Systems and methods for projecting a three-dimensional (3D) surface to a two-dimensional (2D) surface for use in autonomous driving are disclosed. In one aspect, a control system for an autonomous vehicle includes a processor and a computer-readable memory in communication with the processor and having stored thereon computer-executable instructions to cause the processor to: receive a 3D map including a plurality of objects, determine a base point in the 3D map, shift the objects in the 3D map based on the base point, project the objects in the shifted 3D map to a 2D map, and output the 2D map.