Technological Advances In Autonomous Vehicles Will Drive The Surveying And Mapping Market

The global surveying and mapping market is expected to grow from more than $40 billion in 2019 to nearly $50 billion in 2022 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7%. The demand for surveying and mapping services in the forecast period is expected to increase due to rapid technological advances in the manufacturing of autonomous vehicles. Surveying and mapping services could play a significant role in the future of driverless and autonomous vehicles. For instance, in January 2018, Baidu Inc., a Chinese internet services company, announced its collaboration with TomTom NV, a Dutch mapping company, to provide integrated high-definition maps into its Apollo autonomous-vehicle software. To advance the technology of autonomous vehicles, Baidu Inc. partnered with almost 90 companies, including manufacturers of automobiles, chip sets, and components. Following this trend, surveying and mapping companies are expected to increase the use of sensors such as light detection and ranging (LiDAR) and radio detection and ranging (RADAR) along with three-dimensional maps and cameras for advanced mapping services for driverless cars. The development of autonomous vehicles during 2018-2022 is expected to boost the demand for surveying and mapping services to enhance the navigation facility of driverless cars.

Technological advances are changing the surveying and mapping industry. Some other latest technologies such as 3D laser scanning and UAVs (unmanned armed vehicles) are being used in the global surveying and mapping market to reduce time and enhance service quality. Companies are investing and integrating these technologies into their design to have a better understanding of their customer behaviors and improve their experiences. 3D laser scanning is an increasingly popular tool for collecting large amounts of accurate spatial data within a short amount of time. 3D laser scanning uses an accurate, versatile, and fast scanning system with high-end software that is used for viewing the scanned images, panoramic images, measurements, and markups. It helps surveyors decrease operational costs while improving their profit margins. Another example of a technological advance in the surveying and mapping industry is the use of GIS software to capture and analyze data to create digital maps of areas. The high-tech software is used to create programs such as Google Maps, which is used by over 100 million people a month.

Drones or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are being used by the surveyors to capture high resolution images used in surveying and inspection to reduce operational costs and increase profit margins. An example of a UAV is the Aibot X6, manufactured by Aibotix, which is an autonomously flying hexacopter equipped with advanced artificial intelligence.