TomTom ventures into world of autonomous vehicles: teams up with Bosch to develop digital maps

TomTom, the developers of GPS navigation devices, is all set to leave its footprints in the dynamic and challenging world of autonomous driving technology. Autonomous vehicles require detailed maps of the world to function and the Dutch navigation company wishes to become one of the main providers of these maps, joining hands with German auto supplier Bosch.

TomTom CEO, Harold Goddijn, told Reuters that its maps are destined to be used in self-driven cars, noting in an interview that the company is seen by its customers "as the guys with the right ideas on how you do those things.” He added that the digital mapping architecture it uses has been revamped to provide more accurate location data. He also mentioned that car makers are relying on TomTom, apart from Google, to provide accurate and fast location data to meet the safety requirements needed for computer aided driving. Goddijn thinks TomTom’s other business ventures can start-off a new cycle of growth for the company.

According to The Verge, TomTom will start working with Bosch to develop road maps for self-driving cars. By the end of the year the company desires to cover all highways and similar roads in Germany, followed by Europe and North America in the long run. TomTom wants all the new maps to be more defined and exhaustive than traditional maps. One of the main components of self-driving cars is the high quality digital maps which produce real-time digital representation of the roads. To provide enough information for the car to decide which lane it is driving in, the precision of the maps has to be down to the decimeter.

As reported by The Wall Street Journal, Dirk Hocheisel, Bosch’s general manager, said in a statement “We will only be able to have self-driving vehicles on the highway in 2020 with highly accurate maps.” The world’s largest automotive supplier, Bosch confirmed that it has been field testing mapping technology in self-driving cars in Germany and the U.S for a while and is now in the process of mapping the roads.

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