Tesla is upgrading its in-car driving monitoring as it starts to count yawns and blinks to keep track of how drowsy the driver is. The camera will be able to track additional parameters even when the car is not on Autopilot to significantly boost safety.
(Photo : PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)
A Tesla Inc. electric vehicle is driven through a tunnel in the Boring Company's Las Vegas Convention Center Loop during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada, on January 5, 2023.
Tracking Drivers' Drowsiness
Since then, Tesla has been criticized over the years for not putting a lot of effort into driver monitoring with its advanced driver-assist features under the Autopilot and Full-Self Driving offerings. The automakers only detect torque on the steering wheel, which makes drivers move the wheel to let the system know that still had their hands on the vehicle.
Tesla Model 3 and Model Y were both launched with a cabin camera, with Model S and Model offering the feature with the 2021 refresh. This was launched two years ago, with the Autopilot system would require drivers to apply pressure on the steering wheel to keep it working. But other drivers learned that attaching a soda can or something can trick the system.
After launching it in 2021 that uses to make sure the driver is watching the road and not utilizing handheld devices, Tesla takes the driver monitoring system to a whole new level. According to a report from Electrek, a well-known hacker named Green revealed new features found in the software and discovered that the automaker now tracks other things like yawns and blinks.
The hacker added that it also looks like the company might apply this feature when not on Autopilot by seeing how well-centered the driving is, and how many lane keep assist warnings and corrections happened often. Despite this information, Green could not be find anything about the company's plans on whether to release the feature or if it reaches a threshold.
Green added that the code is being added but Tesla has not propagated anything to the UI as of yet. This means that it remains unclear and changes might not have taken effect as of the moment.
Also Read: Elon Musk's Tesla 'Self-Driving' Claim is Facing Criminal Probe, Says New Report
Improving the System
Despite its superior capabilities, Autoevolution reported that this is why Tesla Autopilot consistently ranked behind others of its competitors in terms of safety. Even with existing cameras, the new feature made it easy for users to trick the system in the simplest ways.
This includes covering the camera and using polarized glasses to fall back the old steering wheel check. While Tesla improved the driver monitoring system to make it harder for people to abuse the car's capabilities, the company never offered drowsiness detection or testing drivers' behavior.
Once the new feature is released, Teslarati reported that the newly-upgraded driving monitoring system will be just one of several safety features Tesla has made in recent memory, along with the Automatic Emergency Braking System.
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