The location technology company HERE has announced its HD Live Map is being deployed in Mercedes-Benz’s new DRIVE PILOT automated driving system.

HERE says that, as self-driving cars develop, connected vehicle technology and advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) are paving the way to increases in road safety, driver comfort and vehicle routing optimisation. 

It says it’s among the world’s first companies to provide an HD map for commercial production vehicles with Level 3 automated driving capabilities, and that it has the regulatory approval of Mercedes-Benz’s DRIVE PILOT system with the HERE HD Live Map onboard for use on public roads in Germany. 

The cloud based HERE HD Live Map allows an automated vehicle to effectively “see around corners” by delivering the vehicle system, in advance, with precise information about the road network and rules of the road (detailed lane level data, road and intersection geometry, signage and driving restrictions). In combination with the input from the vehicle sensors the map data is used by the DRIVE PILOT to manoeuvre a vehicle on the public road network. 

The company says it has captured and indexed the world’s road networks and urban environments, creating highly accurate, two-and-three dimensional maps from thousands of data sources. The HERE location platform offers software developers and the global automotive industry a one-stop shop for all location data, services and software.

HERE has also announced that eight out of nine major carmakers have chosen it to support the EU’s Intelligent Speed Assistance mandate. Starting in July 2022, all new-model passenger and commercial vehicles introduced in the EU need to be equipped with ISA, which is an in-vehicle feature helping drivers acknowledge and comply with legal speed limits on any given road. 

(Picture – Daimler)