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The Next Revolution Cars A Technology Analysis of Driverless Cars
4th Floor, B-Block,
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DLF City Phase – III, Gurgaon,
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Tel: +91-124-4003400
www.lexinnova.com
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The Next Revolution Cars
Contents List of Figures ................................................................................................................................................ 3
List of Tables ................................................................................................................................................. 4
1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................................. 1
2. Background ................................................................................................................................................. 1
3. Market Analysis ........................................................................................................................................... 2
4. Technical Overview ..................................................................................................................................... 3
4.1 Vehicle to Vehicle (V2V) Communication .................................................................................................. 4
4.2 Cruise Control ........................................................................................................................................... 4
4.3 Automatic Brakes ..................................................................................................................................... 5
4.4 Lane Keeping ............................................................................................................................................ 6
4.5 Radar ........................................................................................................................................................ 7
5. Patenting Trend Analysis .............................................................................................................................. 8
5.1 Vehicle to Vehicle (V2V) Communication .................................................................................................. 9
5.2 Cruise Control ......................................................................................................................................... 12
5.3 Automatic Brakes ................................................................................................................................... 14
5.4 Lane Keeping .......................................................................................................................................... 16
5.5 Radar ...................................................................................................................................................... 19
6. Major Assignees ........................................................................................................................................ 21
6.1 ROBERT BOSCH ...................................................................................................................................... 21
6.2 TOYOTA.................................................................................................................................................. 22
6.3 NISSAN ................................................................................................................................................... 24
6.4 GOOGLE .................................................................................................................................................. 25
6.5 GENERAL MOTORS ................................................................................................................................. 27
6.6 Other Universities working on driverless vehicles ................................................................................... 28
7. Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................ 29
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List of Figures
Figure 1: Various technologies used in driverless cars ................................................................................ 3
Figure 2: Key technologies used in driverless cars ...................................................................................... 4
Figure 3: An illustration of cruise control ....................................................................................................... 5
Figure 4: An illustration of automatic braking ................................................................................................ 6
Figure 5: An illustration of lane keeping ........................................................................................................ 6
Figure 6: An illustration of a Radar system ................................................................................................... 7
Figure 7: Distribution of technologies amongst the leading assignees ......................................................... 9
Figure 8: Number of Patents v. Assignee in the field of Vehicle to Vehicle Communication ...................... 10
Figure 9: Number of Patents v. Application Year in the field of Vehicle to Vehicle Communication .......... 12
Figure 10: Number of Patents v. Assignee in the field of Cruise Control ................................................... 13
Figure 11: Number of Patents v. Application Year in the field of Cruise Control ........................................ 14
Figure 12: Number of Patents v. Assignee in the field of Automatic Braking ............................................. 15
Figure 13: Number of Patents v. Application Year in the field of Automatic Braking .................................. 16
Figure 14: Number of Patents v. Assignee in the field of Lane Keeping ................................................... 17
Figure 15: Number of Patents v. Application Year in the field of Lane Keeping ......................................... 18
Figure 16: Number of granted patents and number of application in different years in the field of Lane
Keeping ....................................................................................................................................................... 19
Figure 17: Number of Patents v. Assignee in the field of RADAR .............................................................. 20
Figure 18: Logo of BOSCH ......................................................................................................................... 21
Figure 19: Logo of TOYOTA ....................................................................................................................... 22
Figure 20: Logo of NISSAN......................................................................................................................... 24
Figure 21: Google Driverless Car ............................................................................................................... 25
Figure 22: Logo of General Motors ............................................................................................................. 27
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List of Tables Table 1: Technologies and prototypes of driverless cars between 1980 and 2005..................................... 2
Table 2: List of important patents by major assignees in the field of Vehicle to Vehicle Communication .. 11
Table 3: List of important patents by major assignees in the field of Cruise Control .................................. 14
Table 4: List of important patents by major assignees in the field of Automatic Braking ........................... 16
Table 5: List of important patents by major assignees in the field of Lane Keeping .................................. 18
Table 6: List of important patents by major assignees in the field of RADAR ............................................ 21
Table 7: List of important patents by Robert Bosch .................................................................................... 22
Table 8: List of important patents by Toyota ............................................................................................... 23
Table 9: List of important patents by NISSAN ............................................................................................ 25
Table 10: List of important patents by Google ............................................................................................ 26
Table 11: List of important patents by General Motors ............................................................................... 28
Table 12: Some of Universities working on driverless cars ........................................................................ 29
Table 13: Overview of different technologies in driverless car ................................................................... 31
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1. Introduction
A driverless car, also known as an autonomous, robotic, or self-driving car is an automobile that
requires virtually no human intervention for its operation. Being autonomous it senses the
environment around itself and navigates itself according to the destination chosen by a human.
These vehicles employ the use of techniques such as video cameras, radars, laser range finders,
computer vision, and GPS to visualize the environment around them. With the recent advances in
these technologies the vehicle is capable of making a complete virtual 3-D image of the world
around it. And, all this is done on real time basis while conforming to the traffic lights, lane
markers, and other traffic signage.
