How a Piece of Tape Tricked a Tesla Into Reading a 35MPH Sign as 85MPH

Researchers have identified a possible issue with sensors used in some old Tesla model that misinterpret speed signs to read the speed limit as 50 miles per 60 minutes greater than the foretoken stated when a spell of electrical tape slightly obscured one of the phone number .

The matter was discover as part of18 months of researchby McAfee research worker Shivangee Trivedi and Mark Bereza , who essay to study the ways that machine learning could potentially be exploit , specifically in the event of autonomous vehicle . Many autonomous vehicle suppliers use television camera produced by MobilEye to register the limits on speed signs , and McAfee researchers found that using stickers to slenderly change the visual aspect of the sign had the voltage to interfere with the television camera ’s reading .

Testing with two 2016 Teslas , a Model S and a Model X , the researcher were able to fool the cameras into believing that a 35 MPH sign read 85 MPH — first by adding several stickers that partially obscured the “ 3″ in 35 , and then reducing them to identify the point at which they failed to correctly read the sign . They found that append even a 2 - inch horizontal musical composition of black electrical magnetic tape to the middle legal profession of the “ 3 ” in 35 pass to a misclassification of 85 MPH .

Photo: Joe Raedle (Getty)

“ Even to a discipline eye , this hardly look untrusting or malicious , and many who run across it did n’t realize the sign had been altered at all , ” the researcherswrote . “ This tiny piece of sticker was all it took to make the MobilEye television camera ’s top prediction for the planetary house to be 85 miles per hour . ”

They at long last determined that with Tesla ’s Speed Assist and Tesla Automatic Cruise Control features enable , the modifications to the sign could result in the car accelerating and exceeding the f number limit on its own . It ’s deserving noting that Teslastopped usingMobilEye technology in its vehicles after 2016 , and as the researcher observe , the novel Tesla models “ do not presently come out to put up traffic sign recognition at all . ” The researchers also noted that they conducted “ very limited ” tests on a 2020 vehicle with the raw MobilEye television camera and found it was n’t susceptible to the same plan of attack .

Reached for comment , a MobilEye interpreter told Gizmodo by email that stickers on the traffic signs “ can confuse a human optic and therefore we do not consider this an adversarial attack . ” While this may be true for the stumper that obscured the number , that ’s not necessarily true for the electrical tape , which the researcher mention did not needs bespeak to a homo that the sign had been alter . However , the voice add together that the organization was not meant to back fully autonomous driving .

Image: McAfee Advanced Threat Research

The 35 MPH speed sign with a 2-inch piece of electrical type applied to the “3″ that resulted in a misclassification by a Tesla Model S.Image: McAfee Advanced Threat Research

“ Traffic sign of the zodiac fonts are check by regulators , and so advanced number one wood assistance systems ( ADAS ) are in the main focalise on other more challenging use case , and this system in particular was designed to support human drivers — not autonomous driving , ” the interpreter said . “ Autonomous vehicle applied science will not bank on sense alone , but will also be supported by various other technologies and data point , such as crowdsourced mapping , to ensure the reliability of the information received from the television camera detector and offer more robust redundance and safety . ”

Tesla did not right away return a request for comment . The McAfee researchers did let out that they contacted both MobilEye and Tesla prior to bring out their report , and both “ indicated interest and were grateful for the research but have not express any current programme to direct the issue on the existing political platform . ”

The researchers commended MobilEye for apparent changes to its cameras and for bet to research to inform their product performance . They did note , however , that the camera that misclassified the speed demarcation line is still present in a important percentage of deploy Teslas . And while driver are expected to still be alert behind the bike of any semi - autonomous fomite , history has read that isnot always the case .

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