Tesla hacker @greentheonly discovered strings of code last year that hinted Tesla could use the Model 3/Y in-cabin camera to monitor drivers and ensure they are paying attention when Autopilot is active.
In a series of videos shared to Twitter, green shows the tiny camera might do a half-decent job at driver monitoring.
The high quality colour footage shows the camera provides a good view of both the driver and front passenger, even at night time in low-light conditions.
I was a bit surprised that in a city at night there's enough environment lighting to make DM seem very workable.
All these videos are full resolution, 36 fps as Tesla uses them. pic.twitter.com/L4V0fw2WkX— green (@greentheonly) April 5, 2021
The view is not perfect, as the driver shows that by opening and extending the sun visor, you can completely block your face from the camera.
As green points out, attempting to monitor drivers using this camera could be more effective than systems that attempt to only track the driver’s eyes. The camera gives almost a full view of the driver, although it can be blocked by both the rear-view mirror and sun visor.
Much has been said about Tesla’s in-cabin camera that has been included in the Model 3 since it was launched in 2017. It remained dormant in the electric sedan until Tesla activated it in a software update last year.
Located just above the rear-view mirror, it was also included in the Model Y when it launched last year, and will also be included in the refresh Model S/X.
Here are two longer videos that green posted to Twitter showing both daytime and night time drives.
