Applus+ IDIADA

A leading company specializing in providing design, engineering, testing and homologation services to the automotive industry

the company

Applus+ IDIADA is an engineering company with a long history of 25 years, providing design, testing, engineering, and homologation services to the automotive industry worldwide. The company’s headquarters is located near Barcelona, Spain and is composed of a 360-hectares main technical center which includes its own proving ground and a comprehensive set of laboratories. The company employs more than 2,500 engineers specialized in vehicle development drawn from over 25 different countries. The company also has an international network of subsidiaries and branch offices in 24 countries.

the challenge

Applus+ IDIADA had a goal of providing its customers an opportunity to test their autonomous vehicles and ADAS systems on Spanish roads. atlatec team took over the challenge. As soon as both companies agreed on the details of the project, an atlatec driver arrived in Spain with the sensor pod (surveying hardware) and started the data acquisition of 330 kilometers of Catalan public roads.

the result

The routes that were scanned for Applus+ IDIADA include highways, interurban roads, rural roads, and city streets. They were selected for their above-average probability of encountering challenging situations for connected and automated vehicles. The HD maps created by atlatec GmbH are now available for companies or research institutions that need such maps to test their highly automated prototypes on public roads in Catalonia. Any interested parties can reach out to Applus+ IDIADA.

Apart from scanning the massive length of Catalan roads, both companies agreed on making their own contribution for the automotive industry and released a free sample set of HD maps. The sample set in OpenDRIVE format can be downloaded from the atlatec website.

Get sample data

“The HD map creation capabilities of atlatec GmbH complement Applus+ IDIADA’s engineering and testing services for the development of highly automated vehicles for our international clients.”

– IDIADA’s Joan Carbó, Director, Chassis & Active Safety commented back in 2019.