Toyota will be previewing its latest high-precision map generation technology at the coming Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in 2016. The new system is being developed by Toyota Central R&D Labs in conjunction with its Toyota Highway Teammate self-driving technology.
As the dawn of fully autonomous Toyota vehicles nears, high precision maps are proving more essential. With zero human intervention, Toyota explains that, “an understanding of road layouts and traffic rules (including speed limits and various road signs) is essential for the successful implementation of automated driving technologies. Additionally, high precision measurement of positional information requires the collection of information on dividing lines, curbs, and other road characteristics.”
The Japanese car maker’s new map generation technology aims to harvest live data from on-board cameras and GPS devices installed in its production vehicles. This data will be continually sent to a Toyota data centre via an automated cloud-based spatial information generation technology.
The data is largely pieced together automatically, but further information on dividing lines, positions of curbs and other road characteristics and signs will be manually integrated into the map.
Conventional road data gathering relies on specially-built vehicles with three-dimensional laser scanners. However, Toyota says that this is too costly of a solution to keep maps constantly updated, and doesn’t feature the same depth of information its system will offer.
By using its production vehicles and existing infrastructure to collect information, Toyota’s high-precision map can be updated in real time. Furthermore, it is said that the system can be implemented and scaled up at a relatively low cost. The car maker plans to include the tech in its production vehicles by 2020.
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Good demonstration but should do at heavy traffic see can pass or not
Toyota should test the technology here in PJ & KL roads. See if the car will crash into road works, makeshift dividers, fall into deep potholes or stall in flooded roads around the city. If the car can pass the test, then the technology is ready for any roads anywhere in the world.