Location technology specialist TomTom has unveiled the details of its latest fully autonomous test vehicle. The highly customized car is designed to test and improve TomTom’s autonomous driving technologies including the TomTom High Definition (HD) Map, TomTom Roadagrams and TomTom AutoStream.
Willem Strijbosch, TomTom’s head of autonomous driving, said, “Having our own autonomous vehicle is a critical advantage when it comes to developing the technology required for safe and comfortable autonomous driving. We can continuously test our mapping technology on the roads, get insights and high-quality data on how it performs in a multitude of circumstances, and, right away, feed this into our AI-driven map-making process.”
The AV leverages several stereo cameras, six radars and eight laser scanners to provide a 360° view of the vehicle’s surrounds. The data from these sensors is processed and referenced against the TomTom HD Map so that the vehicle can locate itself precisely.
The TomTom HD Map is a highly accurate representation of the road, including lane models, lane geometry and traffic signs, with accuracy down to a few centimeters. It enables automated vehicles to precisely locate themselves on the road; to build a detailed model of the surrounding environment; and to plan a path to the destination.
Recently TomTom announced that it had closed deals with multiple global car makers to provide its HD Map, which covers Europe, the USA and Asia.
“We’re already the natural choice for auto makers who want to deploy automated driving systems on a global scale,” said Strijbosch. “Now that we can move even faster in our research and product development, we’re further elevating the quality of our offering.”