Map-Less Yet Accurate: Trajectory Prediction for Traffic Agents Using Online HD Map Reconstruction for Autonomous Driving

2026-26-0039

1/16/2026

Authors
Abstract
Content
Accurate trajectory prediction of traffic agents is critical for enabling safer and more reliable autonomous driving, particularly in urban driving scenarios where close-range interactions are most safety critical. High-definition (HD) and standard-definition (SD) maps play a vital role in this process by providing lane topology and directional cues for forecasting agent movements. However, HD maps are expensive and resource-intensive to create, often requiring specialized sensors, while SD maps lack the precision needed for reliable autonomous navigation. To address this, we propose a novel framework for trajectory prediction that leverages online reconstruction of HD maps using vehicle-mounted cameras, offering a scalable and cost-effective alternative. Our method achieves improvements in predicting accuracy, particularly in close-range scenarios, the most crucial for urban driving, while also performing robustly in settings without pre-built maps. Furthermore, we introduce a new safety-aware evaluation metric that incorporates heuristic weights based on agent relevance and distance, enhancing traditional metrics like Brier-minFDE with a stronger focus on safety-critical scenarios. Extensive experiments demonstrate that our approach outperforms state-of-the-art map-less methods, particularly in close-range prediction, while our proposed metric establishes a more domain-relevant benchmark for assessing trajectory prediction in autonomous driving.
Meta TagsDetails
Pages
7
Citation
Upreti, M., Girijal, R., B A, N., Thontepu, P., et al., "Map-Less Yet Accurate: Trajectory Prediction for Traffic Agents Using Online HD Map Reconstruction for Autonomous Driving," SAE Technical Paper 2026-26-0039, 2026, https://doi.org/10.4271/2026-26-0039.
Additional Details
Publisher
Published
Jan 16
Product Code
2026-26-0039
Content Type
Technical Paper
Language
English