Driverless cars are growing in popularity and generating interest all over the world. Owing to this,
the states of Nevada, Florida, and California in USA have already legalized the technology. The
Nevada legislature of June 2011 authorized the use of autonomous vehicles by passing the AB
511 bill.
This article attempts to analyze the patent landscape of driverless cars to bring out the evolution
of this technology and to identify promising areas for further research.
Research methodology
Our research team reviewed the technology to obtain a thorough understanding of the
developments taking place in this domain. Then, based on this understanding, a large set of
patents was extracted from the several commercial patent databases. These patents were then
screened for relevancy and a subset of the initial patent set was considered for further analysis.
This screened set was then bucketed into various categories by country, assignee, inventor,
technology, and the like.so on. The results were analyzed and have been presented in this
paper..
2. Background
In 1939, Norman Bel Geddes designed an exhibit, Futurama, which showed electric cars
powered by circuits embedded in the road and controlled by a radio. The exhibit was sponsored
by General Motors and it was showcased at the 1939 World's Fair. At that time, Futurama
envisioned the world of tomorrow and showed how the transportation network would look like in
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the future. Futurama was followed by lots of technologies and prototypes of driverless cars that
could enable the concept visualized in the Futurama. (See Table 1 for more details).
Year Event
1980s Mercedes-Benz‟s vision-guided robotic van achieves 100 km/h
DARPA-funded Autonomous Land Vehicle (ALV) demonstrated the use
of LIDAR, computer vision and robotic control.
1994 Daimler-Benz and Ernst Dickmanns‟ twin robot vehicles VaMP and Vita-2
drove about a thousand kilometers semi autonomously.
1995 Dickmanns´ autonomous S-Class Mercedes-Benz travels 1600km
CMU‟s NAVLAB project achieves 98% of autonomous driving on a
5000km road.
2005 BMW‟s starts testing its autonomous vehicle technology
Table 1: Technologies and prototypes of driverless cars between 1980 and 2005
Lately, many big automobile companies like AUDI, GM, Volvo, Cadillac, Mercedes-Benz,
Volkswagen, and companies especially Google have put their autonomous vehicles on the road
for testing.
3. Market Analysis
Self-driving cars might sound like science fiction, but they are already cruising roads and could be
commercially available within the next decade. Florida and California are the latest states (after
Nevada) in US to allow on road testing of Google's self-driving car. Next in line are Atlanta and
Washington.
Autonomous cars use computers, sensors, and other technology to operate independently. In
recent years, automakers have introduced autonomous functions such as self-parking, lane
departure warnings, and adaptive cruise-control. These functions allow vehicles to automatically
accelerate and decelerate with the flow of traffic.
Google‟s self-driving cars have completed 300,000 miles of test-drives, under a “wide range of
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conditions,” without any accident. The Google project uses Toyota Prius equipped with a range of
cameras, radar sensors, and laser range-finders to observe traffic; sophisticated software uses
Google Maps to navigate routes. Nissan has unveiled NSC-2015 at the CEATEC electronics
show (2012) in Tokyo. A feature of this car includes a system for performing a car health check,
when a smartphone sends an instruction to park the car. The system decides if the car is okay. If
the car is okay, the automatic driving mode is enabled. This will put Nissan in race with Bosch,
Google and many other companies which are currently trying to size the market with the
technology.
4. Technical Overview
Figure 1: Various technologies used in driverless cars
The technologies mentioned in FIG. 1 enable various functionalities of a driverless car. These are the
basic technologies which are useful for driverless vehicles. Out of these technologies, the first five
technologies are important owing to the large number of patents filed in such technologies. (See FIG. 2).
Vehicle to Vehicle (V2V)
Communication Cruise Control Automatic Brakes
Lane Keeping Radar Traction or Stability
Control
Video cameras Position Estimator Global Positioning
System
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Figure 2: Key technologies used in driverless cars
4.1 Vehicle to Vehicle (V2V) Communication
One of the main features of driverless cars is ability to communicate with each other. V2V
(vehicle to vehicle) is an automobile technology designed to allow automobiles to "talk" to each
other. US allows V2V in the 5.9 GHz band. V2V communication makes it possible to reach
maximum safety standards and avoid traffic congestion on the roads.
4.2 Cruise Control
Cruise control is a system that controls the speed of a vehicle without any human intervention.
Speed is set by a human and then the system automatically controls the throttle of car to maintain
that steady speed. The desired speed of the vehicle is maintained by pulling the throttle cable
with a solenoid, a vacuum driven servomechanism, or by using the electronic systems built into
the vehicle (fully electronic) if it uses a 'drive-by-wire' system. FIG. 3 is an illustration of the cruise
control system.
Currently, the system is used to provide a comfortable driving experience to the driver in steady
traffic conditions. But it forms one of the main features in autonomous vehicles in which no driver
is present. In addition, combined with V2V communication the system is able to vary the speed
with the position of nearby vehicles.
