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On the road with in-vehicle satellite navigation systems
Artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented reality (AR) are already riding shotgun in the cockpit of some connected vehicles.
Now industry executives are planning the next advancements they say will enhance real-time navigation systems on the road to fully autonomous automobiles. Digital map updates that provide detailed information about a vehicle’s route such as lane counts and merging traffic, construction disruption and parking spot availability will ease confusion and aid the driver’s decision making.
Researchers at MIT and the Qatar Computing Research Institute have created a model using satellite imagery to tag road features in a bid to improve GPS navigation in all of these cases, as well as planning and providing disaster relief when road conditions may be dramatically altered. They say machine-learning models used on satellite images can also help with roads that are partially obscured from satellite view due to trees, buildings, or other obstructions. The Road Tagger “uses a combination of neural network architectures to automatically predict the number of lanes and road types behind obstructions”. The researchers say the model was 77% accurate counting lane numbers and 93% correct at inferring road types.
German carmakers, meanwhile, are joining forces in their own bid to conquer digital mapping. Audi, BMW, and Daimler have all placed a $3Bn bet on digital mapping business HERE. They’re betting this dynamic digital mapping business will play an important role in as automobiles and their environments become more connected and intelligent.
This type of collaboration has become the norm as automakers and suppliers team up to tackle these technological issues and advance AI and AR innovations more quickly. Manufacturers including Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Tesla, Toyota and Volvo are working with common platforms such as Nvidia’s DriveAR. It uses a dashboard-mounted display overlaying graphics on camera footage around the car.
To read the complete article, visit TU-Automotive.
