Picture credit: Ford

Ford has announced the company’s employees have achieved a record number of new patents, including inventions related to mobility, autonomous and connected vehicles, ride-sharing and navigation platforms, eBikes, and wearable devices.

The American automaker increased its electrification patent filing numbers by nearly 200% in the past five years. It has 275 patents on EcoBoost gasoline turbocharged direct-injection and another 200 pending. The company's employees submitted nearly 6,000 patent applications in 2015, up 36% from the previous year, and initiatives such as Ford Smart Mobility continue to accelerate innovation.

The patent applications related to connected vehicles, ride-sharing platforms, wearable devices and more. These include technologies for autonomous vehicles to detect other vehicles at blocked intersections, technologies to extend real-world driving range and technologies to prevent range anxiety in electric vehicles. Another invention relates to an obstacle-reporting platform for cyclists.

The record-breaking number of patent applications comes as part of Ford Smart Mobility, which plans to trigger innovation in data and analytics, connectivity, autonomous vehicles, mobility and customer experience.

For instance, the new bike system can detect bike lanes and alert path deviations to cyclists. Another system would recommend a safe vehicle speed based on average vehicle speed, GPS data and nearby infrastructure. Another technology relates to a new front brake light that would improve communication between autonomous driving vehicles to other vehicles and pedestrians.

The record number of patents was attributed to Ford's employees across the world. The automaker's Asia Pacific workforce increased invention disclosure submissions by over 140%, North American workforce increased almost 100% and Europe rose over 50%.

Raj Nair, executive vice president and chief technical officer at Ford, said: "Our engineers and scientists are inventing ways to address mobility challenges more than ever – with more patent applications filed this year on car-sharing, wearables, bikes, cloud computing and in other areas to improve consumers’ lives inside and outside the car."

"By hosting – and participating in – more internal hackathons and innovation labs, our employees are stepping up to show that inventing is a priority for leadership in the industry."