Accurate mapping and navigation systems are pivotal in the development of autonomous vehicles. The International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) which is to be held in Las Vegas in the 1st week of January, will see Toyota debut a ground-breaking map-generating system that will provide improved navigation in its future self-driving cars.
The map-generating system will collate data from cameras, sensors and GPS units from vehicles and send them to a data centre which is able to stitch together the compiled to create an accurate representation of the terrain. Toyota believes that by using its own production cars to collect information, the maps that it will be able to produce will be a lot more comprehensive than by using individual vehicles dedicated to map locations. Using new and existing cars to contribute information will result in a mapping network that is constantly updated to portray real-time road conditions rather than having to occasionally deal with out-dated data as is the case with current mapping systems like Google Maps.
The system does have its drawbacks; GPS and camera based navigation runs a higher risk of error as compared to laser guided technology. However, as stated in a report by Digital Trends, Toyota claims to have mitigated the issue by using a data pool compiled from information received via multiple vehicles and by using 'high-precision trajectory estimation technology' which is said to be accurate up to 5cm on a straight road.
The system will initially be used to map highway networks although Toyota will eventually use it within cities to assist in hazard avoidance. The system is expected to play a huge part in developing cars with autonomous systems that the company intends on rolling out by 2020. The ultimate aim however is to use the mapping system on completely self-driven cars that are bound to make their way into the future automotive market. Toyota has been working with professors from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Stanford University to develop autonomous technologies that will promote synergy between a self-driving car and its driver rather than replacing human input completely.
Other companies are also adopting the same approach towards designing future self-driving products. The all-German trio of BMW, Audi and Daimler recently completed the purchase of Nokia's digital navigation system, called HERE, for similar purposes. Nokia HERE is already active in a lot of cars and having control over it means that the 3 companies will be able to experiment and fine tune the system to improve navigation in their autonomous offerings.
