TomTom has launched its fully autonomous test vehicle, which is designed to test and improve the location technology specialist’s autonomous driving technologies, which includes the TomTom High Definition (HD) Map, TomTom Roadagrams, and TomTom AutoStream, a map streaming service.

“Having our own autonomous vehicle is a critical advantage when it comes to developing the technology required for safe and comfortable autonomous driving,” says Willem Strijbosch, TomTom’s head of Autonomous Driving.

“We can continuously test our mapping technology on the roads, get insights and high-quality data on how it performs in a multitude of circumstances and, right away, feed this into our AI-driven map-making process.”

TomTom’s autonomous test vehicle is equipped with eight laser scanners, stereo cameras and six radars, allowing for different sensor configurations to be tested. The sensor set provides a 360-degree view of the vehicle’s surroundings, and the data from these sensors is processed and referenced against the TomTom HD Map, which allows the vehicle to locate itself precisely.

Described as a “highly accurate and highly attributed representation” of the road that includes lane models, lane geometry and traffic signs, with accuracy down to a few centimeters, the TomTom HD Map gives autonomous vehicles a variety of capabilities, including the ability to precisely locate themselves on the road; to build a detailed model of the surrounding environment working together with the vehicle sensors; and to plan a path to the destination.

TomTom notes that it has closed deals with several carmakers across the globe to provide its HD map, which covers the U.S., Europe and Asia.

“We’re already the natural choice for automakers who want to deploy automated driving systems on a global scale,” Strijbosch says. “Now that we can move even faster in our research and product development, we’re further elevating the quality of our offering.”