Autonomous driving

Autonomous driving: Technology Overview

The technology of autonomous driving refers to the development of autonomous vehicles, including all five stages of automation, from stage 1: Assisted driving – assistance systems that support the driver in certain tasks, to stage 5: Autonomous driving – where the vehicle operates completely autonomously, i.e. all persons in the vehicle become passengers. Autonomous driving relies on various technologies such as sensors, cameras, radar, lidar, GPS, and AI to perceive the environment, make decisions, and control the vehicle. Major use cases include autonomous taxis (robotaxis), last-mile delivery vehicles, autonomous trucks for logistics, shuttles for public transport, and self-driving systems for agriculture, mining, and other industrial applications.

Global Development of world class patents in autonomous driving

The patent analysis shows that the number of world-class autonmous driving patents has increased very dynamically from only 2,150 in 2015 to almost 22,200 in 2024.

Top 25 Countries

The US is the clear global research leader in autonomous driving.

Top 25 Companies

Research activities in autonomous driving are dominated by large tech companies such as Alphabet, Nvidia, Baidu or Intel (Owner of Mobileye) and major car makers and suppliers such as Toyota, Ford, GM and Bosch.

Key connected technologies

Deep learning & neural networks and Lidar & Radar are two key enabling technologies for the development of autonomous vehicles. Other important connected technologies are robotics and road traffic interaction.

Key connected technologies for autonomous driving – country activities

The following chart shows which countries are active in key connected technologies for autonomous driving. Only world class patents are shown that are assigned to both autonomous driving and enabling technologies / adjacent fields. Individual countries can be activated or deactivated by clicking on the corresponding circle in the legend.

Reading example: the number next to the listed technologies indicates the number of world-class patents in 2024. The US is the leader in world class patents that are assigned both to autonomous driving and other connected technologies. Patent applications involving researchers from more than one country are assigned to the countries of those researchers. Consequently, the sum of top research locations exceeds 100%.