Tomtom.com
More than 20 years of mobile mapping, here’s how it began
Matthew Beedham
Editor
Sep 9, 2021 • 9 min read
TomTom mobile mapping (MoMa) van
When it comes to mapping our world’s roads, TomTom is a pioneer and one of the most experienced firms in the industry. 20 years ago, its mobile mapping team in Lodz, Poland started a journey that continues to be a cornerstone of TomTom’s business today.
To keep its maps as fresh as possible, TomTom uses an array of sources, including government information, survey vehicles and community input.
But there’s one source that stands unique in its accuracy, reliability and value to the company: mobile mapping vans, or MoMas for short. Thanks to MoMa vans, the company’s maps continue to become ever more detailed and refined.
To learn more about the company’s mobile mapping journey, I spoke with Krzysztof Miksa, who is TomTom’s director of engineering in autonomous driving, and Marcin Lechowicz, who is director of maps. They also happen to be two members of the team that developed and built TomTom’s first mobile mapping vehicle.
The journey begins
That story began in 2001 when an unassuming Peugeot Partner van, equipped with all manner of sensors and GPS hardware, rolled out for the first time in Lodz. Its job was to gather thousands of data points every second which could then be used to build some of the most detailed digital maps of the time.
Before we get to that, let’s go a little further back in time.
The Peugeot Partner had two digital cameras mounted to its roof operating in a stereo configuration.
The Peugeot Partner had two digital cameras mounted to its roof operating in a stereo configuration.
Before joining and bringing their MoMa tech to TomTom, Miksa, Lechowicz and their colleagues began developing their MoMa vehicle while at Poland’s state cartography agency, the PPWK.
Miksa, Lechowicz and many of their colleagues from that time are now part of TomTom and their office in Lodz is now the center of the company’s MoMa operations. That Peugeot Partner van very much became one of TomTom’s first MoMa vehicles.
Building the first MoMa vehicles
To give the back story, Netherlands-based mapping company Tele Atlas was the first company to put a mobile mapping van on the road back in the early 1980s. TomTom acquired Tele Atlas in 2008, taking on board its expertise and technology. With the two companies combined, TomTom now has more years of mapping experience than any other location technology specialist.
The Tele Atlas TeleSurveyor. The first mobile surveying vehicle was developed in the 1980s. Tele Atlas is also now part of TomTom, bringing its experience and tech to the company.
The Tele Atlas TeleSurveyor. The first mobile surveying vehicle was developed in the 1980s. Tele Atlas is also now part of TomTom, bringing its experience and tech to the company.
Indeed, when the last millennium rolled around, mobile surveying vehicles had already been gathering basic data on our cities and roads for over a decade. However, the technology they used made the process slow and labor intensive.
As computer technologies developed and GPS signals were opened to the public, the PPWK and TomTom recognized an opportunity to bring even more detail to digital maps. Using the new technology, they set out to take mobile mapping to the next level.
“The former CEO of the company [PPWK] challenged me with a task to create a prototype of the first mobile mapping vehicle in about four months,” Miksa told me. “We simply did it.”
Miksa makes it sound matter of fact, but it wasn’t a simple case of replicating and improving technology that was already out there. Mobile mapping (MoMa) was the next evolution and it required specialist engineering.
“Localization technology was quite restricted and very expensive,” Miksa added. Importing components and parts for the vehicle wasn’t easy either.
Back then, there wasn’t anything like the specialized componentry that engineers have access to today. Essentially, Miksa, Lechowicz and their colleagues had to build the MoMa van from scratch using hardware intended for other uses.
The Peugeot Partner van developed by the team in Poland. It paved the way for two decades of mobile mapping that followed its creation.
The Peugeot Partner van developed by the team in Poland. It paved the way for two decades of mobile mapping that followed its creation.
Given how specialist the MoMa van was for its day, you’d think it was built in a lab. But the truth is quite the opposite. Like many startups, the team developed and built the MoMa van from a rented house, assembling the van in its garage.
According to Lechowicz, it was a unique and interesting setting, but it had a family atmosphere, which no doubt helped nurture the collaboration required to build a vehicle which combined technologies from computing, mapping, automotive and transport industries