MG ZS EV "Lost" front camera

[DonLeslie]

Whilst trying to silence the audible lane assist warning I seem to have switched off the front facing camera. The user manual (I have a ZS Exclusive 2021) isn't very helpful on restoring it. Any ideas?
Don

 

[Bodgerx]

Not sure you can control that... It should just be there when you have the right view. What are you not seeing that you usually see?

 

[DonLeslie]

Well, I thought I had seen a forward view similar to the rear view. Or am I mistaken?

 

[Bodgerx]

Well, I thought I had seen a forward view similar to the rear view. Or am I mistaken?

I think it might be used to augment the 360 outside view, but I don't remember seeing a dedicated view for just the front.

 

[Kithmo]

It's not in the manual because you can't turn off the front camera.
If you're getting warnings about it not being on it's just misted up or covered in frost, it clears itself after a while.
There is no forward view on the Exclusive just rear, the front camera is just for the safety aids like collision avoidance and pedestrian alert etc.

 

[N2STY]

I get front view after using reverse you can also bring it up by pressing the 360 button and tap front of car same as side view just tap side of car (gen2)

 

[Kithmo]

I get front view after using reverse you can also bring it up by pressing the 360 button and tap front of car same as side view just tap side of car

Not on the Exclusive.

 

[N2STY]

Not on the Exclusive.

Yes sorry was replying to @Bodgerx

 

[Kithmo]

Yes sorry was replying to @Bodgerx

I think he's deleted it,

 

[Cocijo]

I wonder why it doesn’t double as a dash cam - that would be great.

 

[N2STY]

I wonder why it doesn’t double as a dash cam - that would be great.

I agree that a good utilisation of the 5 cameras

 

[DonLeslie]

Thanks for your responses. Maybe I dreamt it....

 

[BarryH]

I wonder why it doesn’t double as a dash cam - that would be great.

The camera at the top of the windscreen would be better as a Dashcam since it is powered and works to feed camera signal to the lane assist and auto headlight systems so it would seem like a good idea to use these. However other than Sentry Mode on Tesla I don't know of any cars that do use it so I suspect that the lens systems and imaging chips are optimised for the systems they serve and therefore may not produce and useable video signal we ould find acceptable for DashCam footage.

 

[crite40]

I can tell you a funny story about the front camera. Recently I had a fall and when I went to our
local medical centre to be patched up, I hit a bush with my front number plate and cracked the plastic surround. I later glued it up and used an old style large paper clip to hold it in place while it cured. A day or two later I got a warning that the cruise control following and pedestrian avoidance systems weren't working! As it happens I had left the big clip in place and the arms of the clip were blocking the view of the forward camera which is installed directly under and behind the number plate in my ZS. BTW I do NOT remember a forward view display, in fact I have a separate camera mounted on my dash and run off a USB port.
BTW does anyone know of a means of using regenerative braking under cruise control.
My area of NZ has a lot of 80 Km speed limits and the control is useful for this, does seem like
a waste of energy and wear on the brakes without regen though!!
My own car is 94% solar powered as I charge it from a 5 Kw solar roof and at 36 degrees South this
produces quite a lot of energy. I also power the house in daytime and export any surplus power back to the grid (about 300 kW/H last month) Southern summer of course.

 

[MikeN]

Hope both you and the car are patched up okay .
Unfortunately regen doesn’t occur when in cruise control mode, my moan from day one.
Another question, can reactive cruise control be switched off? On UK windey roads the car brakes suddenly when the beam hits a vehicle coming towards you.

 

[Kithmo]

I can tell you a funny story about the front camera. Recently I had a fall and when I went to our
local medical centre to be patched up, I hit a bush with my front number plate and cracked the plastic surround. I later glued it up and used an old style large paper clip to hold it in place while it cured. A day or two later I got a warning that the cruise control following and pedestrian avoidance systems weren't working! As it happens I had left the big clip in place and the arms of the clip were blocking the view of the forward camera which is installed directly under and behind the number plate in my ZS. BTW I do NOT remember a forward view display, in fact I have a separate camera mounted on my dash and run off a USB port.
BTW does anyone know of a means of using regenerative braking under cruise control.
My area of NZ has a lot of 80 Km speed limits and the control is useful for this, does seem like
a waste of energy and wear on the brakes without regen though!!
My own car is 94% solar powered as I charge it from a 5 Kw solar roof and at 36 degrees South this
produces quite a lot of energy. I also power the house in daytime and export any surplus power back to the grid (about 300 kW/H last month) Southern summer of course.

FYI, the front camera is at the top of the windscreen, the square near the number plate is the forward facing radar.

 

[Eclectic]

FYI, the front camera is at the top of the windscreen, the square near the number plate is the forward facing radar.

There is a camera just under the front MG badge, just above the number plate

 

[crite40]

I must stand corrected. It certainly could be the radar, but at many GHz it would behave quite like a camera electronically. However MG seem to be making a lot of modifications as they go on the ZS. Just here we have two locations for the front camera. However my message definitely said that cruise following was not working and neither was pedestrian avoidance. In that case what is the front camera actually used for, or is it a backup to the radar?
I may be a retired electronics engineer but since this is only the second new vehicle I have ever owned I am still finding things out even after a year of use.

 

[N2STY]

One in window is auto high beam and assists the radar with shape to the detection
The one on the front (under badge) is part of the 360 and the one you see after you use reverse

 

[crite40]

Thanks for confirming that! Yes they must work together in some way so a microwave image and a visual image are compared in the computer to get a pretty foolproof front view. I have rarely driven my ZS at night so haven't checked out the auto high beam yet. But it is good to know that it does that too!