Mitsubishi Electric Europe has established a High Precision Positioning Systems Division at its German branch headquarters in Ratingen, Germany. The new division offers key technologies to German and European customers to accelerate the introduction of centimeter-level autonomous driving and safe driving assistance. These are the Mobile Mapping System (MMS) and the high-precision AQLOC positioning receiver with centimeter-level accuracy for applications in road and utility vehicles, harbors and drones as well as the agricultural sector.
AQLOC will be compatible with GNSS services and positioning data augmentation services by Sapcorda, a joint-venture by Mitsubishi Electric, Bosch, Geo++ and u-blox. MMS uses car-mounted GNSS antennas, laser scanners and cameras to gather 3D positioning data for road assets with high-level accuracy, creating the comprehensive, high-definition 3D maps needed to support autonomous driving.
The Mitsubishi Electric mobile mapping and high-precision positioning systems will be available in Europe, North America, Asia and Oceania, where the demand for highly accurate, precise and efficient field surveys and infrastructure inspections is expected to grow.
Mitsubishi uses its experience in the development of the Japanese Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) and the Centimeter-Level Augmentation Service (CLAS), which already offer centimeter-level positioning data in Japan. In addition, Mitsubishi Electric invested in a 3D mapping project in Japan, “Dynamic Map Platform Co., Ltd.”, that has acquired the US company Ushr in February 2019 and thus made an important contribution to the infrastructure for autonomous driving.
MMS and AQLOC equipment will be manufactured in Japan.
“We are happy to add this new business area to our wide-ranging mobility solution portfolio, which already includes automotive equipment, power devices and railway systems. The High Precision Positioning Systems Division rounds out our mobility sector and will offer German and European customers essential technologies for highly precise autonomous driving systems in a variety of scenarios”, says Andreas Wagner, President of the German Branch of Mitsubishi Electric Europe.
