Skip to main content

TomTom and Baidu join forces to develop HD maps for autonomous driving

TomTom and Chinese mapping service provider Baidu have joined forces to develop high definition (HD) maps for autonomous driving.
July 7, 2017 Read time: 1 min

1692 TomTom and Chinese mapping service provider Baidu have joined forces to develop high definition (HD) maps for autonomous driving. Their collaboration combines their expertise in HD map-making and artificial intelligence (AI). Baidu will leverage TomTom’s real-time map platform to improve HD map-related technologies utilised in China.

TomTom’s HD Map and RoadDNA are two digital map products helping automated vehicles precisely locate themselves on the road and plan manoeuvres, even when travelling at high speeds. TomTom’s HD Map already covers the USA and Western Europe, with over 360,000km of highways and interstates mapped.

Leveraging its resource and capabilities in AI, Baidu has been developing HD maps since 2013, using smart technologies such as deep learning to help automate data processing and map creation. Earlier this year, it announced its open source autonomous driving platform, Apollo, which aims to build a collaborative ecosystem for companies to work together and to promote the development and popularisation of autonomous driving technology.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Smartphone solution for parking performance
    March 31, 2017
    Automated parking offers optimised space utilisation and fewer damage complaints as David Crawford discovers. As cars become smarter, technology designed to make parking them more straightforward is developing in parallel. In turn, it is becoming clear that the places where vehicles spend much of their time will need to respond – more comprehensively than by supporting established aids such as smartphone-based parking location and reservation, or payment for time used.
  • Systra picks TomTom for multimodal mapping
    June 4, 2025
    Orbis Maps and traffic analytics will be used for UK & Ireland transport models
  • TomTom: New app launched to simplify mileage registration
    January 18, 2013
    Keeping an accurate log of business mileage is made easier by a new app launched by TomTom; the new Webfleet logbook app for Android and iPhone helps drivers and businesses reduce mileage claim administration and creates reliable logs to help with tax compliance. A driver simply selects whether a journey is for business, private or commuting purposes, validating journey information on his mobile device. The app works in combination with the in-vehicle TomTom’s link tracking device which reports the trip inf
  • 5G at centre of Spanish consortium's sustainable transport initiative
    May 18, 2023
    Companies including Indra and Abertis will run pilot projects in Madrid and Barcelona