required by law but doesn't do anything useable. Too bad, as I suppose it wouldn't have been too much pain to make it functionnal for HUD / other third party goodies. Thanks for the answer

P.S. I also considered buying a GPS based HUD, but those are quite expensive for what they do.

 

[Rolf68]

Good question. From what I can see, there is very little of interest on that port. About the only uses of it are (a) for the TPMS reset tool to talk to the TPMS controller box, and (b) to get 12V power for accessories. There is certainly no standard OBDII controller on it, and it doesn't respond to any of the normal OBDII standard commands.

Perhaps there is legislation to say that all cars have to have an OBDII port, but doesn't specify they have to provide any data on that port if they don't need to provide emissions data (which is the original purpose of the port in the first place)?

Yep, sound slike a requirement. I wonder if there's such a thing in the european Roadsters, as we don't have the TPMS installed. Maybe it simply isn't implemented in our cars... Thanks for the answer

 

[Rolf68]

The first generation of On-Board Diagnostic requirements, called OBD I, was developed by the California Air Resources Board (ARB) and implemented in 1988. As technology and the desire to expand On-Board Diagnostic capability increased, a second-generation of On-Board Diagnostics requirements was developed. This second version of On-Board Diagnostic capabilities is called "OBD II". The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 mandated that, beginning with the 1996 model year, all light-duty vehicle and trucks made available for sale outside of the state of California must also be equipped with OBDII.

The OBD II system monitors virtually every component that can affect the emission performance of the vehicle to ensure that the vehicle remains as clean as possible over its entire life, and assists repair technicians in diagnosing and fixing problems with the computerized engine controls. If a problem is detected, the OBD II system illuminates a warning lamp on the vehicle instrument panel to alert the driver. This warning lamp typically contains the phrase Check Engine or Service Engine Soon. The system will also store important information about the detected malfunction so that a repair technician can accurately find and fix the problem.

Source: Link

Very informative, thanks

 

[Habious]

P.S. I also considered buying a GPS based HUD, but those are quite expensive for what they do.

This is the one I bought...

Amazon.com : Generic WY-A1 Universal GPS Speedometer with Over Speed Warning : Car Electronics

$56.00...but a 3-5 week shipping time so, I hope you're not in a hurry for it!

It plugs into the 12V accessory outlet, but I hardwired it (via an add-a-circuit fuse tap) into the fuse panel . Very clean installation. I've also found that a length of clear tubing from Home Depot works great for tucking the wire down at the bottom of the windshield. No adhesives, and can be removed in 1.5 seconds.

 

[Rolf68]

This is the one I bought...

Amazon.com : Generic WY-A1 Universal GPS Speedometer with Over Speed Warning : Car Electronics

$56.00...but a 3-5 week shipping time so, I hope you're not in a hurry for it!

It plugs into the 12V accessory outlet, but I hardwired it (via an add-a-circuit fuse tap) into the fuse panel . Very clean installation. I've also found that a length of clear tubing from Home Depot works great for tucking the wire down at the bottom of the windshield. No adhesives, and can be removed in 1.5 seconds.

Hello Habious

Thanks for the link. This one seems to be quite affordable and without the unnecessary "Bling-Bling" other models are delivered with. I'll give it a try, I'm not in a hurry it's just a nice to have feature in the car

Best regards

 

[Cattledog]

OK Germany, we'll bite. Because the next generation of Autopilot will be much more than the equivalent of airline autopilot, let's leapfrog the issue and come up with a name that sidesteps the issues Germany (and others) have with 'autopilot'. Let's find a name that could mean less than autopilot now but much more later, without needing to change the name again.
Ideas?

Tesla Drive
Hyperdrive
Driveshare
Setitandforgetit
Arewethereyet

These are boring, what about some others, this is a creative group!