Key Technologies used in Driverless Cars
Vehicle to Vehicle
Communication Cruise Control
Automatic Brakes
Lane Keeping Radar
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Figure 3: An illustration of cruise control
Source
The first two patents (US3570622 and US3511329) for electronic cruise control system were filed
in 1968 by Daniel Aaron Wisner who worked as an engineer for RCA's Industrial and Automation
Systems Division in Plymouth, Michigan. After about 20 years, Motorola Inc. developed a CMOS
integrated circuit for his design. The integrated circuit was known as the MC14460 Auto Speed
Control Processor. The main advantage of an electronic speed control system over its
mechanical predecessor was its easy integration with electronic accident avoidance and engine
management systems.
4.3 Automatic Brakes
Automatic braking employs a system to sense an imminent collision with another vehicle, person,
or obstacle; or a danger such as approaching a stop sign with high speed. On detection of
danger, the system automatically applies brakes without any human intervention. The system
uses sensors such as radars, video cameras, infrared sensors, ultrasonic sensors, or other
technologies to detect other vehicles or obstacles. GPS sensors are generally used to detect the
fixed dangers such as approaching stop signs through a location database. FIG. 4 is an
illustration of the automatic braking system.
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Figure 4: An illustration of automatic braking
Source
In 2008, Toyota Motor Corporation was one of the first entrants in this technology when they
announced their first GPS based automatic braking system and showcased it on highways in
Tokyo, Nagoya, Yokohama, and Osaka.
4.4 Lane Keeping
A lane keeping system warns the driver when the vehicle begins to move out of its lane. There
are basically two types of lane keeping systems. The first type just warns the driver when the
vehicle begins to move out of its lane. The second type warns the driver and if no action is taken
by the driver then automatically takes control of the steering wheel to keep the vehicle in correct
lane. FIG. 5 is an illustration of the lane keeping system.
Figure 5: An illustration of lane keeping
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Source
This type of lane keeping system is used in driverless cars to make them follow a single lane
unless and until it becomes necessary to change the lanes. The main sensors which are used in
such systems include video sensors, laser sensors and infrared sensors.
Companies like Nissan Motors, Toyota, Honda, Citroen, Audi, General Motors, Mercedes Benz,
and Kia Motors have already introduced the first type of lane keeping systems in their vehicles
and are working on completely making this system autonomous.
4.5 Radar
Radars form one of the most important systems in a driverless car. They are needed because
they not only help in cruising at a fixed and constant speed, but also help in detecting surrounding
traffic. This detection is done through using laser or radar based sensors. FIG. 6 is an illustration
of radar system.
Figure 6: An illustration of a Radar system
Source
In addition, radar systems are used in automatic braking systems of driverless cars. The Cruise
control system also uses a radar system to monitor the position of the car in front. Moreover,
distance can also be judged with the help of a radar or LIDAR sensors placed in front bumpers.
Radars can also be used when the car is being reversed. In such cases, radars are placed in the
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The Next Revolution Cars
rear panel and are capable of detecting oncoming traffic as the car backs out of parking spaces.
On detecting an incoming car, the system will alert the driver by an auditory or a vibratory alert.
5. Patenting Trend Analysis
During the patent analysis it was observed that during early and mid-2000‟s there was a
consistent increase in the patenting activity in the domain of driverless vehicles. The reason for
the increase can be due to the prototypes developed by companies like, Google, Nissan, and GM
in the market or can be due to the changes made to the laws governing the use of driverless
vehicles. All this has made the driverless technology more visible and players like Bosch, Toyota,
GM, Nissan, Honda, and Google have started applying for patents in this domain. However, late
2000 saw a decrease in patenting activity mainly because of the worldwide recession that hit the
automobile industry hard.
During the study, patents search was conducted for the field of vehicle to vehicle communication,
cruise control, lane keeping, radar, and automatic brakes. On the basis of the claims, relevant
patents filed after 2000 were selected for each field. FIG.7 illustrates the distribution of
technologies amongst the leading assignees.
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Figure 7: Distribution of technologies amongst the leading assignees
5.1 Vehicle to Vehicle (V2V) Communication
Vehicular communication networks are emerging type of networks in which vehicles and roadside
units communicate with each other to provide information, such as safety warnings and traffic
information to each other. Automobile manufactures like General Motors, Daimler Chrysler, Ford
Motor Company, Siemens, Honda, Toyota, and Mercedes-Benz have made huge investments in
this technology. Even some of the universities like University of California, Stanford, University of
California, Los Angeles, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology are pursuing research and
development of vehicular ad hoc networks.
6
29
35
37
12
48
7
32
23
17
15
22
33
14
8
13
9
5
11
8
24
22
13
12
1
3
2
30
11
7
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
FIG.7: Key Technologies V/s Key Assignees
Technologies
V2V
Cruise Control
Lane Keeping
Automatic Brakes
RADAR
BOSCH HONDA NISSAN TOYOTA HYUNDAI GM
Assignees
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The Next Revolution Cars
FIG.8 shows the leading assignees in the field of V2V communication. It was observed that most
of the patents in this field are assigned to Toyota and its subsidiary DENSO. Other electronics
manufacture like Alpine, Hitachi, Oki electric are also active in this field.
