Google maps added a new feature that shows the street view of the city. It cool to know how the city looks like if you walking or driving along the road.

You might be wondering how this street level imagery is collected. There are many agencies that do it, Tele Atlas the world’s most trusted source of digital map data and dynamic content does it by rolling one of these on the streets.

In pictures you can see Tele Atlas map machine, a van tricked out with tens of thousands of dollars worth of cameras, laser range detectors and global positioning hardware. The cameras mounted on the roof take snapshots of the surroundings every eight meters.

The tallest sensor in the middle of the roof stitches together the results to create a mosaic panoramic image. The laser sensors on the back (the devices labeled SICK) are used to determine the height of overpasses and buildings to help delivery vehicles find the route with the most overhead clearance. On-board servers and laptops run the show. All of the data collected is mashed together and used in Tom Tom devices and other Tele Atlas GPS service partners.

*source: http://blog.wired.com