Toyota: New Operating System for Mobility Services

The Toyota Motor Corporation has announced the introduction of a new operational management system to support the provision of mobility services in connection with the use of the e-Palette. e-Palette is a battery-electric vehicle and the first Toyota specifically developed for autonomous mobility as a service (Autono-MaaS). Together with a number of partners, the company also plans to operate the vehicles in the fully connected model metropolis, Woven City. According to the company, a commercial deployment in several areas and regions of Japan is targeted in the coming years.

Deployment at the 2021 Olympic Games

In January 2018, Toyota President Akio Toyoda announced at CES that he intends to further develop Toyota into a mobility company. In this context, e-Palette was also presented as a new mobility option. The vehicle will be used as a line transportation service to the Olympic and Paralympic villages for athletes and staff at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, which were postponed to July 2021.

The challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic have made the diverse mobility needs even clearer. Ensuring adequate distancing for passengers in public transport, accessibility, a redistribution of goods and services, and demographic changes pose new mobility requirements for municipalities and cities.

At the Right Time in the Right Place

Toyota has committed to realizing "just-in-time mobility services" that are intended to provide needed goods and services on demand. According to the company, the operational management system for the e-Palette vehicles was developed based on the Toyota Production System (TPS).

This operational management system will be provided as a new function on the "Toyota Mobility Services Platform" (MSPF) and consists of the "Autonomous Mobility Management System" (AMMS) for connecting with vehicles and the e-Palette "Task Assignment Platform" (e-TAP) for connecting with people. The system aims to reduce customer waiting times, alleviate congestion, and ensure safe and comfortable transportation.

To dispatch the e-Palette vehicles in the required quantity and at the right time to the right place, deployment plans can be flexibly adjusted, and the vehicles can be automatically dispatched and returned based on real-time mobility demand. If additional vehicles need to be integrated into a transportation service, the intervals between vehicles are adjusted to ensure even spacing, according to the company. Potential problems should be detected directly, and vehicles automatically ordered back to the depot. The replacement should be dispatched simultaneously. In an emergency, remote control can also intervene to stop and restart the vehicles.

Real-Time Issue Management

e-TAP will be introduced as a visual management function. The visualization of problems with vehicles or staff should allow a single person to manage multiple vehicles instead of constantly monitoring just one vehicle. Work instructions are automatically passed on to the employees required for operation, including onboard and maintenance personnel. Toyota hopes this will structure task management with the shortest possible lead times for maintenance, even with limited staffing levels.

"The further developed e-Palette will be refined with the new operational management system and will grow together with the ever-growing Woven City," explains Keiji Yamamoto, President of Toyota Connected Company.

Woven City is a human-centered model city to test and develop technologies such as automated driving (MaaS), personal mobility, robotics, smart homes, and artificial intelligence, where e-Palette vehicles are also to be used. Operation in a real environment where people live is intended to provide a range of insights that will allow the platform to continuously evolve.