This dataset identifies 48 published patent families matching humanoid, bipedal or legged robot terms combined with visual SLAM, localization and mapping, or terrain-aware navigation language, filtered to the relevant IPC classes. That is a modest, specialized corpus rather than a sprawling one, which is consistent with a technology area still built around a handful of active filers. The true figure filed but not yet published is higher, since publication lags filing by roughly 18 months.

No single assignee shows sustained positive filing momentum in the most recent tracked year; the recent-momentum data shows flat or declining activity across every tracked name, including large firms like Sony and Tencent's Shenzhen entity. Hexagon Technology Center holds the representative filing in this dataset, a wheeled/tracked articulated-leg humanoid design, but its own filing rate has dropped to zero year-on-year. This points to a field without an entrenched leader, where competitive position can still shift.

In this corpus, IPC class G01C (distance, navigation and gyroscopes) and G01S (radar, sonar and positioning) carry far fewer records than B25J (manipulator/robot structure) or G05D (non-electric control), meaning perception and mapping-specific claims are comparatively less crowded than mechanical and control-loop claims. A SLAM-specific claim typically covers sensor fusion, loop closure or localization algorithms, while navigation claims here more often cover path planning or terrain-response control built on top of that perception layer. Drafting in the thinner classes carries a better chance of a clean prior-art position, though it also means less established precedent to build on.

The filing trend in this dataset rose from 3 records in 2017 to a peak of 12 in 2025, passing through 7 at the 2022 midpoint — a pattern of steady build-up followed by a plateau rather than acceleration. The 2026 figure of 2 is partial and understated because of publication lag, so it should not be read as a sudden drop-off. Taken together, the shape suggests a maturing filing base rather than an emerging land-grab.

WO2024120607A1, filed by Hexagon Technology Center GmbH and published 2024-06-13, covers a humanoid-form mobile robot with articulated legs fitted with wheels or tracks, aimed at metrology-grade reality capture and infrastructure surveillance. Its scope centres on the wheel/track-leg hybrid locomotion structure paired with high-accuracy measurement capability, not on visual SLAM algorithms or generic terrain navigation. Designs using purely legged locomotion without the metrology-measurement framing, or using different sensor fusion approaches for localization, sit outside its core claim scope, though a full claim chart is needed before relying on that as a legal conclusion.