HD Maps for Autonomous Vehicles

Ecopia is creating the first HD Map of Waterloo Region. With support from the Ontario Centres of Excellence Autonomous Vehicle Innovation Network (AVIN) program, Communitech, University of Waterloo and the Waterloo Economic Development Corporation.

Today, drivers use maps for way-finding and to generally orientate themselves with their surroundings, but as the task of driving shifts from the in-car driver to in-vehicle automation, the role of digital maps shifts significantly. These next generation maps for machines come in the form of a highly accurate and realistic representation of the road, generally referred to as high-definition (HD) maps. The base layers of the Waterloo Region HDMap, created by Ecopia’s Global Feature Extraction services, offers a highly accurate and highly attributed representation of the road, including attributes such as lane model, traffic signs, road furniture and lane geometry, as autonomous vehicles need very different maps from those that are currently used in today’s navigation systems.

HDMaps of Waterloo Region will be available to SMEs and academia on a platform hosted and developed by Ecopia. Access to the HD Map data will allow potential collaborators to explore potential applications of the HD road maps. Not only will collaborators have access to the base layer or the map, but they will also have the ability to contribute an access additional data.

We can’t wait to get started creating our HD Map of Waterloo Region, stay tuned for updates and progress posts! Until next time, drive safe! Interested in learning more about our AI-extraction services?