The automotive industry continues to be a hotbed of innovation, with activity driven by factors such as passenger safety and enhanced in-car experiences, and growing importance of technologies such as artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, sensors, and machine learning. In the last three years alone, there have been over 1.2 million patents filed and granted in the automotive industry, according to GlobalData’s report on Artificial intelligence in Automotive: Radar-camera fusion. Buy the report here.
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However, not all innovations are equal and nor do they follow a constant upward trend. Instead, their evolution takes the form of an S-shaped curve that reflects their typical lifecycle from early emergence to accelerating adoption, before finally stabilising and reaching maturity.
Identifying where a particular innovation is on this journey, especially those that are in the emerging and accelerating stages, is essential for understanding their current level of adoption and the likely future trajectory and impact they will have.
290+ innovations will shape the automotive industry
According to GlobalData’s Technology Foresights, which plots the S-curve for the automotive industry using innovation intensity models built on over 619,000 patents, there are 290+ innovation areas that will shape the future of the industry.
Within the emerging innovation stage, manufacturability analysis, autonomous parking, and lidar for vehicle anti-collision are disruptive technologies that are in the early stages of application and should be tracked closely. Speed profile estimation, smart light dimmers, and driver drowsiness detection are some of the accelerating innovation areas, where adoption has been steadily increasing. Among maturing innovation areas are road slope estimation and adaptive cruise control, which are now well established in the industry.
Innovation S-curve for artificial intelligence in the automotive industry
Radar-camera fusion is a key innovation area in artificial intelligence
Signals from camera and radar are combined to estimate the position, velocity, trajectory and class of objects including other vehicles and pedestrians. RADAR helps in accurately and quickly measuring object distance. Its greatest advantage over a camera is that it can be used in any setting and regardless of the weather. Additionally, it can be used at any time of day with the same accuracy. Since RADAR can also determine an object's velocity, ADAS applications can benefit greatly from it.
GlobalData’s analysis also uncovers the companies at the forefront of each innovation area and assesses the potential reach and impact of their patenting activity across different applications and geographies. According to GlobalData, there are 160+ companies, spanning technology vendors, established automotive companies, and up-and-coming start-ups engaged in the development and application of radar-camera fusion.
Key players in radar-camera fusion – a disruptive innovation in the automotive industry
‘Application diversity’ measures the number of different applications identified for each relevant patent and broadly splits companies into either ‘niche’ or ‘diversified’ innovators.
‘Geographic reach’ refers to the number of different countries each relevant patent is registered in and reflects the breadth of geographic application intended, ranging from ‘global’ to ‘local’.
Patent volumes related to radar-camera fusion
Source: GlobalData Patent Analytics
Toyota is one of the leading patent filers for radar-camera fusion. The company has filed 966 patents in the sector, as part of a concerted push to advance autonomous vehicles. Toyota’s radar-camera fusion will help prevent and mitigate collisions while yielding best-in-class lateral and longitudinal vehicle control. Denso, General Motors, and Ford are a few other notable patent filers in the same industry.
To further understand how artificial intelligence is disrupting the automotive industry, access GlobalData’s latest thematic research report on Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Automotive.
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GlobalData, the leading provider of industry intelligence, provided the underlying data, research, and analysis used to produce this article.
GlobalData’s Patent Analytics tracks patent filings and grants from official offices around the world. Textual analysis and official patent classifications are used to group patents into key thematic areas and link them to specific companies across the world’s largest industries.
