Yesterday, Toyota announced that the Toyota Research Institute-Advanced Development (TRI-AD), is teaming up with Carmera, a company focused on HD mapping, to “conduct a proof of concept about developing camera-based automation of high definition (‘HD’) maps for urban and surface roads,” a preliminary step towards making the company’s Automated Mapping Platform (AMP) a reality.
For the world of autonomous vehicles to move forward, these cars need access to HD maps of their environments in order to safely and reliably function.
Though the HD mapping of highways is ongoing, the roads mapped thus far represent less than 1% of the entire world’s road network, and they’re not even the most heavily-used roadways where autonomous vehicles will be operating first.
Toyota’s upcoming “proof of concept” project aims to get urban HD mapping off the ground using ordinary people’s cars.
The project will be based in Tokyo and will equip participating test vehicles with cameras that use Toyota Safety Sense*2 (“TSS”) components and “dashcam” drive recorders.
Carmera will take the images and information collected by the cameras and convert them automatically to HD maps.
The new data collected from this project, coupled with the maps already made, will provide autonomous vehicles with a more complete view of road networks, whether they’re on a highway or in a city.
If all goes according to plan, road mapping will be streamlined and much more affordable than it is today.