How Can TomTom Compete in the Autonomous Driving Space?

Automotive digital map creation is going through a period of considerable transformation, with the core requirements going forward being software presence at the edge and robust, global cloud-to-car dissemination. At CES 2018, TomTom made a number of automotive announcements, including the launch of the AutoStream map delivery system and a collaboration with Zenuity, the automotive software joint venture between Volvo and Tier One supplier Autoliv.

AutoStream: TomTom’s new map delivery service brings a strong focus on implementation, not only in terms of how quickly a customer can bring map data augmented ADAS / autonomous driving to market, but also with respect to how well it addresses the typical automotive constraints of low memory storage and low bandwidth. Different layers of TomTom map data can be downloaded in tile format to suit the intended application, the vehicle sensor configuration and the driver’s route. For example, the map data ranges can be customized according to the ranging abilities of each vehicle’s on-board sensors, while predictive analytics help ensure that the vehicle will always have access to up to date map data, without the need to download updates to the entire nation/region.

Collaboration with Zenuity: One of the first customers of the AutoStream service, Zenuity will incorporate TomTom map data into their autonomous driving software stack, supporting the core functions of localization and path planning. Furthermore, the partnership with Zenuity will give TomTom the software presence in the vehicle necessary to aggregate data from on-board sensors to keep the map up to date.

In tandem, the two announcements demonstrate a closed-loop approach to automotive map creation and dissemination, with a welcome focus on scalability.

Until relatively recently, automotive incumbent map makers were still having to make the case for maps in autonomous driving, with some implementers skeptical about their relevance outside of navigation. When Mobileye announced their REM system at CES 2016, it was seen by many as a vindication of the investments made by TomTom, HERE, and a handful of regional players.

Unfortunately, having established the value proposition for digital maps in autonomous driving, the industry then became stagnated for a short time in the testing/prototype phase, using dedicated mapping vehicles equipped with LiDAR to create static maps of highways in various geographies, in order to support OEMs in the testing of their autonomous prototypes. This led to a competition to map ever more thousands of kilometers of roadway in as many geographies as possible, but these undertakings were rarely followed up with a robust, scalable approach to maintain the map once it was created.

HERE has since made strides in the direction of more robust, closed-loop approach to what they have termed their “Reality Index”, an up to date representation of the world which can be leveraged for a number of applications across numerous verticals, including autonomous driving. HERE have a number of advantages in their favor. First of all, the unique relationship with three OEMs (Mercedes-Benz, Audi, and BMW) facilitates access to sensor data, while the HERE Auto navigation solution will help further their software presence at the edge. Furthermore, the recent acquisition of ATS adds the OTA capabilities necessary to manage sensor data crowdsourcing campaigns. The secret to the success of TomTom’s unparalleled traffic information services was their unmatched access to GPS probe data, but when it comes to the next generation of data crowdsourcing, HERE is running rings around the competition.

In the meantime, a number of startups have entered the market, keen to gain a foothold in a market which is now well recognized as fundamental for autonomous driving. Some, such as CivilMaps have an inherent focus on developing a scalable, closed-loop platform for highly autonomous driving, while USHR has made considerable progress in a short amount of time, supporting the GM SuperCruise semi-autonomous system in the US.

While incumbents such as TomTom can leverage their scale, global presence, and extensive automotive experience, startups emphasize their focus on the autonomous use case without the entanglements of a history in embedded navigation or PNDs.

There is no doubt that the ultimate value from autonomous driving will be derived from fully driverless shared vehicles operating in smart mobility fleets. The first green shoots of this mobility revolution can be seen in the numerous, highly geo-fenced trials operating in countries such as the U.S., the U.K., France, Singapore, China, and many others. While these trials are important for building consumer confidence, their tiny scale and fragmented deployments offer limited value to the automotive supply chain, and map makers in particular. The limited geographical ambition of these short-term driverless trials means that they are highly vertically integrated, as it is feasible for a non-specialist company to build and maintain a one-off map for a small area. One example of this is micro transit service May Mobility partnering directly with LiDAR startup Cepton for mapping and perception.

In this challenging business environment, the best opportunity for short/medium term revenues for a global player such as TomTom is the semi-autonomous highway use case, where the implementers are TomTom’s traditional OEM customer base. As well as enabling earlier return on investments in maps to support autonomous driving, the semi-autonomous opportunity opens the way for TomTom to develop a robust and trusted platform for scalable sensor data ingestion and map data dissemination, which can then be brought to smart mobility customers once this market has matured beyond the testing/prototype phase.

Once operating at scale, maintaining and growing the map will no longer be a question of owning and operating specialized mapping vehicles, but software presence in sensor-equipped vehicles and the necessary cloud resources to ingest aggregated sensor data and disseminate updates to vehicles in the field. This is having the effect of opening up the digital map market to entrants such as Mobileye, who have compelling software solutions with high penetration in consumer vehicles, as well as a presence in high-utilization vehicles such as buses. Similarly, HERE is building on the data access advantages which come with their unique ownership model with the HERE Auto navigation platform, which will further their software presence at the edge and their access to vehicle sensor data for map building and connected services. Partnering with autonomous software stack providers, such as Zenuity, presents a lifeline for TomTom to improve their presence at the edge