At this week’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada, Netherlands-based location technology specialist TomTom announced that it will accelerate the future of driving by collaborating with Japanese automotive components manufacturer Denso on its software platform for autonomous vehicles.
Under the partnership, TomTom’s High Definition Map will work in combination with Denso in-vehicle sensors, such as cameras and radars, to power the localization, perception and path planning functions for a complete autonomous driving system. The collaboration will allow Denso to offer a market-leading system targeting SAE Level 2 automation for highways and major urban roads, by making use of the end-to-end mapping system developed together with TomTom. The two companies have teams working together in Japan, combining information gathered by Denso’s sensors with TomTom’s HD Maps, which will result in an autonomous driving system that is more advanced, more reliable and safer. TomTom’s digital HD Map is the first to cover highways and interstates across the USA, western Europe, Japan and South Korea, enhancing automated driving by complementing sensors, powering accurate localization and enabling path planning.
As part of this agreement, Denso will provide processed sensor data to TomTom’s end-to-end mapping system for autonomous vehicles and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), updating the HD Map on the fly. This will be achieved by generating crowd-sourced map updates called Roadagrams, which are used to ensure the HD Map reflects the reality of the road. Combined with sensor data from survey vehicles, TomTom can guarantee an accurate global HD Map. TomTom’s innovative AutoStream map delivery system then delivers the latest map data to the vehicles on demand. Developed for self-driving and ADAS functions, AutoStream ensures that a connected and autonomous vehicle (CAV) can always use the latest map data for the road ahead, while minimizing data consumption.
“We reviewed various digital mapping platforms and determined that the TomTom HD Map and TomTom AutoStream reflect our vision of bringing changes in the road noted by our sensors back to all vehicles as quickly as possible through HD Map updates,” noted Hiroyuki Wakabayashi, executive vice president of Denso. “Just as importantly, TomTom shares our commitment to safety that is paramount to the autonomous driving experience. Together we will lead the industry with innovative solutions for all OEMs.”
Harold Goddijn, TomTom’s CEO, said: “We are excited to share the news about our collaboration with Denso, which is a long-time leader in automotive ADAS technology. We’re proud to be working with them to serve their Japanese and global customers. This collaboration proves the value of our HD Map and AutoStream as critical components for autonomous vehicles.”
TomTom has also announced that its maps for automated driving are now powering over half a million SAE Level 1 and Level 2-enabled automated vehicles from multiple manufacturers currently on the road. Willem Strijbosch, TomTom’s head of autonomous driving, commented, “The road toward a fully autonomous future is exciting and we’re already powering automated driving on the roads right now. Our vision is an autonomous future with safer roads, free of congestion and emissions; today’s milestone is a key step toward this.”
