Continental Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) is offering Road Database, to supply accurate route information to advanced driver assistance systems. The data taken from sensors on vehicles is fed into the backend where it can be turned into maps or warnings for other cars on the road.
The Road Database makes a machine-readable representation of the road. The system either complements conventional digital street maps or offers an alternative.
Continental Road Database improves assistance systems with better predictive capabilities.The more vehicles and manufactures that use the system, there will be more accurate and up-to-date information shared.
Advanced driver assistance systems currently available on the market, such as dynamic eHorizon developed by Continental, need accurate information about the roads including variable speed limits, mobile construction sites, and slope data. The data is also useful for autonomous driving.
Maps based solely on surveys and data entry by professional cartographers is laborious, expensive, and time-consuming. It is often not up-to-date, notes Continental.
The road data is first processed to extract features of the road in the Road Database format. The in-vehicle Road Database software then compares this data against any information that may already be stored in the vehicle for the same piece of road. The newly identified differences are then anonymously and securely transmitted to the backend operated by Continental. The backend generates road data that can then be made available to all participating vehicles.
The server indexes all information, whether road geometry or “furniture” (road signs, traffic lights, etc.), according to its reliability.
The route information obtained transmitted back wirelessly to the vehicles connected to the system. The data can then be used locally by the advanced driver assistance systems and as a basis for further refinement and updates using the on-board sensors. .