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Autoware HD maps

Autoware is the open-source autonomous driving stack maintained by the Autoware Foundation. It is built on ROS 2.

The repository layout

Section titled “The repository layout”

The Autoware Foundation organises its code as a set of repositories. The two you’ll see referenced most:

  • autowarefoundation/autoware — the meta-repository. It pins versions, holds the launch / configuration / documentation, and ties the rest together. This is the entry point if you want to “get Autoware running.”
  • autowarefoundation/autoware_universe — the active source-code repository. Planning, perception, control, and the rest of the runtime components live here, all on ROS 2. This is where most day-to-day Autoware development happens.

There is also autoware_core for the stable core libraries.

(The older Autoware.Auto and the original Autoware.AI are previous generations. New work targets the current Autoware / Autoware Universe.)

How Autoware represents HD maps

Section titled “How Autoware represents HD maps”

Autoware uses Lanelet2 as its primary HD map representation. A typical Autoware map directory contains:

  • lanelet2_map.osm — the lanelet-based HD map (the focus of authoring tools).
  • pointcloud_map.pcd — the LiDAR point cloud the localiser uses.
  • Pointcloud map metadata.
  • An optional visualisation mesh.

Autoware also defines Lanelet2 format extensions on top of the base Lanelet2 spec — extra tags and conventions that the planning and perception components rely on.

Authoring tools

Section titled “Authoring tools”

The main HD-map authoring tools used in the Autoware community:

  • TIER IV Vector Map Builder — a free browser-based Lanelet2 editor designed specifically for Autoware. Supports lane authoring with regulatory elements (traffic lights, stop lines, crosswalks, parking, …) and can use a point cloud map as a reference. Often the first recommendation for new Autoware users.
  • JOSM with the Autoware Lanelet2 plugin — the classic OSM editor extended for Lanelet2. Per Autoware’s docs, JOSM-authored maps usually need some manual modifications to be fully Autoware-compatible.
  • MapToolbox — a Unity plugin for building Autoware vector maps.
  • TIER IV’s paid HD-mapping services for production-scale work.

Where drawtonomy fits in Autoware workflows

Section titled “Where drawtonomy fits in Autoware workflows”

drawtonomy is not an Autoware HD-map authoring tool. Vector Map Builder, JOSM, and dedicated mapping services occupy that space, and they’re the right answer for any serious mapping work.

drawtonomy can be useful in adjacent, lighter-weight situations:

  • Inspecting an existing Lanelet2 map quickly without installing anything.
  • Sketching a scenario on top of an Autoware sample map for a paper, slide, or design discussion.
  • Producing a simplified figure of an Autoware intersection for documentation.
  • Light geometric edits — reshaping a boundary, smoothing a jagged segment — on a small map.

What drawtonomy doesn’t cover:

  • Authoring or editing Lanelet2 regulatory elements in the UI. (Imported elements are preserved on re-export via a sidecar, but they aren’t editable visually.)
  • City-scale or survey-grade map production.
  • Producing a map suitable for running a real Autoware stack on.

drawtonomy is best treated as a visual companion to the real Autoware tooling, not a replacement.

Section titled “Related reading”