Want to Fool Tesla’s FSD and Grab Some Winks? Just Add a Doll Head and a Suction Cup
Key takeaways
- Drivers in China found a bizarre way to fool Tesla’s Full Self-Driving into thinking they are awake.
- A fully self-driving car without human supervision has been Elon Musk’s dream since taking over Tesla, his all-electric car company.
- Tesla’s FSD relies primarily on a camera located above the rearview mirror to check whether drivers are awake and attentive.
Why this matters: an automotive development that could shape industry direction or buying decisions.
Drivers in China found a bizarre way to fool Tesla’s Full Self-Driving into thinking they are awake. No, we don’t recommend it.
A fully self-driving car without human supervision has been Elon Musk’s dream since taking over Tesla, his all-electric car company. Unfortunately, that reality is still a little way off from reaching the masses (despite Musk pushing out its robotaxi service in select areas), and Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) still relies on humans. But there may be a flaw in how FSD (Supervised) checks whether drivers are paying attention. Tesla owners in China have discovered that a doll head mounted to a suction cup or magnet can fool the system into thinking someone alert is behind the wheel.
Tesla’s FSD relies primarily on a camera located above the rearview mirror to check whether drivers are awake and attentive. It is supposed to monitor whether the driver is paying attention to the road, so it looks for a head facing forward. It does not necessarily require the driver’s eyes to be visible. As Tesla’s owner’s manual states, “The cabin camera does not require full visibility of the driver's eyes to monitor attentiveness. The system is still active, for example, if the driver is wearing sunglasses.”