Toyota Industries Corporation invests in Gideon for vision-based automated vehicle solutions

Toyota Industries Corporation (TICO), including Toyota Material Handling Group and Toyota Automated Logistics Group, providers of material handling solutions, and Gideon, have signed an investment agreement with immediate effect. Gideon develops and offers technologies for autonomous mobile mobotics (AMR) behaviors, and an application stack for automating specific processes in warehouse and manufacturing environments, TICO explained.

The amount of the investment was not disclosed, but according to TICO, the partnership and investment creates possibilities to simplify automated vehicle systems through standardization, reduced deployment times and increased flexibility, adaptability and scalability. TICO’s global autonomous vehicle software house, T-Hive, will have a leading role to apply and leverage Gideon’s technology within specific areas of TICO’s global automated vehicle portfolio.

Collaborative case picking for retail order fulfillment, as well as truck unloading and loading, are examples of specific applications that Gideon currently offers to its customers, TICO added.

“Gideon has developed impressive vision modules enabling flexible, intelligent autonomous behavior and user and deployment friendliness that will provide added value for our customers in the coming years,” said Norio Wakabayashi, TICO's Senior Executive Officer. “TICO already holds a strong position in automated vehicles, but this strategic investment underlines our commitment to delivering market leading mobile automation.”

For Gideon, the investment allows the company to benefit from Toyota’s world leading manufacturing expertise, broad market access and global service network, the partners added.

“Toyota’s longstanding legacy as a pioneer in lean manufacturing practices, driven by a relentless commitment to quality, innovation, and sustainability, underpins their expertise with both manual and automated material handling equipment,” said Gideon CEO Josip Ćesić. “Their unparalleled manufacturing capacity, coupled with a robust global sales and service network, combined with Gideon’s cutting-edge autonomy and application technology, creates a groundbreaking value proposition for the warehouse and manufacturing automation sector.”