Figure 8: Number of Patents v. Assignee in the field of Vehicle to Vehicle Communication
The table given below contains some of the important patents by the leading assignees in this
field:
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Toyota Denso Alpine GM Mitsubishi OkiElectric
Nissan Honda Clarion CoLtd
Hitachi
No
. o
f p
ate
nts
Assignee
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Patent
Number
Title Assignee Patent Focus
JP2011258017A Probe Car System, Vehicle
for the Same, and Traffic
Information Sharing
Method for the Same
Toyota The patent describes a car system which is
capable of efficiently sharing information
obtained by a running vehicle with other
vehicles without using a traffic information
center.
WO2012020300 Vehicle Control Device and
Vehicle Control Method
Toyota The patent mentions a system in which
operation of the host vehicle is controlled in
relation with the movement of the vehicle in
front of the host vehicle.
US6445308 Positional data utilizing
inter-vehicle
communication method
and traveling control
apparatus
Toyota The patent describes a V2V system in
which the brakes or steering operation is
done autonomously whenever needed
based on the actions of the nearby vehicles
and a global positioning system.
US20100256836 Autonomous Vehicle
Management
GM The patent mentions a system in which
there is a platoon of vehicles which are
connected to a leader vehicle and move
according to the orders from it.
US6301530 Automatic following travel
system
Honda In this patent, a leading vehicle is followed
by the other vehicles using V2V
communication.
US2011190972 Grid Unlock GM In this patent, vehicles can communicate
using V2V communication with other
vehicles. In addition, the steering and
brakes are controlled autonomously.
Table 2: List of important patents by major assignees in the field of Vehicle to Vehicle Communication
FIG.9 shows the number of patents for V2V communication versus their year of filing. V2V
communication is currently in active development by General Motors, which demonstrated the
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0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
No
. o
f p
ate
nts
Application Year
system in 2006 using Cadillac vehicles. Other automakers working on V2V communication
include BMW, Toyota, Daimler, Honda, Audi, and Denso.
In the FIG.9, it can be observed that after General Motor‟s demonstration, the patent filing in this
domain increased significantly. Therefore, it can be inferred that major automobile players started
researching about this technology and filed a number of applications related to the V2V
communication technology.
Figure 9: Number of Patents v. Application Year in the field of Vehicle to Vehicle Communication
5.2 Cruise Control
Cruise control (speed control or auto cruise) is a system that automatically controls the speed of a
vehicle. In this, the system takes over the throttle of the car to maintain the speed set by the
driver. Bosch, the world‟s largest supplier of automotive components, is already out in the market
with its driving assistance systems and components. Bernd Bohr, head of automotive operations
at Supplier Robert Bosch feels that autonomous driving will be fully established within the next 20
years.
FIG.10 shows the leading assignees in the field of cruise control. It can be observed that
automobile manufacture like Bosch, Nissan, and GM are leading assignees in this field.
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0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
RobertBosch
Nissan GM Volvo Ford BayerischeMotorenWerke Ag
Denso Hitachi
No
. of
pat
en
ts
Assignee
Figure 10: Number of Patents v. Assignee in the field of Cruise Control
The table given below contains some of the important patents by the leading assignees in this
field:
Patent Number Title Assignee Patent Focus
EP1480054 Cruise Control for a
Vehicle
Bosch The patent describes a system in which
sensors are used to sense vehicles in
front of a host vehicle, and means of
selecting one of the vehicles as a
reference vehicle for speed regulation.
WO02058955 Adaptive Cruise
Control Device for a
Motor Vehicle, which
Uses Steering or
Braking Intervention
Bosch The patent mentions a system in which
cruise control is augmented with
automatic steering and braking
operations, thereby hinting towards a
completely autonomous driving.
US20110214526A1 Accelerator Pedal for
a Motor Vehicle and
GM In this patent, an automatic accelerator
pedal system is included in the cruise
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0
5
10
15
20
25
30
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
No
. o
f p
ate
nts
Application Year
Method for Operating
the Accelerator Pedal
control system of vehicles.
Table 3: List of important patents by major assignees in the field of Cruise Control
The applications for the Cruise technology, as shown in FIG.11 show slight peaks in the 2000‟s.
This may be because major players including BMW, Audi, and Volkswagen introduced their own
cruise control systems during these years.
Figure 11: Number of Patents v. Application Year in the field of Cruise Control
5.3 Automatic Brakes
Automatic braking systems generally include Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS) and Electronic
Brake-Force Distribution (EBD). Most of the patents found for automatic braking system
pinpointed towards these specific technologies. One of the largest players among brake
components manufacturers is Mando Corporation and it has a number of patents on ABS and
EBD. However, these patents do not refer to the use of these systems in autonomous cars
directly. Another leading assignee is Bosch. The ABS was first introduced to market by Bosch in
1978. Bosch‟s ABS prevented wheel lock during full braking. This ensured that, even after the
application of full brake, the vehicle could still be steered and moved out of the way of
unexpected obstacles.
