Polestar and Volvo will be the first automakers to benefit from Google HD Maps. Thanks to these HD maps, manufacturers will be able to make their driver assistance systems more efficient before deploying autonomous driving.
Google Maps is a navigation application full of practical options. It is particularly used extensively by motorists looking for the best route. But its data can also feed driver assistance systems. Volvo and Polestar will thus take advantage of the service’s maps by implementing Google HD Maps, a variation of Google Maps in high definition.
It will not be a question of offering a better view of the journey to users but rather of improving piloting assistance by integrating a new layer of data. The aim is to significantly improve the performance of the assistance system in order to make driving safer.
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Volvo will take advantage of Google’s HD maps
This new high-definition version of Google Maps is intended exclusively for cars with the native Android Automotive operating system, not to be confused with Android Auto. In concrete terms, the HD maps will provide very detailed and up-to-date information to the system, such as lane markings, road signs or even traffic barriers.
Volvo gives the example of its future EX90 which will be equipped with a LIDAR sensor, cameras and radars to take into account the immediate environment. All this paraphernalia will be complemented by Google’s famous HD maps. “To further improve our assisted driving technologies and possibly achieve autonomous driving in the future, we also need a way to recognize your surroundings in great detail – both immediately in front of you and at longer distances”justifies the manufacturer.
What will be the first vehicles to get the new HD maps from Google? As well as the Volvo EX90 – the manufacturer’s next flagship electric car coming out later this year – Google HD Maps will also be coming to the Polestar 3, the Swedish automaker’s first SUV.
Source : Volvo
