Lotus Engineering (based in Hethel, UK) and Iprova (Lausanne, Switzerland) have announced a partnership that will see them combine the latest AI-enabled way of creating ‘breakthrough inventions’ with the ability to develop proof of concept, design and engineering of products based on them.

Targeting the transportation sector in its widest sense — from e-scooters to autonomous trucks — the two companies will deploy their respective engineering expertise and ‘data-driven invention technology’, the aim being to “promote innovation at key points of industry disruption, then productionise the resulting inventions more quickly and efficiently than ever before”.

Lotus has a wealth of experience in identifying and adapting ideas from other fields of industry. Most famously, inspiration for the invention of the now ubiquitous automotive adhesive bonding process pioneered on the Lotus Elise resulted from its development team looking at the non-stick coating used on cookware, then combining this concept with further insights from other domains.

By contrast, Iprova uses data and algorithms ‘to inspire potential inventions’; and because this is done in real-time, they are ‘created much sooner and more reliably than using traditional methods’. Iprova says its Invention Studio platform leverages AI, data, and automation to transform what can often be very manual and slow-moving invention processes. “This data-driven approach to invention brings a systematic and repeatable process to creating breakthrough inventions across the transportation sector.”

Commenting on the partnership, Julian Nolan, Iprova’s CEO, added: “Lotus leads the world in driving dynamics and engagement by enabling the driver to sense feedback from the road. Our invention platform, Invention Studio, transforms the process of invention by enabling engineers and scientists to sense inventive signals as they occur, in real-time, even if they are very distant to the target invention area. Together, we can invent and implement faster, minimising the time from opportunity identification through to product launch.”

Mark Stringer, Lotus Engineering’s commercial director, said: “Our clients have told us that they want to make bold and breakthrough products at key points of disruption. It’s a process driven by creativity and therefore a need to invent. Iprova’s technology delivers this efficiently at scale and so this collaboration adds a vital new element to our portfolio of consultancy services.

“Just as there is a need for invention, there is also a need for implementation — to develop proof-of-concept prototypes and then engineer products. This partnership with Iprova means we can better support our clients throughout the product development process, aiding collaboration and ingenuity right from the very start.”