The technology industry continues to be a hotbed of innovation, with activity driven by the widespread application of robotics, sensors, machine learning, and artificial intelligence, and growing importance of inspection technologies involving computer vision, ultrasonic testing, magnetic particle inspection, eddy current testing, and X-ray and computed tomography (CT) scanning for applications in various industries, including manufacturing, automotive, aerospace, and construction. In the last three years alone, there have been over 3.6 million patents filed and granted in the technology industry, according to GlobalData’s report on Innovation in Robotics: AI-assisted inspection. 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.
300+ innovations will shape the technology industry
According to GlobalData’s Technology Foresights, which plots the S-curve for the technology industry using innovation intensity models built on over 2.5 million patents, there are 300+ innovation areas that will shape the future of the industry.
Within the emerging innovation stage, AI-assisted inspection, anti-collision LiDAR, and 3D object sensing are disruptive technologies that are in the early stages of application and should be tracked closely. Autonomous harvesters, cleaning robots, and line follower robots are some of the accelerating innovation areas, where adoption has been steadily increasing. Among maturing innovation areas, welding robot and robotic vision, are now well established in the industry.
Innovation S-curve for robotics in the technology industry
AI-assisted inspection is a key innovation area in robotics
AI-assisted inspection involves the utilisation of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to examine and interpret data and images, enabling the detection of anomalies, identification of patterns, and prediction of outcomes. This technique can be employed to inspect a diverse range of products, from manufactured goods to food and beverages, and is applicable in various industries such as agriculture and aerospace.
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 40 companies, spanning technology vendors, established technology companies, and up-and-coming start-ups engaged in the development and application of AI-assisted inspection.
Key players in AI-assisted inspection – a disruptive innovation in the technology 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 AI-assisted inspection
| Company | Total patents (2010 - 2022) | Premium intelligence on the world's largest companies |
| SoftBank Group | 144 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Nant | 136 | Unlock Company Profile |
| State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance | 125 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Ping An Insurance | 80 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Clearlake Capital Group | 66 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Alphabet | 56 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Tractable | 23 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Lear | 16 | Unlock Company Profile |
| USAA | 13 | Unlock Company Profile |
| NetraDyne | 12 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Baidu | 12 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Allstate | 12 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Evryx Acquisition | 12 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Hartford Financial Services Group | 12 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Cox Enterprises | 11 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Toronto-Dominion Bank | 11 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Leonard Green & Partners | 11 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Omron | 11 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Visa | 11 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Healthy io | 10 | Unlock Company Profile |
| American International Group | 10 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Kofax | 10 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Yembo | 9 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Mitchell International | 9 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Donan Engineering | 9 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Vista Equity Partners | 8 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Taikang Insurance Group | 8 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Nauto | 8 | Unlock Company Profile |
| International Business Machines (IBM) | 7 | Unlock Company Profile |
| CoreLogic | 7 | Unlock Company Profile |
| ReviverMx | 7 | Unlock Company Profile |
| LyondellBasell Industries | 6 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Mitek Systems | 6 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Loveland Innovations | 6 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Conduent | 6 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Emergent Network Intelligence | 6 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Reynolds and Reynolds | 6 | Unlock Company Profile |
| MiTAC | 5 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Aon | 5 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation | 5 | Unlock Company Profile |
Source: GlobalData Patent Analytics
Among the companies innovating in AI-assisted inspection, SoftBank Group is the leading patent filer. The company has patents aimed at methods, systems, and computer-readable storage media for generating a vehicle repair plan including actions of receiving vehicle damage data and image of a damaged vehicle. The vehicle damage data is processed to determine a damaged area and the damage type and to generate and initiate a repair plan accordingly.
Other prominent patent filers in the AI-assisted inspection space include Nant Holdings and State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance.
By geographic reach, Kofax leads the pack, followed by Alphabet and Vista Equity Partners. In terms of application diversity, Omron holds the top position, followed by Healthy. io and ReviverMx.
AI-assisted inspection technology has the potential to improve product quality, increase efficiency, reduce costs, and enhance safety in a variety of industries, making it an essential tool for modern manufacturing and quality control.
To further understand how robotics is disrupting the technology industry, access GlobalData’s latest thematic research report on Robotics – Thematic Research Report.
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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.
