The automotive industry continues to be a hotbed of innovation, with activity driven by safety, convenience, emission standards, and growing importance of technologies such as GPS navigation, electrification, and connected and autonomous vehicle technologies. 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 Robotics in Automotive: Autonomous mowers.
According to GlobalData’s Technology Foresights, which uses over 619,000 patents to analyse innovation intensity for the automotive industry, there are 290+ innovation areas that will shape the future of the industry.
Autonomous mowers is a key innovation area in robotics
The robotic lawn mower is outfitted with algorithms and sensors, such as a camera, accelerometer, and gyroscope, that allow it to map the area to be worked on.
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 20+ companies, spanning technology vendors, established automotive companies, and up-and-coming start-ups engaged in the development and application of autonomous mowers.
Key players in autonomous mowers – 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 autonomous mowers
| Company | Total patents (2010 - 2021) | Premium intelligence on the world's largest companies |
| Husqvarna | 430 | Unlock company profile |
| Honda Motor | 292 | Unlock company profile |
| LG | 211 | Unlock company profile |
| Positec Power Tools (Suzhou) | 193 | Unlock company profile |
| iRobot | 104 | Unlock company profile |
| Robert Bosch Stiftung | 96 | Unlock company profile |
| MTD Products | 51 | Unlock company profile |
| Toro Company | 38 | Unlock company profile |
| Kubota | 36 | Unlock company profile |
| Nanjing Chervon Industry | 24 | Unlock company profile |
| F. Robotics Acquisitions | 22 | Unlock company profile |
| Techtronic Industries | 20 | Unlock company profile |
| Changzhou Globe | 15 | Unlock company profile |
| Mamiya-OP | 14 | Unlock company profile |
| Yanmar Holdings | 13 | Unlock company profile |
| FireFly Automatix | 12 | Unlock company profile |
| RobArt | 8 | Unlock company profile |
| VIKING INCORPORATED | 8 | Unlock company profile |
| Suzhou Baoshide Power Tools | 7 | Unlock company profile |
| Briggs & Stratton | 7 | Unlock company profile |
| Shanghai Langbo Communication Technology Company | 7 | Unlock company profile |
| Zhejiang Geely Holding Group | 6 | Unlock company profile |
| Volta Robots SRL | 6 | Unlock company profile |
| Vorwerk | 6 | Unlock company profile |
| ZMP cooperative | 6 | Unlock company profile |
| Samsung Group | 5 | Unlock company profile |
| Hexagon | 5 | Unlock company profile |
| Woodline Partners | 5 | Unlock company profile |
Source: GlobalData Patent Analytics
Husqvarna is one of the leading patent filers in autonomous mowers. Husqvarna EPOS (Exact Positioning Operating System) is a game changer for a new line of professional automower robotic lawn mowers. The new Husqvarna automower NERA can operate within virtual boundaries thanks to satellite-based technology. Some other key patent filers in the innovation area include Honda, LG and Positec Power Tools (Suzhou).
To further understand how robotics is disrupting the automotive industry, access GlobalData’s latest thematic research report on Automotive.
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.
