The automotive industry continues to be a hotbed of patent innovation. Activity is driven by the need to reduce undesirable traffic externalities, optimize transport more efficiently, and make cleaner transport with lower fuel consumption, and growing importance of technologies such as radar and light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensors, collision avoidance systems, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) & vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, and remote trip monitoring. In the last three years alone, there have been over 720,000 patents filed and granted in the automotive industry, according to GlobalData’s report on Robotics in automotive: AV platooning. Buy the report here.
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According to GlobalData’s Technology Foresights, which uses over one million patents to analyze innovation intensity for the automotive industry, there are 300+ innovation areas that will shape the future of the industry.
AV platooning is a key innovation area in robotics
AV platooning is a method of communication between a group of autonomous vehicles (AVs), which travel in a line or a platoon. The lead vehicle of the platoon shares information such as speed, distance, and road conditions with the following vehicles, allowing them to maintain a closer following distance, and thus reducing air resistance and improving fuel efficiency.
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 195+ companies, spanning technology vendors, established automotive companies, and up-and-coming start-ups engaged in the development and application of AV platooning.
Key players in AV platooning – a disruptive innovation in the automotive industry
‘Application diversity’ measures the number of applications identified for each patent. It broadly splits companies into either ‘niche’ or ‘diversified’ innovators.
‘Geographic reach’ refers to the number of countries each patent is registered in. It reflects the breadth of geographic application intended, ranging from ‘global’ to ‘local’.
Patent volumes related to AV platooning
Source: GlobalData Patent Analytics
Hyundai Motor is one of the leading patent filers in AV Platooning. The company has recently filed a patent related to platooning controller, providing the sensors failure data to the other vehicles in the platoon. The company successfully demonstrated its autonomous driving capabilities for the truck platooning a few years back and is further working on its advancement for improved features. Some other key patent filers in the space include LG, Kia, and Aisin.
In terms of application diversity, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries leads the pack, while Mitsubishi Motors and Nidec stood in the second and third positions, respectively. By means of geographic reach, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance held the top position, followed by Nio and Panasonic.
To further understand the key themes and technologies disrupting the automotive industry, access GlobalData’s latest thematic research report on 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.
