TomTom announced details of its latest fully autonomous test vehicle. The highly customized car is designed to test and improve TomTom’s autonomous driving technologies. This includes the industry-leading TomTom High Definition (HD) Map, TomTom Roadagrams, and map streaming service, TomTom AutoStream.
Eight laser scanners, stereo cameras and six radars are built into the new vehicle. This extensive sensor set allows for testing of different sensor configurations. They provide a 360-degree view of the vehicle’s surrounds, and the data from these sensors is processed and referenced against the TomTom HD Map so the vehicle can locate itself precisely.
The TomTom HD Map is a highly accurate and highly attributed representation of the road, including lane models, lane geometry and traffic signs, with accuracy down to a few centimetres. It enables automated vehicles to precisely locate themselves on the road; to build a detailed model of the surrounding environment working together with the vehicle sensors; and to plan a path to the destination.
Recently TomTom announced that it had closed deals with multiple global carmakers to provide its HD Map, which covers Europe, the United States and Asia, securing market leadership in high definition mapping.