Major motorcar manufacturer, General Motors, or GM, has filed a patent application for a continuously updating navigation map system. The system would apply blockchain to integrate data from vehicle sensors and build a reliable map for autonomous vehicles.

According to the filing, which was submitted on Oct. 1, 2022 and published on Apr 2, 2022, existing maps are "difficult to keep dynamic without incurring large costs."One potential reason for this is that most maps are maintained through specialized vehicles, whose accomplish volition necessarily be express to but a few specific sections of the world.

General Motors' solution is to distribute the process to many vehicles, which would collect data about their environment through sensors every bit they just drive around.The real-time data would be compared with a discrepancy detector, which analyzes the existing maps.

Whatever deviation is transmitted to a blockchain network that holds all the map data. The "candidate transaction" is and so validated if other vehicles report a similar change. The patent suggests that the network would exist maintained by vehicles and mining nodes located in data centers.

The system was likely adult for GM's "Super Prowl" characteristic, which provides a semi-automated driving experience on some luxury models. Dissimilar competitors from Tesla, the organization relies very heavily on navigation maps, which is why information technology can only exist used on "supported" roads.

Distributing the map generation process would probable speed up the manufacturer'southward efforts to cover the majority of the roads in the U.Due south.

The patent reveals that one of the benefits of the system is distributing the map generation process and assuasive multiple vendors to contribute to a single map. This is likely the reason why it implements blockchain.

Automotive manufacture and blockchain

Equally previously reported by Cointelegraph, General Motors is one of the more prolific machine manufacturers in the blockchain sector. In October 2022, it was one of the five car manufacturers testing a blockchain-based payment and identification system for vehicles.

Its finance arm invested into a blockchain startup in June, in an effort to adjourn auto financing fraud.

The manufacturer also patented another blockchain-based communication organisation in Dec 2022, which would assistance dissimilar entities communicate with autonomous cars.