How HERE Technologies is guiding today and tomorrow’s vehicle systems

Location technology is revolutionizing the automotive industry. Learn more about the recent innovations from HERE Technologies that are helping shape the future.

Within the next two decades, cities will undergo a dramatic transformation, especially when it comes to mobility. Despite shifting deployment timelines and the complexity of producing highly and fully autonomous vehicles at scale, progress continues to be made as we move towards an autonomous world.

Nearly a decade ago Mercedes-Benz asked us to build a high-definition, machine-readable map the world has never seen before. Today, our standard and high-definition mapping platform powers some of the most advanced connected car services on the market, and is core technology used for all levels of vehicle automation.

Leading by example

HERE continues to lead the way in the automotive industry, working with the vast majority of OEMs on location-based technology that’s at the foundation of today and tomorrow’s vehicle experiences. Our map data and services are found in 4 out of 5 vehicles sold with embedded navigation systems in North America and Western Europe. To date, more than 100 million vehicles have HERE maps on board.

We are also the market leader in automated vehicle technology. Millions of cars already on the road today are equipped with partially-automated systems (SAE Level 1 and 2) that ingest precise HERE location data to help power Advanced Driver Assistance features such as lane keeping assist, intelligent cruise control and automatic powertrain optimization based on the vehicle’s understanding of the road geometry ahead.

HERE is proud to lead the HD map market by being the first global HD map provider with commercial contracts for highly automated driving (SAE L3) use cases with our customers BMW and Daimler. At the same time, we provide today the first commercially available connected vehicle services that aggregate live sensor data from millions of connected vehicles to create a live depiction of the road environment, where vehicles – not people – are creating alerts of upcoming traffic and hazard warnings.

The power of location in guiding the future of mobility

Vehicles laden with sensors for advanced ADAS functionality are capable of producing terabytes of information on a daily basis. That information includes details of the car’s environment, like speed limits and lane details, objects in proximity, weather conditions, and images of the roadway. It also includes the functions contained within the car, like windshield wipers, anti-lock brakes, traction control, fuel efficiency, and quite a few more.

Intelligent collection, analysis, and distribution of that information is part of what we’ve set out to solve with our HERE Open Location Platform (in addition to enabling new services and monetization avenues) and it represents a revolution for connected vehicles. For example, this combination of rich vehicle sensor data, location context, and leading software technology gives us the ability to create a detailed and fresh picture of the roadway. Our services provide drivers and their vehicles with the information they need to make better decisions on the road. From alerts on upcoming hazards that could affect their journey, to the location of the nearest parking spot to their destination, our connected services deliver deeply valuable insights to drivers and their vehicles, so they can travel confidently. A few services we offer are already taking advantage of connected vehicles:

1) HERE HD Live Map

Autonomous vehicles need the ability to understand its precise positioning, plan beyond sensor visibility, possess contextual awareness of the environment and understand the local rules of the road. Vehicles rely on the most recent data to inform their driving decisions. Our high-definition, self-healing map analyzes data from multiple data sources, such as satellite imagery and sensors from OEM fleets in real-time, allowing our maps to always stay fresh and reliable. HERE already has millions of vehicles using our map to support SAE L1 and L2, partially automated vehicles. But to support highly automated driving (SAE L3 to L5), a self-healing map will be critical to meet high reliability and accuracy requirements. This is where HERE is also leading the way with the platform and the technology needed to support this level of autonomy. Our proven leadership is why HERE is the first HD map provider to sign commercial agreements with customers building highly automated vehicles.

2) HERE Real-Time Traffic

When cars connect with other cars, they can collectively provide a picture of where, when and why traffic congestion occurs, resulting in a high-quality flow of content of conditions and incidents in near real-time.

To make this scalable and sustainable, the service has been built to ingest information from multiple different types of vehicles. To prove that scalability, HERE Real-Time Traffic is the first global service in the marketplace that integrates live vehicle data from Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz vehicles. That collective, connected information enables drivers and cars to make smarter routing decisions.

3) HERE Hazard Warnings

Hazard Warnings is a real-time, cloud-based information distribution service which, like Real-Time Traffic, gathers rich vehicle sensor data from multiple car brands. That information is then analyzed and intelligently distributed to all other connected-vehicles in the area, alerting them of conditions that may require caution or action.

Information like road accidents, stalled vehicles and reduced visibility is delivered in seconds, rather than minutes. That information can be delivered into any vehicle’s infotainment systems, or to smartphone/tablet apps, making it a platform-agnostic information distribution network.

Are you ready for the future?

Sanjay Sood, Vice President of Highly Automated Driving at HERE Technologies, will be covering all of this and more at this year’s Autos2050 event in Washington D.C. on April 2, 2019.