Ordnance Survey and Mobileye Begin to Map Roadside Infrastructure in UK

Ordnance Survey, Great Britain’s national mapping agency, and Mobileye have launched trials to create the first detailed roadside infrastructure dataset of Britain for a new, accurate and customisable location information service. To support the trials, Northumbrian Water Group has become the first utility company in the UK to join the project.

The new service from Mobileye and OS, which will deliver high-precision roadside asset location data to companies across multiple sectors, was first announced by the companies at CES 2019. The collaboration will unlock the innovation of artificial intelligence-powered automotive technology for an array of markets.

Fleets of vans and cars fitted with Mobileye’s automotive camera-based mapping technology are set to capture a street-level view of the nation’s road network. Retrofitted with the Mobileye 8 Connect, the vehicles are detecting, processing and sending data to the cloud for aggregation before the information is provided to OS.

OS cross-references the data with its existing datasets. The level of detail recognized and classified includes road markings, network boxes, traffic lights, road signs, lamp and telegraph posts, bollards, manhole covers, and drainage grates. The data is updated constantly as vehicles capture information on the roads they travel.

Initially tested in selected areas of the country, the trials included London, Manchester and the North East. The trials are already helping produce a dataset of Britain’s road network characteristics and street furniture at an unprecedented level of accuracy. They will lay the groundwork for new data and infrastructure asset monitoring services for customers across many markets.

The utility sector will be among the first markets to take advantage of new data services. Utility businesses will be able to enhance the quality of their existing asset data, making it faster and simpler to identify and link above-ground and underground assets. Companies can monitor the condition of their assets, saving them money and time when planning asset maintenance programs.

As the global leader in the development of vision technology for advanced driver assistance systems and autonomous driving, Mobileye also empowers fleets with a higher standard of safety and helps reduce traffic injuries and fatalities. The Mobileye 8 Connect system, which is powered by Mobileye’s EyeQ4 processor, brings several advanced collision avoidance features in addition to providing alerts and warnings that can improve driver behavior and create safer roads.