12 pin connector and Trailer Surround View Camera

[gprguy]

This is awesome.. So @Jimmy07, on my 2023 5500 that I need to add surround to, other than needing to get the 12 pin connector wired up at the rear bumper does this take care of the issue of activating the trailer surround? Seems like it to me, but I wanted to make sure there wasn't something else. Thanks!

 

[Jimmy07]

This is awesome.. So @Jimmy07, on my 2023 5500 that I need to add surround to, other than needing to get the 12 pin connector wired up at the rear bumper does this take care of the issue of activating the trailer surround? Seems like it to me, but I wanted to make sure there wasn't something else. Thanks!

This will activate trailer surround. It won’t “enable” the trailer gateway module, and I’m still digging around for that one, but I don’t think it matters. If you are adding it from scratch, it should just work once it’s plugged into the bus. Similar to the trailer tire pressure gateway- it doesn’t technically need to be enabled, it just works.

 

[gprguy]

This will activate trailer surround. It won’t “enable” the trailer gateway module, and I’m still digging around for that one, but I don’t think it matters. If you are adding it from scratch, it should just work once it’s plugged into the bus. Similar to the trailer tire pressure gateway- it doesn’t technically need to be enabled, it just works.

And by the trailer gateway module you mean the security gateway for the two CAN lines in the 12 pin connector, which is probably a good idea to have but not required?

Awesome work, thank you again.

 

[Jimmy07]

And by the trailer gateway module you mean the security gateway for the two CAN lines in the 12 pin connector, which is probably a good idea to have but not required?

Awesome work, thank you again.

It’s not required, but definitely a good idea to have. Mainly, if you get rear ended or something, it’s possible for the exposed can lines to short and bring down that whole bus.

 

[gprguy]

It’s not required, but definitely a good idea to have. Mainly, if you get rear ended or something, it’s possible for the exposed can lines to short and bring down that whole bus.

Got it. If you sort that one out too I definitely will add it once I get this project going (once I get the truck..).

 

[Jimmy07]

Got it. If you sort that one out too I definitely will add it once I get this project going (once I get the truck..).

My eyes are still wobbling from comparing and putting the AlfaOBD section names to the CAN IDs and messages for the surround view setting LOL. I’ll have to give it another look, but I suspect it’s the last reserved setting below. I don’t want to tell him though if I’m not 100% sure.

 

[gprguy]

I hear you. Just having the ability to turn on the trailer surround is huge, that was (hopefully) the last piece of the puzzle for me.

 

[v30]

I just wanted to clarify on this thread, is this AOBD upgrade only available on newer rams? For instance I have a 21 Longhorn, could I add the trailer 360 feature to my truck. Noting, I already have a 12 pin trailer connection. Thank you in advance!

 

[v30]

Any feedback on the quality of the cameras would be helpful as well, without getting too far off topic. The single trailer camera setup has horrible reviews of image quality being subpar. Thank you!

 

[Jimmy07]

I just wanted to clarify on this thread, is this AOBD upgrade only available on newer rams? For instance I have a 21 Longhorn, could I add the trailer 360 feature to my truck. Noting, I already have a 12 pin trailer connection. Thank you in advance!

There’s a bit more involved with adding trailer surround view to a 2021. You would need to swap in the UC5 radio, and a 2022 BCM.

 

[CortexM0]

I've been trying to add the 360 trailer camera to my 23 truck and have been having some problems. When I just hooked the system up, I got the 360 video on "Aux 1". But, as expected, none of the controls worked.


So I then enabled "TSVCM Trailer Surround View Camera Module" with AlfaOBD. Now it now longer shows "Aux 1", and has an option for "Trailer Surround Camera" instead. Unfortunately, this button is grayed out. If I try to select it, I get a message about Camera System Unavailable.


Any suggestions on what to try next?

 

[CortexM0]

I've always thought the controller box for the 360 trailer camera system was oddly big. So I opened it up. Turns out it's mostly empty space.

 

[CortexM0]

I've always thought the controller box for the 360 trailer camera system was oddly big. So I opened it up. Turns out it's mostly empty space.

View attachment 54263

And the module inside the enclosure looks strangely similar (although not identical) to another module under the driver's seat.


I believe this is the module for the 360 camera system on the truck. It has one more camera input, and the video output is through a pink fakra connector instead of wires to the main connector.

 

[CortexM0]

And the module inside the enclosure looks strangely similar (although not identical) to another module under the driver's seat.
View attachment 54272View attachment 54273

I believe this is the module for the 360 camera system on the truck. It has one more camera input, and the video output is through a pink fakra connector instead of wires to the main connector.

Opening up the 360 trailer module to look at the PCB. Looks like it's based around a Xilinx Zynq XA7Z020 SOC. In addition to the programmable logic, this features a dual ARM Cortex-A9 that can operate at up to 667 MHz. In the summary they even mention "embedded applications including multi-camera drivers assistance systems".

Taking a closer look at the PCB, you can see sections where they have support for, but do not populate components for an additional video input and output. I wouldn't be surprised if both modules use the same PCB, just built slightly differently and programmed with different firmware.

 

[CortexM0]

Opening up the 360 trailer module to look at the PCB. Looks like it's based around a Xilinx Zynq XA7Z020 SOC. In addition to the programmable logic, this features a dual ARM Cortex-A9 that can operate at up to 667 MHz. In the summary they even mention "embedded applications including multi-camera drivers assistance systems".

Taking a closer look at the PCB, you can see sections where they have support for, but do not populate components for an additional video input and output. I wouldn't be surprised if both modules use the same PCB, just built slightly differently and programmed with different firmware.

