Page 24 - ARUBA TODAY

A24 TECHNOLOGY
Friday 15 June 2018
Japan banks on 3D mapping deemed crucial for driverless cars

By YURI KAGEYAMA Motor Corp. hired Mandali
TOKYO (AP) — Technology Khalesi from HERE to lead
companies are racing to its automated-driving initia-
develop ultra-precise digi- tive.
tal maps that can guide Digital 3D maps focus on
self-driving cars within inch- highways, where land-
es of where they should marks are easier to discern
be — a hurdle the industry and define. Khalesi thinks
needs to clear if it hopes Toyota can gain an edge
to deliver on its promise of by developing technology
widespread use of driver- for city streets and off-road
less vehicles. rural areas. He hopes to use
Japan's government is satellite imagery.
backing a three-dimen- "To be honest, there is a lot
sional mapping system of catching up for us to do.
developed by Mitsubishi We should be open about
Electric Corp. that includes that," Khalesi said on Toyo-
a wealth of details such ta's digital mapping.
as trees and pedestrians. He said Toyota should part-
It promises to be off by no ner with existing mapping
more than 25 centimeters services, and not try to "re-
(9.8 inches). invent the wheel," but inno-
That would be a big im- vate where the technology
provement over satellite- In this May 31, 2018, photo, a car monitor shows a 3D digital map as it's driven through Tokyo was lacking. "There is mon-
based GPS, which is used streets. ey to be made definitely,"
by ships, aircraft and in- Associated Press he said. Japan's govern-
creasingly by drivers or on ment-backed initiative is
mobile phones but can cameras and computer take over. Even Japanese automak- led by the electronics unit
be off by up to 20 meters software to handle accel- "For autonomous driving, ers are also wooing map- of the sprawling Mitsubishi
(65 feet), especially inside eration, braking, steering 3D high-precision maps will ping services other than group of companies, which
buildings or underground. normally done by human be very important, allowing the national brand. also includes satellites, ro-
The developers say the im- drivers. cars to know their positions Among the global players: botics and an automaker.
proved mapping technol- That requires precise and accurately and also know —TomTom, based in Am- Japanese automakers in-
ogy likely will be used first accurate information what the roads are like sterdam. It is working with cluding Honda, Toyota and
in vehicles in isolated areas about not just road lanes ahead," said Yasuhide Shi- Japanese map maker Ze- Nissan Motor Co. are also
such as warehouses, or it but repairs, traffic lights, bata, senior general man- nrin Co. investors in Dynamic Map
might be used to help driv- crosswalks and buildings. ager of Mitsubishi Electric. —DeepMap, in Palo Alto, Platform Co., the outfit cre-
ers of vehicles that aren't That is relayed to moving Starting in November, Ja- California, co-founded by ated to make commercial
entirely autonomous. vehicles, which requires pan will also get positioning James Wu, who worked applications out of the
Its challenges and dan- additional telecommuni- information from its govern- for Google Maps and Ap- technology.
gers were highlighted in cations connections. ment satellites, including ple Maps. Wu is promising "Everybody's got a differ-
March when a self-driving On a computer screen, three launched last year, 5-centimeter (2-inch) preci- ent angle on it, a differ-
Uber SUV being tested on a such maps are masses called QZS, Quasi-Zenith sion. Among Japanese au- ent idea," said Christopher
street in suburban Phoenix of tiny points swimming Satellite System. tomakers, it is working with Richter, auto analyst for
struck and killed pedestrian around in virtual 3D, defin- Japan wants driverless cars Honda Motor Co. CLSA Securities Japan Co.
in the industry's first fatality. ing a landscape of trees, on the roads by 2020, with —HERE, co-owned by Ger- "These are things we've
Autonomous, or even roads, signs, buildings, cars hopes the Tokyo Olympics man automakers and Intel never needed before and
semi-autonomous, driving and pedestrians. will showcase its techno- Corp. It signed a partner- so everybody's got a fresh
will require sensors, radars, Data are collected by spe- logical prowess the way ship late last year with Jap- idea, and everybody is
cial vehicles carrying sen- the 1964 Tokyo Summer anese electronics and car- looking for that pot of gold
sors and cameras. Those Games displayed its new navigation maker Pioneer at the end of the rainbow,"
have drivers for now, but bullet train to the world. Corp. with hopes of grow- said Richter. "There's going
at some point autonomous But mapping services are ing in Japan. to be quite a few pots of
vehicles are expected to popping up everywhere. Three months ago, Toyota gold."q
Microsoft follows Amazon in pursuit of cashier-less stores

By MATT O'BRIEN mond, Washington. and plans more locations checkout industry.
AP Technology Writer Ava Retail CEO Atul Hirpa- in Chicago and San Fran- Michael Suswal, co-found-
Microsoft is working on au- ra said Microsoft could be- cisco. Overhead cameras er of San Francisco-based
tomated checkout tech- come a leader in the field and other technology help startup Standard Cogni-
nology that could help because it has a strong keep track of customers tion, said Microsoft has the
retailers compete with cloud computing platform. and what they're buying. teams capable of devel-
Amazon's new cashier-less That technology would Microsoft's interest in work- oping the software and the
stores. power the retail system by ing with retailers on similar infrastructure needed to
One firm building auto- pulling in data from in-store technology was reported deploy it broadly.
mated checkout systems, cameras or sensors. earlier by Reuters. It remains Suswal said his firm is also
Ava Retail, said Thursday it Microsoft declined com- unclear how far along Mi- working with retailers — but
is working with Microsoft on ment Thursday. crosoft is in the project. The not currently with Microsoft
the technology for physi- Amazon opened its first report of its involvement — on its own automated
cal stores. Both companies cashier-less Amazon Go didn't surprise others in the checkout system using
have headquarters in Red- store in Seattle this year fast-growing automated overhead cameras.q