atlatec technology

atlatec grew out of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and its innovation partner, the FZI Research Center for Information Technology. Both the university and the FZI have a strong background in computer vision – something that reflects in our approach to HD mapping technology until today.

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The lean hardware footprint and use of low-cost, vehicle-independent sensor pods makes for easily deployable survey equipment that can be used on rental cars anywhere in the world.

Vehicle-independent sensor pods eliminate the need for purpose-built survey vehicles.

atlatec’s approach to 3D mapping relies mainly on stereo vision, using two front-facing cameras as the primary sensor. Our sensor pods place them 40 cm apart from each other, which makes for a self-contained, portable setup that is only about the size of a suitcase – without compromising on depth-image resolution.
Camera-based feature tracking and bundle adjustment allows for exceptional quality of trajectory recreation and spatial referencing, compensating for the larger part of IMU-related drift. Learn more about the accuracy we achieve here.

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Easy-to-use sensor equipment.

The atlatec sensor pod mounts on any vehicle rooftop within minutes. It's self-calibrating and easily operated via a connected tablet in the car, acting as a remote control. The tablet also doubles as a navigation system, instructing our drivers precisely on which lanes/turns to take. Use of a sensor pod requires zero engineering knowledge - anyone with a drivers license qualifies as a survey driver.

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Geographic flexibility.

Highways in the USA, urban routes in Europe or country roads in Japan: atlatec sensor pods can easily be deployed anywhere, typically travelling as regular airplane luggage with our drivers.

Our own navigation software specifically designed for survey driving maximizes routing optimization, lowering the total driving distance required to fully survey any given route.

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Highly scalable hardware concept.

The sensor pods are entirely self-contained, which makes for easy and quick deployment anywhere. All hardware used is low-cost, so if a box needs to undergo maintenance/upgrades, it can easily be replaced for the time.

The low cost also allows for low utilization: We can store sensor pods in strategic locations, keeping them available for updates on demand.

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A look under the hood: atlatec sensor pods contain stereo cameras, an RTK-GNSS receiver and a motion sensor/IMU.

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Automated 3D model generation.

Our data processing pipeline takes care of GNSS correction, sensor fusion and loop closure, resulting a single, consistent 3D model for every route – with consistency in the sub-centimeter range.

Data processing is done in post-production on our servers in Karlsruhe, Germany and almost 100% automated.

Annotation à la carte.

Our proprietary annotation software is heavily optimized for our sensor setup and allows us to leverage AI for many tasks, such as identifying lane borders and inferring the topology of intersections. Human annotators manage quality control and more complex tasks. The degree of fidelity/object-richness depends on individual customer requirements.

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Professional project management.

Our project management software "atlatrack" is purpose-built for mapping work: It allows us to efficiently manage a distributed workforce on projects of any size, reliably enforcing required quality control and feedback loops as well as managing interdependencies between tasks.

atlatec HD maps can be exported to a wide range of formats, depending on your use case.

Maps for simulation
Maps for autonomous driving
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Maps for systems & sensor testing

See “Which map formats and tools does atlatec support?” for an overview of available formats.

Explore atlatec HD maps:
Download a free sample map

Get sample data