FIG.12 shows the leading assignees in the field of automatic brakes.
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Figure 12: Number of Patents v. Assignee in the field of Automatic Braking
The table given below contains some of the important patents by leading assignees in this field:
Patent Number Title Assignee Patent Focus
EP2004445B1 Adapting Braking
Assistance during
Vehicle Braking
Bosch The patent describes an invention in
which sensors or video surveillance
system is used to monitor the
surrounding area.
EP1409310B1 Method and Device
for Predicting the
Travelling
Trajectories of a
Motor Vehicle
Bosch The patent mentions a system of
predicting a maneuver trajectory for a
vehicle during braking controls and
employs anti-lock braking and steering
system based upon trajectory
prediction.
GB2479998A A Parking System for
a Vehicle
Bosch The patent describes a parking system
for vehicle which has processing unit
that sends a warning signal to the driver
to check motion path and activates a
brake system for automatically stopping
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Mando Corp Bosch Toyota Wabco ContinentalTeves
Ford Advics Co.
No
. o
f p
ate
nts
Assignee
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vehicle if one sensor does not detect a
parking space boundary.
EP2051886B1 Braking Control
System and Braking
Control Method
Toyota The patent mentions an invention which
is targeted towards complete automatic
braking in case of imminent collision.
The invention integrates steering angle
sensors along with other type of sensor
to detect the imminent event of collision
but does not employ any environment
sensors.
Table 4: List of important patents by major assignees in the field of Automatic Braking
The filing of applications in this technology has been quite uniform over the past decade (See
FIG. 13). There was a slight shoot-up in the year 2008, probably following the introduction of
VOLVO‟s Automatic Braking System in its XC60. However, after 2008 there has been decrease
in filling of applications. This may be due to the worldwide recession which affected the
automobile manufactures.
Figure 13: Number of Patents v. Application Year in the field of Automatic Braking
5.4 Lane Keeping
There are two main types of lane keeping systems:
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
No
. o
f p
ate
nts
Application Year
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• Systems that warn the driver if the vehicle is leaving its lane by providing visual, audible,
and/or vibration warnings (lane departure warning, LDW)
• Systems that warn the driver and, if no action taken, automatically take the steps to
ensure vehicle stays in its lane (lane keeping system, LKS)
FIG.14 displays the leading assignees in the field of lane keeping. Some of the major companies
which came up in the analysis were Bosch, Nissan, Toyota, and Hyundai.
Figure 14: Number of Patents v. Assignee in the field of Lane Keeping
The table given below contains some of the important patents by the leading assignees in this
field:
Patent Number Title Assignee Patent Focus
US8031063 Method and
Apparatus for Driver
Assistance
Bosch In this patent, a process for driver
support by classifying a lane change of
vehicle on the basis of operating
parameters and generating an output
signal according to the result is
disclosed.
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
RobertBosch
Nissan Toyota Hyundai MandoCorp
Audi GM Mitsubishi Honda
No
. o
f p
ate
nts
Assignee
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0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
No
. o
f p
ate
nts
Application Year
US7765066 Method and Device
for Lane Keeping
Support in Motor
Vehicles
Bosch The patent describes a method for
assisting lane cross-over control in
motor vehicles by comparing a set point
value with an up-to-the-minute vehicle
position to calculate an output signal to
assist lane cross-over control.
Table 5: List of important patents by major assignees in the field of Lane Keeping
In early 2000‟s Nissan Motors began offering a lane-keeping support system on the Cima sold in
Japan. In mid-2000‟s, the first lane keeping passenger-vehicle system available in North America
was jointly developed by Iteris and Valeo for Nissan on the Infiniti FX and the M vehicles.
Similarly, during the same period other companies like Toyota, GM, Audi, and Honda also
launched their lane keeping systems.
Figure 15: Number of Patents v. Application Year in the field of Lane Keeping
FIG.15 shows the patents v/s year of filing for lane keeping systems. It was observed that most of
the patents in this field were filed in late 2000‟s. A large number of patents were filed by Toyota,
Bosch, and Hyundai during this period. In further analysis of these patents, it was found that
Buerkle Lutz is one of the leading inventors. He is based in Germany and has with most of the
patents filed for Robert Bosch.
In addition, this field of technology mostly had first filling office in JP, EP, KR, and DE. Europe
and Asia are dominant geographic areas in lane keeping systems, this maybe because the
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0
2
4
6
8
10
12
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
No
. o
f p
ate
nts
Application Year
Application
Granted
companies working on this technology are mostly based in Europe and Asia. Further, it was found
that only a small number of patents were filed or granted in the US during this period. FIG.16
shows the number of granted patents and number of application in different years.
