GM, Volkswagen to use Mobileye auto mapping technology

Mobileye, a developer of vision and data analysis for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving, has introduced a new mapping technology development called Road Experience Management (REM).

REM enables crowd-sourced real-time data for precise localization and high-definition lane data that forms an important layer of information to support fully autonomous driving.

Mobileye is engaged with General Motors to integrate REM into existing program launches in an expedited timeframe, as part of GM’s heightened partnership with Mobileye. In addition, on Jan. 5, Mobileye signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Volkswagen and announced a strategic partnership to explore and integrate REM into Volkswagen’s fleet.

The technology is based on software running on Mobileye’s EyeQ processing platforms that extracts landmarks and roadway information at extremely low bandwidths, approximately 10 kb per kilometer of driving. Additionally, backend software running on the cloud integrates the segments of data sent by all vehicles with the on-board software into a global map.

“We leveraged advanced artificial intelligence, used for creating environmental models from camera input, in order to create maps based on local coordinate systems while requiring very low bandwidth,” said Prof. Amnon Shashua, co-founder, chairman and Chief Technology Officer of Mobileye. “The low bandwidth of the model, and the fact that it requires only a camera, which is already available in most new car models as part of the trend towards growing driver assistance deployment, enables the map creation and update to be managed by a cooperative crowd sourcing mechanism.”

A third OEM customer of comparable size is expected to be announced later this year.

Shashua discussed the future of autonomous driving and road mapping at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January.