I'm making a camera system that replaces the mirrors on the NIssan Leaf '10-'17
Why? Three things:
- The Leaf mirrors add a surprising amount of drag through their horrible aft aerodynamics (the airflow basically immediately detaches at any significant speed)
- The Leaf mirrors cause some noise, especially in crosswind. Turbulent air from the A pillar impinges on the relatively hollow mirror assembly (which is rigidly attached to the door frame and not sound insulated), causing lotsa noise
- The mirrors stick out quite a lot
So the way I'm designing the cameras now, they actually aren't wider than the car body, obviating the need for an articulating folding mechanism. Because the camera's view is always the same, there is no need for adjustment either. It's just a 3D printed enclosure with a camera inside.
The cameras, for now, are Raspberry Pi cameras, displayed by a Pi Zero 2 on a random 5" display. One set for each mirror. This isn't efficient but easy to prototype.
Regulatory requirements
So, here in the Netherlands we apparently do not yet have hard regulations around side mirror-replacement cameras. The entirety of validation consists of - paraphrased:
"If the mirrors are replaced by a camera system, the camera system shall be properly mounted - tested by a visual inspection"
Ultimately UN/ECE rule 56 will be enforced in the future, which also adds a bunch of further technical requirements. However, for the time being, this is an easy playground for experimentation and a great way to get to understand the design space of this tech. Or, in the timeless words of William Osman: it's 3D printing time!
The things
I'm not nearly done yet
This is more of a project announcement than everything done and dusted. I like to show projects early so y'all can shoot on it and suggest things to do. There are still a lot of unknowns in this project. A small selection of questions I still have:
- Adding up the component cost, this isn't a cheap mod. It's looking like a kit would be at least $500 for the full set of mirrors and displays. I'm pretty sure this is not really commercially viable, so I'm debating whether to open source it or do some codevelopment. If there's commercial potential, I'm willing to put in the money to get it approved.
- Does anybody know anywhere I can find a heated flat glass lens? I'd like the thing to be self-clearing of moisture
- Thinking of repurposing the camera folding button to make the assembly turn down, showing the curb instead of a rear view
- Can I just... use a CSI to HDMI adapter and directly show the camera image on an HDMI display? I can only find adapter boards that work the other way around though - HDMI to CSI, which is kinda pointless.
Links and addenda
https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/a1c2892e-b3ff-11e3-86f9-01aa75ed71a1