5.5 Radar
Radar and LIDAR are the most common forms of systems used for environment sensing around
the vehicles. Radar is an object detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range,
altitude, direction, or speed of objects. LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging, also LADAR) is an
optical remote sensing technology that can measure the distance to, or other properties of, a
target by illuminating the target with light, often using pulses from a laser.
FIG.17 shows the leading assignees in the field of Radar. It can be observed that Toyota, Bosch,
and Hitachi are leading assignees in this domain
Figure 16: Number of granted patents and number of application in different years in the field of Lane Keeping
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0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
TOYOTA HITACHI LTD ROBERTBOSCH
Fujitsu HONDA NISSAN HYUNDAI MATSUSHITA DENSO
No
ofp
ate
nts
Assignee
Figure 17: Number of Patents v. Assignee in the field of RADAR
The table given below contains some of the important patents by the key assignees in this field:
Patent Number Title Assignee Patent Focus
JP2003276538A Obstacle
Predicting Device
Toyota The patent describes an obstruction prediction
apparatus for auto-cruise system, which
detects horizontal movement of preceding
vehicle based on the measured distance
between vehicles.
JP2004224098A Collision
Prediction Device
Toyota In this patent, a vehicle collision predictor
determines whether distance between detected
vehicle and preceding vehicle within specific
time interval is same as distance before
calculation.
JP2007189436A Car to Car
Communication
Device
Toyota The patent describes an apparatus for vehicle
tracking and collision avoidance system,
having controller that controls communication
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between vehicles based on vehicle distance
detected by radar communication and timing
data.
JP2003315452A Radar Apparatus Hitachi The patent mentions a radar system for
forward collision warning system of vehicle
which changes response speed of radar
system to larger value, when vehicle is
detected to be in lane-change behavior state.
DE102010040890A1 Radar Sensor for
use in Automatic
Cruise Control or
Pre-crash System
in Motor Car for
Measuring…
Bosch In this patent, a radar sensor is used for
measuring distances of preceding car and has
evaluation circuits for evaluation of reaction of
filter circuit to test frequency signal.
Table 6: List of important patents by major assignees in the field of RADAR
6. Major Assignees
6.1 ROBERT BOSCH
Figure 18: Logo of BOSCH
Robert Bosch GmbH (commonly known as Bosch) is a German multinational engineering and
electronics company headquartered in Gerlingen, near Stuttgart. It is the world's largest supplier of
automotive components. Bosch's core products are automotive components (including brakes,
controls, electrical drives, electronics, fuel systems, generators, starter motors and steering
systems). Bosch has collaborated with Stanford University for research and development on
autonomous vehicles and is even working with the Stanford Law School on overcoming the legal
challenges associated with Autonomous Vehicles.
Patents Portfolio:
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BOSCH has a great chance to be a leader in in the field of autonomous vehicles either in
development or in licensing their technology to other companies. BOSCH has a strong patent
portfolio in the cruise control, lane keeping and braking system. It also has patents related to other
technologies which are used in autonomous vehicles. Bosch has worldwide geographic coverage
for his patents in technology related to driverless but is more prominent in Europe and the US.
Some of the important patents of Bosch are:
Patent Number Title Patent Focus
EP1363800B1 Adaptive Cruise Control
Device for a Motor
Vehicle, which uses
Steering or Braking
Intervention
The patent describes a method of speed regulation
dependent on the relative speed and separation of an
object in the vehicle path and avoiding accidents by using
automatic steering or braking.
US7515056B2 Method and Apparatus
for Preventing Collisions
of Vehicles
The patent mentions a vehicle collision prevention system
which uses sensors to detect a vehicle's surroundings and
its amount of movement.
US8165796B2 Collision Avoidance
System and Method
The patent mainly focuses on environment sensing and
automatic steering control.
Table 7: List of important patents by Robert Bosch
6.2 TOYOTA
Figure 19: Logo of TOYOTA
Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Toyota,
Aichi, Japan. Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturing companies. Toyota Prius has
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been modified by Google so as to operate as a driverless car and has got the first license for a
self-driven car by Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles in June, 2011.
Patents Portfolio:
Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) has patents in most of the technologies related to driverless
vehicles. Toyota has strong patent portfolio in vehicular communication and lane keeping.
However, Toyota has only a few patents in the field of cruise control.
During the patent analysis it was also observed that there were many patents in the field of V2V,
cruise control, and radar technology assigned to DENSO Corporation. DENSO corp. is a
subsidiary of TOYOTA Group of companies which is also the part of TOYOTA Motor Corp.
Therefore, it can be said that Toyota Group together holds a strong portfolio in the field of
driverless technology.
Some of the important patents of Toyota are:
Patent Number Title Patent Focus
US6782968B2 Automatic Steering
Apparatus for Vehicle and
Control Method of Same
The patent describes a method of calculating the target
assist steering force.
US7203582B2 Vehicular Steering
Control Apparatus
In this patent, either an automatic steering unit or
steering assist force generating unit or both performs
steering control.
WO2012020300 Vehicle Control Device
and Vehicle Control
Method
The patent describes a vehicle control device for
automatically executing control during running of vehicle
based on deceleration information of preceding vehicle
using V2V communication.
