Joint development for next generation of Continental's Electronic Horizon, Automated Driving and new Intelligent Transportation Systems
At the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, US, international automotive supplier, Continental, and HERE, a mapping and location services company, have announced they are jointly working on bringing the driverless car to life.
Continental and HERE announced that their teams will intensify their collaboration on the connected car to life, focusing on Continental's Electronic Horizon, future Automated Driving functionalities and Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS).
The work starting now will begin with the development of highly precise map technology for the Electronic Horizon platform that will enable a vehicle to continuously determine its position on the road to within 10cm to 20cm.
The maps will include a range of road information, including lane markings and connectivity, speed limit changes, no passing signs and more. Using this information, all types of vehicles will be able to comfortably react to shifting circumstances, such as changing speed limits, automatically. The technology will enable enhanced anticipatory driving, leading to improvement for drivers in the areas of comfort, efficiency and safety.
Continental aims to provide a complete end to end connected Electronic Horizon solution based on HERE data and cloud services to vehicle manufacturers worldwide. The solution will also be the basis for Highly Automated Driving functionality that Continental targets to have in vehicles rolling off assembly lines by 2020. With more than 26 million telematics units produced worldwide, Continental is already providing the necessary systems for connected vehicles.
The collaboration between Continental and HERE not only fits the development roadmap of both Continental and HERE in the area of Automated Driving but also paves the way for the advent of Intelligent Transportation Systems. Both companies believe that there will be many phases in the evolution towards connected Intelligent Transportation Systems, of which Automated Driving is one.
'With precise map data from HERE and the connected Electronic Horizon, we will achieve advancements across all areas of today's vehicle-based individual mobility,' explained Ralf Lenninger, head of interior electronics solutions, Continental. 'With the connected Electronic Horizon, vehicle manufacturers will be able to reduce their vehicles' CO2 footprint by at least two grams per kilometre. In addition, exact map data will make the driving experience more enjoyable and safe by providing useful information about road congestion so that drivers can predetermine alternate routes, as well as a way to adapt future LED headlight functions to the road ahead.'
Noted Ogi Redzic, vice president for connected driving at HERE: 'Providing an accurate, precise and timely representation of the roads and the vehicle environment is essential not only for Automated Driving but for all areas of advanced driving solutions. With our HERE LiDAR technology, rich data analytics and ability to integrate dynamic events, HERE is uniquely positioned to provide the highly accurate and always-fresh 3D maps required to enable such an experience.'
For nearly two decades Continental and HERE have jointly built navigation systems for the vehicle environment. Combining Continental's expertise in automotive electronics system integration, including hardware, software, services and cloud solutions for Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) with the core competencies of HERE in the areas of automotive-grade digital mapping and location intelligence, both companies now jointly work on the future of car connectivity.
