Cobot Force/Vision Sensor Integration Patent Snapshot
The cobot force/vision sensor integration space is a small, highly concentrated field dominated by two players — Mantis Robotics and BAE Systems — who together hold the large majority of the top filers’ combined output. Activity peaked in 2019, has plateaued on a multi-year basis, and the corpus remains narrow, signalling an early-maturing niche with room for new technical differentiation.
Two players dominate a compact, highly concentrated field
Mantis Robotics leads the applicant ranking with 7 patent families, followed closely by BAE Systems with 6 patent families, and Daimon (Shenzhen) Robotics Technology with 1 patent family. The top five filers account for all of the combined output of the ranked applicants visible in this query, reflecting extreme concentration in what remains a narrow niche.
The tier gap between the top two and the rest is stark: the third-ranked applicant holds a single patent family while the leader holds seven. This two-player structure leaves very little footprint from the broader cobot industry, suggesting most large robot manufacturers have not yet staked formal IP positions in this specific intersection of force sensing and vision.
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mantis Robotics Inc | 7 | |
| 2 | BAE Systems PLC | 6 | |
| 3 | Daimon (Shenzhen) Robotics Technology Co Ltd | 1 |
Mantis Robotics’ lead, backed by a new-entrant momentum profile, indicates a specialist firm building a focused IP position rather than an incumbent defending broad territory. BAE Systems’ presence signals defence and advanced-manufacturing interest in human-robot collaboration with sensor feedback. Together, their positions suggest the field has not yet attracted the major industrial robot OEMs.
Filings from the most recent 18–24 months are subject to publication lag and likely under-represent actual activity; the apparent zero count for 2024 and 2026 should not be read as a halt in filing. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
Activity plateaued after a 2019 peak; manipulator hardware dominates the technology mix
The annual filing trend and the IPC technology composition together reveal a field that surged briefly, stabilised, and remains anchored in core manipulator hardware rather than spreading into adjacent control or AI branches.
Annual filing trend
A burst of activity occurred in 2019, accounting for the single largest annual cohort; filings then fell to zero in 2020–2021 before recovering modestly in 2022 and 2023. The 2024 and 2026 zeros reflect publication lag and should be treated as provisional. The multi-year pattern is consistent with a field that peaked in 2019 and has since plateaued rather than grown.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
The B25J Manipulators & Robots class accounts for the entire corpus, confirming that patents in this space are filed primarily against physical robot hardware and end-effector design rather than control logic or AI. G05B Control & Regulating Systems and G06N AI-model computing each appear in a small minority of records, indicating that software and learning-based approaches remain an under-developed layer of the IP stack.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaHighly cited patent families surfaced by the query
Citation-heavy patent families returned by the query. Use this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents.
Robot System
A robot system for human-robot collaboration is disclosed that includes one or more proximity sensing elements disposed on the movable parts of the robot, joint position sensing sensors, and a safety control module connects the proximity sensing element and joint position sensing sensors and monitors the speed of the robot and the proximity distance to the… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Collaborative robot system | 13 |
| 2 | Collaborative robot system | 4 |
| 3 | Robot System with Casing Elements | 3 |
| 4 | Collaborative robot system | 2 |
| 5 | Robot System | 1 |
Ranked by total forward citations. Citation counts favour older and broadly cited patent families, and broad or adjacent patents may appear when they match the search scope. Treat this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents. Some patent titles may be shown in their original, non-English language where an accurate translation could not be guaranteed.
Assignee snapshot from the current evidence set
The applicants below are visible in this query result. Because the evidence set is relatively small, read this section as a directional snapshot rather than a full competitive ranking.
Mantis Robotics
Mantis Robotics holds 7 patent families, the largest position in the corpus, concentrated in B25J 13 (sensor-equipped manipulators), B25J 9 (robot arms and programme control), and B25J 19 (safety and auxiliary devices). Its momentum profile is classified as a new entrant with recent activity of 5 patent families in the latest window, indicating a deliberate, accelerating IP build rather than a legacy position. Its focus is squarely on the physical hardware integration layer.
families: 7BAE Systems
BAE Systems holds 6 patent families and is the closest challenger, with an identical focus on B25J 13 and B25J 9, but also carrying 2 records in G05B 19 (numerical control), indicating an additional control-systems dimension absent from Mantis Robotics’ portfolio. BAE’s presence — a defence and advanced-manufacturing prime — suggests application contexts in precision assembly and human-robot teaming rather than general-purpose cobot deployment. No recent-window momentum figure is available for BAE Systems.
families: 6Frequently asked questions
The corpus contains 14 patent families in scope. This is a very small, specialist corpus, which means the field has not yet attracted broad participation from the major robotics OEMs.
Mantis Robotics leads with 7 patent families, ahead of BAE Systems with 6 patent families. Both are classified as new entrants building focused positions rather than incumbents with legacy portfolios. Daimon (Shenzhen) Robotics Technology holds 1 patent family.
The field has reached a maturity plateau. Annual filing volume peaked in 2019 and has since eased, stabilising at low single-digit annual counts. The multi-year growth rate is flat at zero percent. Note that the most recent 18–24 months are subject to publication lag.
The United States leads with 8 patent records, followed by the United Kingdom with 2. China, Europe (EPO), Turkey, and WIPO PCT each account for 1 record. Coverage outside the US is notably thin, including in China, which is a major cobot manufacturing market.
No co-applicant relationships are recorded in the current corpus. The two lead filers — Mantis Robotics and BAE Systems — appear to be pursuing independent, proprietary IP strategies with no recorded joint development or university partnerships in this specific niche.
The corpus is overwhelmingly concentrated in B25J manipulator hardware. AI-model computing (G06N) appears in only 2 records, and broader control-systems approaches beyond numerical control (G05B) are sparsely covered. These branches represent areas of relative sparsity where new filings would encounter limited direct competition from existing corpus holders.
Built on Patsnap Open Platform
This report’s underlying patent dataset — filings, assignees, technology clusters — is open for developers via MCP and REST API. Free to start, 10,000 credits, no credit card required.
Disclaimer. This page is generated from Patsnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent and scientific-literature records, and is provided for general information and reference only.
Patent data carries inherent limitations: recent filings (typically the most recent 18–24 months) are under-counted due to standard publication lag; counts may be reported at either a patent-family or a patent-record basis and are not always directly comparable; classification, applicant-name, and citation data may contain errors, duplicates, or omissions; and the underlying search query defines and constrains the scope shown. As a result, the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
Nothing on this page constitutes an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate, or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial, investment, or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Any patent, commercial, or strategic decision should be verified independently and reviewed with qualified patent, legal, and domain professionals. Patsnap makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any particular purpose of the information presented.