Autonomous vehicles rely on an impressive array of cameras, radar and lidar sensors to understand their surroundings. These technologies excel at detecting nearby objects and tracking their movement, but they primarily provide relative information—showing where something is in relation to the vehicle itself. For automated driving to operate safely and reliably, vehicles must also know their precise location within the wider road network. Bridging this gap between relative sensing and absolute positioning is becoming one of the key challenges in autonomous mobility.

Modern positioning systems combine satellite navigation with inertial sensors, digital maps and sensor fusion techniques to determine a vehicle's location with centimetre-level accuracy. This is particularly important in environments where satellite signals may be weak or disrupted, such as urban canyons, tunnels or densely built city centres. By integrating multiple data sources, autonomous vehicles can maintain an accurate understanding of their position even when individual sensors become unreliable.

For transport professionals, this highlights the growing importance of positioning as a core component of automated driving systems rather than simply a navigation tool. Reliable localisation supports lane-level guidance, enables safer decision-making at complex intersections and allows vehicles to align their observations with high-definition maps. It also provides the spatial reference needed for connected mobility services, where vehicles exchange information with infrastructure and other road users.

The discussion is equally relevant for Europe, where the deployment of intelligent transport systems increasingly depends on accurate and interoperable positioning technologies. As cooperative mobility services expand and connected infrastructure becomes more common, precise localisation will play a central role in ensuring that digital transport ecosystems operate consistently across borders and under varying road conditions.

While cameras and lidar often receive the most attention in discussions about autonomous vehicles, knowing exactly where the vehicle is may prove just as critical as understanding what it can see. The future of automated mobility will depend on combining robust perception with highly accurate positioning to create transport systems that are both intelligent and dependable.

You can find the article  here.

BANQUE, Xavier. Bridging the gap between relative sensing and absolute positioning. ADAS & Autonomous Vehicle International [online]. 30. June 2026 [cited 2026-07-15]. Available: https://www.autonomousvehicleinternational.com/opinion/bridging-the-gap-between-relative-sensing-and-absolute-positioning.html

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