Tele Atlas Updates European Mobile Mapping Fleet with 10 New Mercedes-Benz Sprinter Vans
Written by Tele Atlas
Friday, 19 September 2008
Mobile Mapping Vans Fitted with Advanced Technologies that Capture
360-Degree Views to Create Richer Digital Maps and Help Enable Advanced
Safety Applications
Gent, Belgium, 17 September 2008 — Tele Atlas, a leading global provider of digital maps and dynamic content for navigation and location-based solutions, today announced that it has purchased 10 new Mercedes-Benz Sprinter vans to update its European Mobile Mapping Van (MMV) fleet. All of Tele Atlas’ Mobile Mapping Vans are fitted with the company’s proprietary technologies that capture a 360-degree street view to increase the accuracy of not only what drivers notice – landmarks and speed limits – but also the critical data required for new safety applications, such as road slope and curvature, as well as bridge height and weight restrictions.
Tele Atlas currently has nearly 50 Mobile Mapping Vans driving around the world, traveling colossal amounts of kilometers each year. To deliver the most up to date maps, the company leverages a complete source network, which includes qualified content from the GPS user community, satellite and aerial imagery, public data sources, government sources, utility, fleet and postal drivers to find out exactly where changes are taking place, or are planned. Combined with the more than 50,000 data sources Tele Atlas uses to collect and update its maps and content, the Mobile Mapping Vans help ensure that changes to map information - which occur at a rate of approximately 10 to 15 percent a year on average and can be much higher in fast-growing areas – are as current as possible.
“The update of Tele Atlas’ Mobile Mapping Van fleet in Europe with 10 new Mercedes-Benz Sprinter vans demonstrates our continuing investment in the people, processes and technologies required to deliver the most current, accurate and detailed digital maps,” said Dan Adams, Tele Atlas’ VP of Data Sourcing. “Tele Atlas has selected the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter because of its comprehensive standard safety equipment and the superior coverage provided by Mercedes-Benz’ extensive service network throughout Europe.”
Better Maps for a Better Navigation Experience
Tele Atlas Mobile Mapping Vans are outfitted with cameras including one stereoscopic camera pair, differential GPS hardware, an inertial measurement unit and computers to take pictures, determine the height of bridges, and record the slope and banking of roads around the globe for 3D digital map content. A number of Mobile Mapping Vans are even equipped with lasers and ladybug 360° cameras. This combination of technology enables the vans with the unique ability to deliver a multi-dimensional, 360 degree view of the road for a high level of quality detail and precision at exceptional speed – up to 5 times faster – and more efficient than traditional vehicle collection methods.
This wealth of sophisticated context-specific map data that can be integrated with on-board automotive electronics, is already having an impact on both vehicle safety and efficiency, and is anticipated to have far-reaching effects on emerging Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) applications.
“As Tele Atlas’ digital maps and content converge with sophisticated on-board automotive electronics such as sensors and cameras, drivers will have an enhanced awareness of changing road conditions as their navigation systems deliver a rich combination of content to help users find a destination and arrive there safely,” continued Adams.
About Tele Atlas
Tele Atlas delivers the digital maps and dynamic content that power many of the world’s most essential navigation and location-based services (LBS). Through a combination of its own products and partnerships, Tele Atlas offers map coverage of more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. The company was founded in 1984 and has approximately 2,000 full-time staff and contract cartographers at offices in 24 countries. Today, Tele Atlas maps are developed with the insight of a community of millions of GPS system users worldwide, who are adding to the company’s unmatched network of sources to track and validate changes in real time, and deliver the best digital maps and dynamic content. For more information, visit www.teleatlas.com. Tele Atlas is a subsidiary of TomTom N.V.
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