software + TECH
Channel Sponsor: Bentley Systems Inc. | www.bentley.com
Precise maps for driverless cars
Founded in 1866 to produce fire insurance maps, Sanborn evolved with the changing market for imaging and mapping services and today is a first mover in the emerging market for HD Maps. Sanborn’s Advanced Technology group has developed proprietary HD mapping technology that creates standardized, high-precision 3D base maps for self-driving vehicle models and markets. The HD Maps contain more detailed information with true-ground, absolute accuracy than is available in conventional resources, such as GPS maps. Compared with current mapping systems that can locate a car’s position within 1 meter, HD Maps can position a vehicle within less than 10 centimeters. Sanborn provides precise real-world context for HD Map data by creat- ing 3D reality models of the environs, drawing upon its expertise in aerial oblique imagery, aerial LiDAR data, and mobile (driven) LiDAR data. For image processing, the map company uses ContextCapture Center, Bentley’s reality modeling software for 3D models of any scale. ContextCapture Center generates the 3D engineering-ready real- ity mesh that Sanborn’s HD Map data overlays to create the purpose- built, map-based data sets automotive makers need for their driverless car’s virtual worlds. High definition, precision, resolution For the automakers’ project, Sanborn acquired aerial oblique imagery of the Silicon Valley area, including Santa Clara, Sunnyvale (Heritage District), Palo Alto, and surrounding locations, to construct a size- able target area for mapping. The oblique imagery was acquired in a single, multi-pass flight plan using five digital cameras to collect four oblique views and one straight-down (nadir) view. These images were processed using Context Capture Center to quickly produce 3D mesh models of Santa Clara County’s complex urban environment. The software automatically aerotriangulated the images to identify the position and orientation of each image, then reconstructed the images as a highly accurate georeferenced 3D reality mesh. The 3D reality mesh provided precise real-world context for Sanborn’s HD Maps. With many densely packed triangles, draped textures, and snap points, the 3D mesh created the fine details, sharp edges, and accurate geometry required by the automotive partners. The georefer- encing made it possible to identify the precise locations that intersect with Sanborn’s HD Map data (collected in absolute XYZ space). The project team overlaid the 3D mesh data with Sanborn’s HDMap data to provide all the critical information a driverless vehicle needs to safely navigate roadways and intersections. Combined with Sanborn’s HD Maps, which are accurate within an absolute range of 7 to 10 centimeters, the high-resolution 3D mesh pro- vided a meticulously detailed inventory of physical assets for the road- ways, such as lane markings and dividers, road edges and shoulders, and traffic signals and signage. Inclusion of surrounding buildings, generated by ContextCapture Center and enhanced using Descartes, produced a city-sized reality model for a more genuine driving experi- ence. Together, the HD Maps and 3D mesh were integrated into virtual
Sanborn Map highlights HD Map data overlaying 3D reality mesh for use in autonomous driving.
An industry leader in geospatial solutions and technology, The San- born Map Company, Inc. is helping to make self-driving cars a reality by creating high-definition (HD) Maps used by test-drive simulators for autonomous vehicles. Sanborn partnered with auto manufacturers in a $100,000 project that demonstrated the precision of its purpose-built HD Maps. Using aerial oblique imagery of the target area in Santa Clara County, Calif., Sanborn generated a 3D reality mesh with Bentley’s ContextCapture Center software, then overlaid proprietary HD base map data that is accurate within an absolute range of 7 to 10 centimeters. Visualizing the high-precision HD Map in the context of a high-resolution 3D urban environment elicited auto company requests for repeat demos internally and with department of transportation regulatory authorities. Bentley software allowed Sanborn to quickly create 3D reality meshes that would ordinarily take three modelers six months to complete. This capability made the technology more affordable, allowing Sanborn to Major auto manufacturers are racing to release self-driving features that give their vehicles some autonomy in specific situations, such as braking to avoid imminent collision. To achieve the ultimate goal of a driverless vehicle, manufacturers need to demonstrate that their cars can safely operate in any situation. The RAND Corporation estimates that a driverless car would have to drive more than 11 billion miles to prove it is 20 percent safer than a human-driven car. A thousand test cars driving non-stop, 365 days a year would take 50 years to cover that many miles. Simulating the test drive in a virtual world would prove the point in a matter of hours. Using 3D reality models creates a realistic world for the virtual driverless car in the least amount of time. “Self-driving cars are no longer a futuristic idea,” said Sharad V. Oberoi, Ph.D., director of IT and software engineering, with Sanborn Map. “Major auto manufacturers have already released, or are soon to release, self-driving features that give the car some ability to drive itself. Through the 3D mesh generated using ContextCapture Center, Sanborn’s Advanced Technology group has been able to showcase the quality of the HD Map data, including true-ground, absolute accuracy, to its partner automotive firms. Automating the production of city-sized 3D models with ContextCapture Center made the project much faster than previously possible.” provide exceptional value to clients. Safe test-drive environment
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csengineermag.com
january 2018
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