Skip to main content

Toyota to build HD maps for automated vehicles using camera data

Toyota Research Institute-Advanced Development and telematics company Carmera are conducting a ‘proof of concept’ project to develop camera-based automation of high definition (HD) maps for roads in Japan. Toyota says the project will help realise its automated mapping platform, an open software concept which supports automated driving by combining data gathered from vehicles of participating companies to generate HD maps. Cameras which use Toyota Safety Sense (TSS) components will be equipped to th
March 5, 2019 Read time: 2 mins
1686 Toyota Research Institute-Advanced Development and telematics company Carmera are conducting a ‘proof of concept’ project to develop camera-based automation of high definition (HD) maps for roads in Japan.


Toyota says the project will help realise its automated mapping platform, an open software concept which supports automated driving by combining data gathered from vehicles of participating companies to generate HD maps.

Cameras which use Toyota Safety Sense (TSS) components will be equipped to the company’s test vehicles to collect data and images over several months from areas in downtown Tokyo. This information will then be processed on Carmera’s real-time platform to automatically generate HD map data.

Additionally, dashcam drive records will demonstrate automated map generation from a broader range of sources which do not have TSS.  

According to Toyota, combining these techniques with digital maps available today will provide even more reliable road information to driverless vehicles. Also, generating HD maps based on data acquired from commercially available vehicles will enable automated driving on all roads, the manufacturer says.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Hurdles to MaaS adoption highlighted
    January 25, 2018
    Jack Opiola talks to some MaaS advocates in the US. Cities will accommodate almost 60% of the world’s population by 2025 and technology is outpacing transportation plans and planners - putting extreme pressures upon planners and transportation systems alike. Big data, digital payments, ubiquitous communications, smartphone applications, on-demand travel and autonomous vehicles are all shredding existing transport plans. Never before has the pace of population growth and the tools to address this problem
  • Honda launches electric scooter
    April 17, 2012
    Honda is introducing its new EV-neo electric scooter in Europe. The scooter was launched with a demonstration and short test ride at Honda’s innovative Safety Centre, based at the Montesa Honda factory in Barcelona, Spain. Initially introduced as a concept model at the 2009 Tokyo Motorshow, the EV-neo attracted interest and lease sales of the model started in Japan in April 2011. The scooter is primarily aimed at use by delivery services. However, the EV-neo can also provide for recreational use as well as
  • Agencies in pursuit of high-speed WIM accuracy
    April 20, 2017
    Alan Dron looks at where WIM is heading in the near future. As Weigh-In-Motion (WIM) systems grow in sophistication and accuracy, they are increasingly being used in more active roles to help ensure road safety through enforcement action against overweight vehicles.
  • What are AVs doing in rural Ohio?
    March 29, 2023
    Autonomous vehicle pilots so far have been typically sighted in urban areas. But researchers in rural regions of Ohio are now trying to find out exactly what benefits they could bring to the countryside