Netease Technology News October 20 news, according to the connection magazine reports, one morning in September, I drove (this article author Steven Levy (Steven Levy (Steven Levy, founder and editor of the technology information site Backchannel) into San Francisco Church area. Due to the peak hours of work, the traffic flow on this road is not very crowded. As I crossed the alley, I avoided a side-by-side armored vehicle and bypassed the construction site. Although this looks like a no-goal ride, I'm actually working.
Every trip I drove, every object I met, and even the scene across the overlap line to avoid the Blix truck, were recorded by a device mounted on the top edge of the windshield. Above the mirror. Soon, thousands of people may install these tools in their cars, hoping to earn some extra money. In the process, it is possible to create the next great crowdsourcing project: to provide the world’s roads with constantly updated, super-detailed maps that may only be read by driverless cars, and they will soon be Will fill up the streets.
The device was developed by a startup called Mapper in San Francisco and was officially launched today after a year of development. Mapper's maps are not like traditional maps, and are even quite different from Google's or Apple's maps. They are designed for machines rather than humans. When you see them appear, they are actually made up of glowing pixels. On such a map, objects, lane markings, and traffic signals are all displayed in rough shapes and colors. These are the maps of the future, which could become the cornerstone of a multi-billion-dollar emerging market. Without these maps, driverless cars will not function properly.
Figure 2: Mapper's Drawing Device
Mapper CEO Nikhil Naikal said: "As human beings, if we are blindfolded and sent to a new place, we can still determine our position because we have millions of years. Common sense helps guide our consciousness. On the other hand, machines need a lot of continuously updated 3D map data in order to foresee what will happen next. This is exactly what our map can provide.â€
Currently, Waymo (separated from Google Research), Uber, General Motors, and others are testing driverless cars. They all must make their own maps. This is an arduous process that requires people to drive cars with complex lidar (laser and radar hybrid) equipment on multi-lane designated roads to record each limit height, fire hydrant, and other lane markings on the roadside. As a result, these vehicles are actually driving in pre-planned areas. Unless you realize that you are in a pre-planned area, the Waymo cars that enter the driverless mode won't even start.
Mapper's Solution is to recruit a large number of part-time personnel to collect data in order to create a huge "base map" for driverless cars and keep the map constantly upgraded. You can think of this job as another option for Uber and Lyft, but practitioners do not need to deal with customer ratings, nor do they need to bear the fury of Travis Kalanick. The key to Mapper's plan is that it can create high-resolution 3D maps without using laser radar.
This expensive and sometimes tedious mix of laser and radar is not only the standard for driverless cars, but also the standard for drawing maps. Mapper's founders are Ph.D. engineers who participated in the DARPA Challenge and created an indoor map startup Flyby Media (acquired by Apple) that the company believes can match lasers with sophisticated modeling and data compression techniques. The result obtained by radar.
Mapper manufactures a plastic device called the S1, which is equipped with multiple cameras and sensors that can be run on the dashboard or powered by a cable connected to the cigarette lighter. It can also wirelessly synchronize with the driver's iPhone. Neckar said: "The cost of the S1 is $350. It is made up of common commodity parts. It is designed so that it can be easily installed on any car." After installation, the Mapper app will direct the driver to the scheduled route. , And prompt the driver speed. Nikar says that the best speed for drawing is 16 to 48 kilometers per hour.
Figure 3: Mapper Office Interior View in San Francisco
Mapper does not expect its driver to work full time. Neckar said that under the strict guidance of the application, more than four hours of work will lead to "cognitive overload." In an ideal situation, the driver will use this application for an hour or two each time. In addition, if you do not want to get instructions from the application, drivers can leave the system by themselves, and Mapper will collect data from wherever they are. This passive mode of the driver can also make money, but less. Neckar said: "This may be an activity that anyone wants to participate in and can earn extra money. Whether it is construction workers or people who often walk on the street, they have the ability to do cool things. And get paid."
Because many of Mapper’s rewards depend on updating maps, city streets may need to be updated at least once a week to reflect changes in buildings, new traffic patterns, and even weed growth. Jonathan Glanz, Mapper’s chief product officer, estimates that when the company expands, it can have tens of thousands of mappers helping to maintain its basic map update, which is far less than Uber’s hundreds of thousands. Alonso Patron, chief technology officer of Mapper, said: "We don't need a huge fleet because we can choose the drawing task."
