From the June 2016 issue
The cameras and radar sensors that enable today?s highly automated cruise-control systems can see only 250 yards ahead in the best conditions. That?s barely more than six seconds of lead time at 80 mph, and traffic, weather, and topography often shrink visibility to even shorter distances. For true autonomy, self-driving cars will need a better understanding of the bigger picture.

Like TomTom, Here creates its high-def maps (above) from billions of data points captured by laser Scanners (top of page).

Steady Gigs

To create HD maps and RoadDNA imagery, TomTom?s mobile mapping vans record 22 billion pixels per mile with onboard cameras, while a laser-emitting lidar scanner collects more than 700,000 data points per second. By compressing the three-dimensional data into two-dimensional images, TomTom can condense every interstate in America into roughly 20 gigabytes of data.
The coming generation of so-called high-definition maps will supply that picture, along with enough detail for computers to make predictive decisions rather than reactive adjustments. While today?s navigation maps represent each road as a single lane, HD maps include multiple lanes with usage rules, curbs, shoulders, road signs, and guardrails. Armed with high-definition maps, the smartest cars will leapfrog slow-moving traffic, negotiate interchanges, move over for merging cars, choose the correct lane for an exit, and know where to stop in an emergency?all without driver inp...