The New Era In Mapping: Maps For Machines By Machines, by James Wu and Mark Wheeler (Crunchbase Op-Ed)
Crunchbase has published an op-ed by DeepMap co-founders James Wu and Mark Wheeler on the opportunity for a new generation of smarter maps made for machines, by machines.
James and Mark explain that “historically, building high-definition maps was a large and expensive undertaking. Now, with newer mapping engine platforms that leverage state-of-the-art AI and mapping technology built from the ground up for machines, it is possible to create the large-scale, fresh, accurate, open and economical maps the transportation industry needs to truly advance to higher levels of autonomy.”
Excerpts:
- As the co-founders of a Silicon Valley-based map technology company, and early pioneers in mapping at Google and Apple, we have been engaged in the development of large-scale maps to improve navigation and mobility for a long time.
- The era we are entering now promises to be the most exciting — and transformative — yet, as numerous advancements in technology are bringing the promise of semi-autonomous and autonomous driving systems within commercial reach.
- These advancements are accelerating the need for a new generation of smarter maps made for machines, by machines.
- 2021 is already a watershed year in the evolution toward semi-autonomous and autonomous vehicles. According to analyst firm VSI Labs, at least 15 top automakers have either started producing or plan to produce vehicles with some level of autonomy baked in, from “hands-off” to “eyes-off” driving.
- Building upon today’s driver assistance advancements — such as parking assistance — and early versions of freeway-based self-driving, we have seen dizzying investments and acquisitions in electric vehicles, robotaxi technology, autonomous trucking and LiDAR companies.
- Maps have traditionally been designed by humans, for humans, but a new era of innovation is underway that focuses on maps for machines.
- Created by aggregating sensor perception data from car-mounted cameras, radar and LiDAR, HD maps contain 3D depictions of the road and surrounding environment, as well as rich semantic information such as road signs, lane markings and connectivity, road properties, and much more.
- Combined with navigation information, these enriched maps serve as the computer’s collective understanding of the drivable road environment, in essence serving as the car’s “memory.”
- The map is the aggregate knowledge of a road crowd-sourced from all the cars and sensors that have ever traversed it. Thus, the map becomes a core component of the self-driving car’s brain.
- The transportation industry recently invested breathtaking sums into LiDAR. In order to truly take advantage of this new perception power being added to production vehicles, it will be critical for vehicle makers to utilize map technology that is as high fidelity as the powerful sensors they are incorporating.
- The far larger benefit will come when the sensors on the car, and the map — the model of the environment to which the sensors are comparing what they see — are equally rich.
- Historically, building high-definition maps was a large and expensive undertaking. Now, with newer mapping engine platforms that leverage state-of-the-art AI and mapping technology built from the ground up for machines, it is possible to create the large-scale, fresh, accurate, open and economical maps the transportation industry needs to truly advance to higher levels of autonomy.
Read full article here.
James Wu is co-founder and CEO and Mark Wheeler is co-founder and CTO of Palo Alto, California’s DeepMap, a global leader in autonomous driving technology.
Wu built his career at Baidu, Apple and Google. At Baidu, he served as principal architect for the self-driving car team. While at Apple, he launched Apple 3D Buildings, and at Google he was a core member of Google Earth and Google Maps teams.
Wheeler was a tech lead manager at Google, where he led Google Geo enterprise products, including the creation of Google Maps Engine (GME).
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About DeepMap: DeepMap is accelerating safe autonomy by providing the world’s best autonomous mapping and localization solutions. DeepMap delivers the technology necessary for self-driving vehicles to navigate in a complex and unpredictable environment. The company addresses three important elements: precise high-definition (HD) mapping, ultra-accurate real-time localization, and the server-side infrastructure to support massive global scaling. DeepMap was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif., with offices in Beijing and Guangzhou, China. Investors include Andreessen Horowitz, Accel, GSR Ventures, Generation, Goldman Sachs, NVIDIA, and Robert Bosch Venture Capital. For more information, see www.deepmap.ai.
