Mobileye deal with BMW for autonomous driving

Mobileye, an Israel-founded technology company which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, has signed an agreement with BMW to support the car manufacturer in developing autonomous vehicles, by increasing the amount of data available to create driving maps.

Mobileye’s road experience management (REM) data generation technology will be used in newly-developed BMW Group models entering the market from 2018. This agreement to crowd-source real-time data using vehicles equipped with camera-based advanced driver assist system (ADAS) technology is critical for autonomous driving, because it opens the way to next-generation high definition (HD) maps aimed at making driving safer and more efficient for consumers.

Autonomous vehicles will require HD maps that can identify and update changes in the environment with near real-time speed enabling very short “time to reflect reality”.

This data can be used to add a dynamic layer to current and future navigation maps, enabling BMW Group customers to access true real-time information on traffic density, potential road hazards, weather conditions, on-street parking, and other helpful information.

The BMW Group and Mobileye will transfer anonymized data to HERE, the leading mapping and location service, ensuring an accurate depiction of the real world as it changes.

“This announcement demonstrates that our partnership is rapidly bringing innovation to market to allow customers to benefit from the latest technology,” said Klaus Fröhlich, member of the board of management of BMW AG, development.

He added: “At a strategic level, this announcement makes it clear how our cooperation with Mobileye leverages our investment stake in HERE. The data of future BMW vehicles will enrich the quality of maps and services for everyone. Furthermore, this represents a significant step towards introducing the BMW iNEXT with its features of highly automated driving in 2021 as well as creating a leading ecosystem around HERE’s Open Location Platform leveraged by swarm data from millions of vehicles across the world.”

Mobileye’s advanced technology allows cars to interpret the world around them to enable self-driving capabilities and anticipate possible collisions with vehicles, pedestrians, cyclists, animals, debris and other obstacles.

Its products are set to be integrated into car models from more than 25 global automakers.

Professor Amnon Shashua, chairman and chief technology officer of Mobileye, said: “We welcome the opportunity to take this next step in our relationship with BMW Group. Camera-based ADAS systems are already making the roads safer. Global RoadBook is an initiative to utilize data from these cameras to create the high-definition maps required to make the next generation of autonomous driving a reality, in an inclusive way which will create an industry standard.”