Table 8: List of important patents by Toyota
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6.3 NISSAN
Figure 20: Logo of NISSAN
Nissan Motor Company Ltd is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Japan. In
Oct, 2012 NISSAN revealed a Leaf NSC-2015 prototype at CEATEC in Japan. It is not a fully
autonomous car, though the NSC-2015 can park itself and return to pick you up. A smartphone is
connected to the Automated Valet Parking technology allows a driver to maintain full control,
remotely. While parked, the car's security camera system automatically works with a camera
installed in the vehicle. If the system detects suspicious behavior, the driver is alerted
automatically by a report to his or her smartphone.
Patents Portfolio:
NISSAN is another company which has a comparatively strong portfolio in the field of driverless
vehicles. The company has patents in the field of lane keeping and cruise control.
Some of the important patents of NISSAN are:
Patent
Number
Title Patent Focus
US7099764B2 Braking Control Device The patent is focused on general automatic braking.
US7607741B2 Automatic Brake System
of Motor Vehicle
The patent describes an automatic brake system along
with automatic steering in case of pre-crash event
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US6769504B2 Adaptive Cruise Control
System for Vehicle
In this patent, a host vehicle‟s speed is controlled
based on the detection results of a radar device and a
vehicle speed sensor.
Table 9: List of important patents by NISSAN
6.4 GOOGLE
Figure 21: Google Driverless Car
The Google driverless car is a project by Google that involves developing technology for driverless
cars. Google has a test fleet of at least eight vehicles, consisting of six Toyota Prius, an Audi TT,
and a Lexus RX450h. Till date Google has covered up over 300,000 miles in its autonomous
vehicles. Those vehicles have been involved in very few accidents, accidents have only occurred
when human drivers were in control of the car. In 2011, Nevada became the first state to allow
self-driving vehicles on public roads. Nevada was followed by Florida, California and next in line
are Hawaii, New Jersey, Oklahoma, and Washington D.C.
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Patents Portfolio:
Some of the granted or applied patents in this field by Google:
Patent Number Title Patent Focus
US8078349 Transitioning a Mixed-
mode Vehicle to
Autonomous Mode
In this patent, a method of transitioning a mixed-mode
autonomous vehicle from a human driven mode to an
autonomously driven mode is described.
US20110182475 Traffic Signal Mapping
and Detection
The patent mentions a method to determine the three-
dimensional locations of traffic signals involving storing
3D locations of traffic signals in memory accessible by
computer.
US20120083964 Zone Driving The patent describes a method for maneuvering vehicle,
involving identifying rule associated with zone, and
notifying driver to control identified control aspect
through zone.
US20120083959 Diagnosis and Repair for
Autonomous Vehicles
The patent mentions a maneuvering method for
autonomously moving vehicles and involves selecting
one of two maneuvers, based on detected characteristic
of environment surrounding vehicle and detected
amount of damage to component of vehicle
US20120083960 System and Method for
Predicting Behaviors of
Detected Objects
The patent describes an autonomous vehicle controlling
method, which involves predicting likely behavior of
detected object, and providing command to orient
vehicle in position and velocity based on likely behavior
of the detected object.
Table 10: List of important patents by Google
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6.5 GENERAL MOTORS
Figure 22: Logo of General Motors
General Motors Company commonly known as GM (General Motors Corporation before 2009), is
an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, the US.
General Motors Corporation have started collaborative lab at Carnegie Mellon University with the
purpose of building autonomous vehicles. Since 2000, the GM has contributed over $16 million to
establish two Collaborative Research Labs (CRLs) at the university, i.e. the Information
Technologies CRL and the Autonomous Driving CRL.
General Motors had unveiled a new EV (electric vehicle) concept called the Chevrolet EN-V
(Electric Networked-Vehicle) last year. It has two seats and showcases an autonomous driving
function with the help of a satellite navigation and sensor system.
GM has even showcased its new feature called “Super Cruise” in its Cadillac range of vehicles. It
is a semi-autonomous drive but GM has promised that it will bring self-driving cars by 2020. The
cars have lane departure warnings, a head-up display, blind zone alerts, automatic braking
capability, and more.
GM under the name of GM Global Technology Operations LLC has a good number of patents for
vehicle to vehicle communication, lane keeping and cruise control technology.
Some of the key patents of GM are:
Patent Number Title Patent Focus
US20100256836A1 Autonomous Vehicle
Management
In this patent, a vehicle controlling method which
involves determining navigational commands for host
vehicle based on the trajectory of host vehicle and target
vehicles, and operating host vehicle based on
navigational commands is described.
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US20120101701 Vehicle Collision
Avoidance and Warning
System
The patent describes a collision avoidance system in a
vehicle.
US20100082195 Method to Adaptively
Control Vehicle
Operation Using an
Autonomic Vehicle
Control System
The patent mentions a method for operating vehicle in
response to operator request for lane change maneuver.
