TomTom (TOM2) and the University of Amsterdam (UvA) have announced the launch of the Atlas Lab, which is a new public-private research lab that will focus on using artificial intelligence (AI) to develop “advanced, highly accurate and safe” high definition (HD) maps for self-driving vehicles.

TomTom and UvA are working together to research how AI can be used to create HD maps suitable for all levels of autonomous driving.

“At the UvA we are already doing research on automated recognition of items in images and videos. Yet the recognition of items and creation of HD maps in highly complex situations like a moving car, is still a huge challenge,” explains Theo Gevers, one of the scientific directors at Atlas Lab.

“This collaboration with TomTom provides an extra dimension to new and challenging AI-research.”

According to TomTom and UvA, five PhD students will spend the next five years working in the Atlas lab on projects contributing to automated recognition of items such as traffic signs, 3D-localization of vehicles and combining lidar laser and camera images.

Mobile mapping vans equipped with sensors such as lidar-systems and cameras are being used to retrieve data.

“TomTom is pushing the boundaries of the use of AI for making HD maps for self-driving cars,” says Harold Goddijn, TomTom’s CEO.

“We need groundbreaking research into AI technology, which is why we’re collaborating with UvA’s world-leading AI department on this initiative. This will move us a step closer to an autonomous future with safer roads, free of congestion and emissions.”