Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp. entered into a partnership with China's Momenta to develop a high definition mapping platform in the country specifically made for self-driving cars. The service would allow vehicles to locate themselves and enhance the accuracy of the mapping systems incorporated in autonomous driving.
In an official statement, Chinese autonomous driving startup Momenta announced its partnership with Toyota Motor Corp to create a high definition mapping platform in China that would improve the accuracy and real-time features of self-driving cars. It was also revealed that such service would be available to industry developers as well.
Three years ago, Momenta, backed by Germany's Daimler, started the testing of autonomous cars in mainland China such as Suzhou and Beijing. The service provided camera-based high definition mapping technologies. This service rendered Toyota's AMP to commercialize its products in the country.
Apart from Momenta, Toyota autonomous vehicle partnerships also comprised of a joint venture with SoftBank Corp. It also invested in robotaxi developer Uber ATG. Furthermore, the company also invested 400 million USD in Chinese ride-hailing company Didi Chuxing and entered into a recent joint venture to improve the mobility services of autonomous cars in the country.
According to Nikkei Asian Review, this is the second partnership that Toyota Motor Corp entered into in the last 30 days. In February, Japanese carmaker fundraising for Pony.ai received 400 million USD of investments from the company as well.
According to Momenta, the partnership was necessary for both companies to promote and commercialize Toyota's automated platform in the Chinese market. The statement also read that the Chinese community would benefit from the partnership that would result in enhanced self-driving features. China is the largest market for automated cars at present.
The report also explained that Toyota has been using concepts with other companies using cameras and satellites in building high-definition maps for roads since last week. The said services would also do-away with survey vehicles for the collection of data.
It was further explained that high-definition maps allow centimeter-level precision thereby making it necessary for the partnership to improve the accuracy of the service in the autonomous market.
The statement also revealed that Momenta's strategy is to mass-produce passenger vehicles that offer full autonomy. The company was said to be confident that its partnership with Toyota would realize this goal and that the Japanese company plays a significant role in Momenta's business strategy in the autonomous cars market.
