Lotus Robotics and HERE Technologies have joined forces to develop an advanced Highway Navigation Pilot aimed at enhancing automated driving on highways through Level 2+ (L2+) capabilities.
This initiative marks a significant step as it integrates HERE's high-precision HD Live Map with Lotus Robotics' full stack solution for L2+ automated driving. This synergy aims to provide features such as automated lane changes, highway transitions, and passing manoeuvres, with the solution set for European homologation by 2025.
The HERE HD Live Map is designed to enrich situational awareness by providing precise, forward-looking data about road features and regulations, thereby improving safety for automated driving systems. The map integrates with vehicle sensors to enhance functions like localisation, prediction, and path planning, offering improvements in scenarios where sensors alone may face limitations.
Lotus Robotics' solution, powered by HERE's mapping technology, will be featured in upcoming Lotus vehicles and will also be available for integration by other OEM partners. The collaboration is expanding on the existing partnership between the two companies, which previously delivered advanced navigation systems for the electric SUV Lotus Eletre and the hyper-GT Lotus Emeya.
Dr. Bo Li, Chief Executive Officer at Lotus Robotics, highlighted the growing demand for L2+ ADAS and Navigation on Autopilot (NOA) systems on highways globally. "Lotus Robotics is dedicated to building an open ecosystem together with our strategic partners including HD map services provided by HERE Technologies as a key element of our technical stack of automated driving. We are expecting a rapid rollout of this product portfolio combining Lotus Robotics Software and HERE Map data across the globe," he stated.
Jason Jameson, Chief Customer Officer at HERE Technologies, expressed enthusiasm about the collaboration. "We are excited to collaborate and co-innovate with Lotus Robotics in the field of automated driving. Fresh and accurate location data and technology are a critical cornerstone for any safe and efficient automated driving system. Together with Lotus Robotics, we look forward to paving the way for the future of autonomous vehicles," he said.
The partnership leverages HERE's AI-powered mapping architecture, which automates and updates mapmaking using IoT sensor data and processes millions of kilometres of data every hour, thereby supporting more than 54 million vehicles worldwide in ADAS and automated driving functions.
