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

  • IP technology the route to efficient multi-agency control rooms
    February 1, 2012
    As IP-based technology makes its presence felt in the control room sector, it makes for greater economies of scale and also offers a migration path for many other traffic management technologies. So says Barco's Guy Van Wijmeersch. Efficient control room collaboration and decision-making is only possible if operators and decision-makers have easy and timely access to information. In many cases, that information also needs to be accessible to multiple users at the same time. This is certainly so in the case
  • Beep using Oxa AV software for shuttles in US
    August 29, 2023
    Two Beep shuttles operate at the SunTrax test facility in Auburndale, Florida
  • Connected citizens boosts Boston’s traffic management
    March 30, 2017
    Data-derived traffic management is starting to show benefits as David Crawford discovers. The city of Boston has been facing growing congestion problems in its Seaport regeneration district, with the rate of commercial and residential growth threatening to overtake the capacity of the road network to respond.
  • Shaping smarter cities with TomTom
    July 31, 2025

    TomTom will showcase just how far traffic and mapping technology has progressed. With a range of immersive product demonstrations and a strong line-up of expert speakers, the global mapmaker is poised to set a new standard for location-powered urban planning solutions.