TomTom HD Maps values as a critical component in cars
TomTom, the leading independent location technology specialist, has announced that it has closed deals with the top 10 carmakers for high-definition (HD) mapping. These carmakers represent a majority of those who have sourced HD Maps.
Willem Strijbosch, Head of Autonomous Driving of TomTom stated, “Having a number of the world’s largest car manufacturers choose TomTom HD Maps for their future of mobility, demonstrates the quality and robustness of our products for automated driving. We’re already powering half a million Level 1 and Level 2-enabled automated vehicles on the road today. Today’s announcement confirms the value of HD maps as critical components for automated driving and cements TomTom’s leadership position in this market.”
Building accurate models of the surrounding for automated cars
The TomTom HD Map is a precise representation of the roads. These representations predict accuracy of lane models, lane geometry and a traffic sign up to a few centimetres. The TomTom HD Map enables automated vehicles to build a detailed model of the surrounding environment along with attached vehicle sensors for automated driving. The precision, attribution, and extensive coverage make the TomTom Map available in many countries. Moreover, it is a popular choice for carmakers who seek to install automated driving systems globally.
Utilizing HD maps for determining location
The Tom Toms HD map has in-car sensors like cameras or radars which are installed for localization and perception functions. These sensors help automated vehicles to locate themselves and plan their path to the desired destination. The updated maps will be generated through crowdsourcing from a system known as Roadagrams. Furthermore, this system would check whether the reality of the road situations corresponds to the map provided by the TomTom. Once these maps are updated, they will be delivered to the vehicles through TomTom’s map delivery system, Autostream.
TomTom’s previous collaboration develops autonomous driving system
TomTom had previously moved into the realm of autonomous vehicles by collaborating with Japanese automotive components manufacturer Denso. The collaboration resulted in the development of an autonomous driving system which perceived objects in the environment and planned a path from one location to another. Its aim is to achieve Level 2 automation which would work on major urban roads and highways using TomTom’s end to end mapping system.
