Tesla will soon add some new and often requested navigation features, as well as update the driver monitoring system to be more robust, all through a free over-the-air (OTA) software update.
The new features were spotted by Tesla hacker @greentheonly in the source code of the latest Full Self-Driving (FSD) update 11.4.8.1, which was included in software update 2023.27.12. According to green the update includes speed and red light camera locations in the navigation, and a driver “liveliness” monitoring system.
Speed and Red Light Cameras
Ove the years there have been lots of call from Tesla owners for the company to incorporate Waze into the onboard navigation. Waze is a community-driven navigation app that updates in real-time based on information from other users. One of the more useful updates from users is the location of traffic cameras or speed traps, which are subsequently displayed on the map. While Tesla will not be integrating Waze, it looks like they are implementing their own solution.
According to Green, Tesla will soon display the location of speed cameras, both fixed and mobile locations, as well as red light cameras capturing both speeders and red light runners.
Other Navigation Features
Green also noted in his post on X (formerly Twitter) that “a number of navigation features are in the wings.” Only two examples were provided, including the option to adjust your route to avoid construction, and the option to include u-turns on your route.
Driver Monitoring System Updates
Tesla has been using its cabin camera to monitor driver attentiveness. Apparently some users have been trying to trick the system into believing they are paying attention to the road by placing pictures of themselves in front of the camera. Tesla has gotten wise to this and is now adding a system to monitor “driver liveliness.” Unlike previous discoveries by Green related to the ability to detect driver drowsiness, the hacker did not provide any examples of what Tesla may be looking for to determine how lively you are.
According to Green this driver liveliness system has actually been in the source code for some time, but Tesla appears to finally be implementing it.
While Green noted these features were included in the 2023.27.12 software update, he clarified that they were not present to drivers in the user interface (UI). This suggests Tesla is still tweaking the features, but that a release should come soon, perhaps in the Holiday Update that is rumoured to include FSD v12.
the cabin cam driver monitor now assesses “driver liveliness” (as a ploy to defeat using static pictures to fool the driver monitor it seems?) – this was in AP code for some time and is now finally finding its way to UI.
— green (@greentheonly) December 3, 2023