Table 11: List of important patents by General Motors
6.6 Other Universities working on driverless vehicles
The table below list down some of the universities that are currently working on driverless or self-
driving vehicles:
Universities Overview
Stanford University, Palo Alto, California,
US
In 2005, Stanford University created an autonomous vehicle (modified
Volkswagen Touareg) named “Stanley” and won the DARPA Grand
Challenge. Again, in 2007, the Stanford Racing team entered with a new
vehicle, a modified Volkswagen Passat Wagon named “Junior" and was
placed second.
University of Berlin, Germany
The Autonomous car team had sent a prototype to the 2007 Urban Grand
Challenge (where it reached the semi-finals) and currently tests the
“MadeInGermany” driverless vehicle public on roads in Germany. The team
has developed an autonomous car taxi service and also has demonstrated an
early brain-computer interface for steering a car.
Technical University
of Braunschweig,
Germany
In 2010, they successfully operated an autonomous Volkswagen Passat
under the project named “Stadpilot” in the city of Braunschweig, Germany.
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Universität der
Bundeswehr
München, Germany
The team developed a prototype “MuCAR-3”, a modified Volkswagen Tourag
and participated in robot trials conducted in Europe („European Land Robot
Trials‟).
University of Parma,
Italy
VisLab is a research laboratory of the University of Parma. In 2010, VisLab
launched VIAC, the VisLab Intercontinental Autonomous Challenge, and
completed 13,000 km test run with four autonomous vehicles, from Italy to
China.
University of Oxford,
UK
The Mobile Robotics Group (MRG) has so far developed and showcased its
“Wildcat” autonomous vehicle. The WildCat is equipped with a multitude of
state of the art sensors and is used as a main research platform.
Table 12: Some of Universities working on driverless cars
7. Conclusion
With increasing number of applications being filed every year in technologies related to driverless
cars and government allowing the use of driverless cars on roads, it seems that driverless cars
have great potentiality in the near future. Prospects like zero-accidents, zero-traffic congestions,
increased car sharing, and lesser parking space will surely overshadow the arguments against
the autonomous technology. Although, the technology is still at a nascent stage, but the semi-
autonomous vehicles which include features like park assist, adaptive cruise control, etc. have
already made their way into the current market.
One of the factors which is against the driverless cars is the high price tag associated with them.
Google‟s autonomous car costs about $150,000, out of which $70,000 is the cost of the LIDAR
system. However, it is believed that the cost will come down as and when the technology will step
into its mass production stages.
Despite the clear safety advantages and fully functioning technology, putting a fleet of driverless
cars on the road will still be a long process. In addition to sky-high costs, the use of autonomous
vehicles raises thousands of legal questions. All these issues only mean that the technology has
to be foolproof and therefore holds a lot of potential for further research.
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The table below summarizes the potentially applicable technologies, their strengths and
limitations, and the key players developing them within the domain of driverless cars.
Technology What it does Limitations Advantages Key Players
RADAR/LIDAR Optical Remote
Sensing Technology
that can measure
the distance with
light pulse.
Prone to distortion, less
penetration range,
typically low resolution
in bad weather.
Accurate digital
elevation and
terrain data, precise
knowledge of the
topography used to
produce a three
dimensional
computer model.
Siemens,
Cruise control Automatically
controls the speed
of a motor vehicle
The lack of need to
maintain constant
pedal pressure, bad
weather malfunction,
and steep surfaces
may cause lacking
performance.
Reducing driver
fatigue, avoid
unconsciously
violating speed
limits.
Toyota,
Nissan, Audi,
Mercedes
Vehicle to Vehicle Communication
Networks in which
vehicles and
roadside units are
the communicating
nodes; providing
each other with
information.
Not scalable, current
technology not wide
enough, range.
Estimation of
collision,
communication for
turning and
arrangement of
traffic, ahead of
time security alerts
Toyota,
Volvo,
Mercedes,
Ford
Automatic Braking
Technology an
imminent collision
with another vehicle,
person or obstacle
and to respond with
the braking system.
Inconsistent stop times,
Delicate electronic
systems, Incongruent
estimation of
time/disorientation.
Anti-skidding,
traction control.
Ford, Toyota,
Mercedes,
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Lane keeping Mechanism
designed to warn a
driver when the
vehicle begins to
move out of its lane.
Neither of the functions
of Lane Keeping Aid is
automatically switched
on at the start of a
journey, Effective
functioning of the
system requires an
unobstructed view for
the camera, does not
function if driver uses
indicators.
Smooth lane
shifting, avoidance
of collision in case
of drowsy drivers,
alerts in case of
inadvertent lane
changing.
Ford, Audi,
Nissan
GPS A space-based
satellite navigation
system that provides
location and time
information in all
weather, on Earth.
Power up time at the
start (cold start),
limitations owing to
inaccuracy of position.
Position control and
estimation, Route
calculation,
Shortest route,
collision estimation,
traffic alerts.
Ford, Audi,
Nissan,
Mercedes,
TomTom,
Volkswagen
Table 13: Overview of different technologies in driverless car
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