Drone captures map of EastLink tunnel for self-driving car trials

EastLink has used an aerial drone from Telstra to capture a Lidar map for its Mullum Mullum tunnel in Australia to help support safe trials of fully self-driving cars. Doug Spencer-Roy, EastLink’s corporate affairs and marketing manager, said that trial sites need to be mapped in high resolution to allow self-driving car prototypes to be conducted under controlled conditions to test their safe operation. Additionally, the process can also support the company’s maintenance activities, by allowing the deta
April 9, 2018 Read time: 2 mins

8735 EastLink has used an aerial drone from Telstra to capture a Lidar map for its Mullum Mullum tunnel in Australia to help support safe trials of fully self-driving cars.

Doug Spencer-Roy, EastLink’s corporate affairs and marketing manager, said that trial sites need to be mapped in high resolution to allow self-driving car prototypes to be conducted under controlled conditions to test their safe operation.

Additionally, the process can also support the company’s maintenance activities, by allowing the details of the tunnel infrastructure to be viewed in 3D when planning maintenance work, Roy added.

The self-driving cars are pre-loaded with a Lidar map of the trials area. In addition, the vehicle’s built-in Lidar scanner aims to capture a real-time Lidar view of the vehicle’s surroundings.

EastLink says the autonomous driving system compares the real-time Lidar view against the pre-loaded Lidar map to increase the accuracy of its self-positioning system. The solution also intends to identify objects that it needs to avoid such as pedestrians, cyclists, animals and other vehicles.

Andrew Wildblood, Telstra Enterprise’s executive director growth, said: “Drones are an important emerging technology that will have many applications and benefits for our business, our customers and the wider community.

“Telstra will continue to play an important role in this space, with our world class network enabling our customers to take advantage of drone technology now and into the future. Telstra has a dedicated cross-company drone team that are actively exploring the efficiency, cost reduction and safety benefits that drones can deliver our customers, like EastLink, across a number of different industry sectors.”

Related Content

  • September 23, 2024
    TrafiBot Dual AI camera has tunnel vision
    Multispectral system automates incident detection and delivers early fire detection
    Read More
  • December 7, 2021
    VTTI sees future of truck ADS
    Although automated driving systems (ADS) for trucks promise increased safety, productivity, and efficiency, it is not clear how they should be integrated into fleet operations with conventional vehicles. Erin Mabry and Martin Walker, of VTTI, provide answers
    Read More
  • July 31, 2012
    Debating the future development of ANPR
    What future is there for automatic number plate recognition? Will it be supplanted by electronic vehicle identification, or will continuing development maintain the technology's relevance? In recent years, digitisation and IP-based communication networks have allowed Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) to achieve ever-greater utility and a commensurate increase in deployments. But where does the technology go next - indeed, does it have a future in the face of the increasing use of, for instance, Dedi
    Read More
  • January 9, 2018
    Making the most of Michigan
    Michigan DoT’s Kirk Steudle takes time out from the ITS World Congress in Montreal to talk to Colin Sowman. Thirty years ago, a professional engineer named Kirk Steudle joined Michigan Department of Transportation (MDoT). Today he’s the state transportation director, responsible for more than 16,000km (10,000 miles) of state highways (including 4,000 bridges), some 2,500 employees and a budget of more than $4 billion. We caught up with Steudle during the ITS World Congress in Montreal and asked how he
    Read More

Highlighted Content