Toyota enters partnership to build HD maps for AVs from space

Toyota Research Institute-Advanced Development (TRI-AD), technology company Maxar Technologies and NTT Data are working together to build high-definition (HD) maps for autonomous vehicles (AV) using satellite imagery. TRI-AD carried out an analysis, saying that current HD maps cover less than 1% of the global road network and there is a need to broaden the coverage of urban areas and local roads before AVs can become a mainstream mobility technology. A HD map created from satellite imagery would all
May 3, 2019 Read time: 2 mins
1686 Toyota Research Institute-Advanced Development (TRI-AD), technology company Maxar Technologies and NTT Data are working together to build high-definition (HD) maps for autonomous vehicles (AV) using satellite imagery.


TRI-AD carried out an analysis, saying that current HD maps cover less than 1% of the global road network and there is a need to broaden the coverage of urban areas and local roads before AVs can become a mainstream mobility technology.

A HD map created from satellite imagery would allow the driving software to compare multiple data sources and signal the car to take action to stay safe, the company adds.

Utilising Maxar’s Geospatial Big Data Platform, imagery from the company’s satellite imagery library will be fed into NTT Data’s specialised algorithms using artificial intelligence to extract information to generate the road network. TRI-AD will then make HD maps available for delivery from its cloud into Toyota test vehicles.

Mandali Khalesi, vice president of automated driving at TRI-AD, says advances in electronics and aerospace engineering are leading to higher resolutions and more frequent updates of global imagery from space-based assets.

“Additionally, machine learning is helping automate the discovery and integration of semantic relationships between road elements within image data,” Khalesi adds.

NTT Data, an IT services provider, will use its artificial intelligence and enhanced image-processing resources to expand the coverage of HD maps.

Katsuichi Sonoda, vice president and head of NTT Data’s social infrastructure solution sector, says: “In the future, we hope to map worldwide road networks from space using our enhanced image-processing expertise.”

Location Based Systems

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Volvo tests autonomous electric bus on roads at Singapore campus
    March 7, 2019
    Volvo is trialling its 12m long autonomous electric bus on roads at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore ahead of an anticipated release onto public roads. The Volvo 7900 Electric single-decker bus can carry approximately 80 passengers and is the first of two buses being trialled at the NTU’s Centre of Excellence for Testing and Research of Autonomous vehicles (CETRAN) before being extended beyond the campus. CETRAN is staffed by NTU scientists and features a track which replicates var
    Read More
  • IRD: from the ground up
    September 16, 2021
    IRD is undertaking a comprehensive review of its road safety and monitoring solutions. A series of initiatives is building on the company’s in-pavement expertise, bringing considerable additional value for the customer to the traditional range of products while complementing these with wholly new technologies
    Read More
  • American Center for Mobility appoints Microsoft data and cloud provider
    April 10, 2018
    The American Center for Mobility (ACM) has appointed Microsoft as its exclusive data and cloud provider to help develop connected and automated vehicles (C/AVs) as well as mobility technologies. The facility officially opened in Ypsilanti Township on the 4 April 2018. ACM is part of the PlanetM, a collaboration of private industry, government and institutions of higher learning that aims to change the way people and goods are transported across all modes of transportation. Both partners will design a
    Read More
  • Artificial intelligence systems for autonomous driving on the rise, says IHS
    June 17, 2016
    According to the latest report from market research firm HIS, Automotive Electronics Roadmap Report, as the complexity and penetration of in-vehicle infotainment systems and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) increases, there is a growing need for hardware and software solutions that support artificial intelligence, which uses electronics and software to emulate the functions of the human brain. In fact, unit shipments of artificial intelligence (AI) systems used in infotainment and ADAS systems are
    Read More

Highlighted Content