https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/43bk8j/mit-lidar-allows-driverless-autonomous-cars-to-navigate-rural-roads-without-map > Google has spent the last 13 years mapping every corner and crevice of the world. Car makers haven’t got nearly as long a lead time to perfect the maps that will keep driverless cars from sliding into ditches or hitting misplaced medians if they want to meet their optimistic deadlines. > This is especially true in rural areas where mapping efforts tend to come last due to smaller demand versus cities. It’s also a more complicated task, due to a lack of infrastructure (i.e. curbs, barriers, and signage) that computers would normally use as reference points. That’s why a student at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL) is developing new technology, called MapLite, that eliminates the need for maps in self-driving car technology altogether. This could more easily enable a fleet-sharing model that connects carless rural residents and would facilitate intercity trips that run through rural areas.