Neckar explained that once Mapper has created a base map and constantly updates it, it is "like a living organism." Mapper can license products to automakers, transportation service companies like Uber, and even technology companies like Apple and Waymo. What all these customers have in common is that they are currently paying a high price for mapping themselves, and they need to spend more money to achieve complete coverage. Neckar said that these companies are not willing to share data with each other. Why does Toyota believe in Ford's data?
If you have a map and help the evolution of the contract by signing the driver and other data submitted by the customer himself, then it may be like a network in a 3D map, which will become the standard digital map for driverless cars. If the company wants to customize the map according to their needs, Mapper can also meet the requirements. Neckar said: "We want a basic map. We focus on building our own core foundation layer, owning data, and making it available to everyone." When customers have specific needs, they can send their own data to Mapper. The latter can be overlaid on its base map.
Earlier this year, after testing the system in Old Alexandria, Virginia, USA, Mapper is now busy completing a digital version of Mason-Dixon in San Francisco, hoping to complete the basic map of the city before Thanksgiving. In the next 14 months, the mapping work will be extended to other cities and then gradually extended to overseas city centers. After that, the company will turn to rural areas and eventually hope to cover all areas so that driverless cars can get map data support everywhere.
When Mapper completes the base map, it can not only make money from driverless car makers, but it can also make money from other customers who may use the world's most detailed road guides, such as power companies maintaining infrastructure, and insurers looking for risk factors. Wait. Perhaps most strikingly, augmented reality (AR) companies may want to use a series of personalized ads to change your road trip. As for the privacy issue, Mapper said it will not collect information such as a license number or a home address, although its customers are likely to overwrite this information on Mapper maps.
Mapper is not the only company with this ambition. Like sudden traffic jams, large groups of competitors are competing to enter the 3D map field. Everyone has their own methods, but they all want to become Rand McNally (mapping company) in the robot world. James Wu, CEO of DeepMap, stated: “This is a rather congested space.†DeepMap has already obtained $32 million in financing from venture capital firms such as Andreessen Horowitz and Accel. It also uses a crowdsourcing model as One of the data collection strategies.
Lvl5, a start-up supported by Y Combinator, a startup incubator, also provided drivers with maps to compensate. The driver simply connects the phone to the dashboard and uses the built-in camera to capture the data. Lvl5 Chief Executive Andrew Kouri worked for Tesla Electric Vehicles. He said that if he sends enough drivers along the road, Lvl5 ​​will have enough information to use its algorithm to update the map. Lvl5 pays drivers according to mileage, but does not require them to drive on pre-selected routes. Curry said: "We used a lot of Uber drivers."
Another company, Civil Maps, uses relatively expensive roof collection equipment so that developers in the field can contribute to the crowdsourcing base map. Carmera's mission is "to democratize the data of driverless cars," and he works with companies that run car or truck fleets. One of the most awesome players is HERE, a map company that was spun off from Nokia. HERE has created a platform called Sensoris that can receive data from multiple partners.
These companies all hope to find a place in the "winners' circle", and this circle may only hold one big player. Mapper believes it has a unique scale + quality combination to win this competition. It is now difficult to judge who is on the right track. All companies are competing for major customers, especially car manufacturers. I interviewed a major potential client executive who was considering a pilot project with Mapper. He said: “It's hard to use cameras to complete the LiDAR work, but it is due to expertise and history. I don’t know Who can achieve the achievements of Mapper, and the early results show that they are in a leading position."
For example, Waymo claims its map is in development and once its system is mature, it may consider outsourcing work. However, although we are not sure which company will become the map maker of the "Machine World", it seems that we may all contribute to it. Although Mapper's founders did not directly say this, when the Mapper began to use the standard equipment on the car in the near future - the built-in, road-facing camera, the tens of thousands of part-time workers who earn extra money will gradually reduce.
Essentially, we will have the technology to implement the functionality of Mapper's S1 windshield device, which may be turned on by default without requiring us to do anything. To compensate for areas that cannot be covered by a car with a camera installed, Mapper can still use contractors to track its own route. When the era of driverless cars arrives, they can be sent to perfectly follow the direction of the Mapper. No matter who collects data, robots will get their maps. (small)
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