View attachment 54275

Mostly out of curiosity, I decided to try connecting one of the trailer cameras to the 360 camera module in the truck. And it worked. The trailer camera displayed in place of the front camera.

There is also another camera module under the driver's seat in my truck. This one appears to be for the Digital Rear View Mirror (DRVM). It has an entirely different enclosure. Where it's located it needs tall mounting legs to clear some ductwork. However given the size and connection locations, the internal PCB could be similar to that in the trailer module. (Unlike my 2nd hand trailer module, this one is still under warranty. I have no plans on opening it up. Despite my curiosity to see what the differences are.)



It has four inputs, labelled "RHOSM", "LHOSM", "CHMSL", and "TRAILER". (Notice the much thicker cabling used for the trailer). It has one output, labelled "RVDM". Additionally there are four wires going to the main connector, but they appear to only be power and ground.

At this point I tried disconnecting input labelled "trailer", and connecting one of my trailer cameras. Unfortunately, this did not work.

 

[CortexM0]

I've been trying to add the 360 trailer camera to my 23 truck and have been having some problems. When I just hooked the system up, I got the 360 video on "Aux 1". But, as expected, none of the controls worked.
View attachment 54221

So I then enabled "TSVCM Trailer Surround View Camera Module" with AlfaOBD. Now it now longer shows "Aux 1", and has an option for "Trailer Surround Camera" instead. Unfortunately, this button is grayed out. If I try to select it, I get a message about Camera System Unavailable.
View attachment 54222View attachment 54224

Any suggestions on what to try next?

After that brief distraction, time to get back to my 360 trailer camera problems. I pulled out my meter and oscilloscope to try and identify the wires used by the trailer camera module. Looks like there's one wire for ground, one for power, two for a differential video signal, two for CAN, and one wire that appears to be a shield for either the CAN or video wires.

Since my pre-AlfaOBD testing showed a good power, ground, and video signal, that all appears to be functional. This leaves the CAN as the most likely culprit.

Since having open CAN lines freely available on your bumper is a very bad idea, (imagine walking up to any truck, plugging in a module, and start sending AlfaOBD commands...) there is a gateway (firewall) module between the trailer connections and the trucks actual CAN bus. I think my next step will be to find that module and verify connectivity between it and the trailer camera module. If that tests out, I may look into ways of temporarily bypassing the gateway and see if that makes a difference. But if anybody has any other suggestions, I would love to hear them.

 

[Jimmy07]

After that brief distraction, time to get back to my 360 trailer camera problems. I pulled out my meter and oscilloscope to try and identify the wires used by the trailer camera module. Looks like there's one wire for ground, one for power, two for a differential video signal, two for CAN, and one wire that appears to be a shield for either the CAN or video wires.

Since my pre-AlfaOBD testing showed a good power, ground, and video signal, that all appears to be functional. This leaves the CAN as the most likely culprit.

Since having open CAN lines freely available on your bumper is a very bad idea, (imagine walking up to any truck, plugging in a module, and start sending AlfaOBD commands...) there is a gateway (firewall) module between the trailer connections and the trucks actual CAN bus. I think my next step will be to find that module and verify connectivity between it and the trailer camera module. If that tests out, I may look into ways of temporarily bypassing the gateway and see if that makes a difference. But if anybody has any other suggestions, I would love to hear them.

I’d say since it displays the CVPM’s camera images with aux 2, but says unavailable when configured for the TSVCM, then there’s definitely an issue with the CAN IHS. The gateway may not even be present on a non-TSVCM equipped truck, and the can lines just terminate in a connector before the dash. If you have the gateway, it would be somewhere behind the start button, and it is almost identical to the regular security gateway module that is behind the instrument cluster.

 

[CortexM0]

I’d say since it displays the CVPM’s camera images with aux 2, but says unavailable when configured for the TSVCM, then there’s definitely an issue with the CAN IHS. The gateway may not even be present on a non-TSVCM equipped truck, and the can lines just terminate in a connector before the dash. If you have the gateway, it would be somewhere behind the start button, and it is almost identical to the regular security gateway module that is behind the instrument cluster.

It took me a while to track this down, but it turns out the Gateway is not installed in my truck. However, the good news is that the wire harness is.


This is approximately where I'm guessing the Gateway module should be installed.


The wires for it split off from the harness around here. They get pulled back and taped to the harness behind the display. I had to reach fairly far in there to verify these were the correct wires and they weren't running off to something else.


And finally a picture of the connectors themselves.

Now to find a cheap Gateway module. I'm hoping that will be plug-n-play, and I won't need to enable anything else.

 

[Jimmy07]

It took me a while to track this down, but it turns out the Gateway is not installed in my truck. However, the good news is that the wire harness is.

View attachment 54340
This is approximately where I'm guessing the Gateway module should be installed.

View attachment 54341
The wires for it split off from the harness around here. They get pulled back and taped to the harness behind the display. I had to reach fairly far in there to verify these were the correct wires and they weren't running off to something else.

View attachment 54342
And finally a picture of the connectors themselves.

Now to find a cheap Gateway module. I'm hoping that will be plug-n-play, and I won't need to enable anything else.

Those are definitely the trailer gateway connectors. Make sure you don’t buy the regular main truck gateway. The trailer surround gateway part number is 68509331AB.
The service manual says a new gateway needs to be initialized, but I don’t think that’s really necessary. When you enable the TSVCM with AlfaOBD, that setting enables both the surround view module and the trailer gateway module on the IHS bus.

 

[gprguy]

Just wanted to say thanks Cortex for digging through this - it was on my list to do when my truck shows up as I have to add this stuff too..