Toyota Tsusho Corporation ("Toyota Tsusho") has made an investment in UVeye Ltd. ("UVeye"), an Israeli startup which provides vehicle inspection services through visual analysis utilizing artificial intelligence (AI).

External inspection of vehicle is usually conducted by people through visual inspection. Inspection results vary depending on the inspector which might lead to reduce accuracy. In addition, within Japan, due to the decreasing labor population, it is expected there will be less people willing to become inspectors, and demand is expected for optimization and manpower-saving of vehicle inspections going forward.

UVeye develops vehicle imaging hardware installed with cameras, and software that detects anomalies with vehicles based on images. Combining the two to build a vehicle undercarriage inspection system, UVeye provides inspection and diagnosis service to 70 locations worldwide using this inspection system. When a vehicle passes over the imaging unit, its undercarriage is scanned to obtain image data. The image data is converted to a 3D model, and rust, oil leaks, missing parts and other vehicle anomalies and foreign objects are detected and recognized by an anomaly detection engine that is pre-trained using deep learning. Expedition and optimization of vehicles through use of this service can be expected as the entire process from the time the vehicle drives over the imaging unit, to obtaining diagnosis results can be completed in a few seconds. In addition, the entire process of inspection and diagnosis is automated without human intervention, thereby improving reliability of the inspection results. Uses can be expected in areas such as vehicle maintenance and vehicle security inspections when entering the premises of critical facilities.

Furthermore, UVeye is currently developing a system that not only inspects the undercarriage of vehicles but the entire vehicle—including the body and tires—at one go.

Through this investment, Toyota Tsusho has obtained the rights to offer UVeye’s products and services as its business partner, and will be expanding the sales of UVeye’s services centered on the automotive and security industries jointly with its 100% subsidiary Toyotsu Automotive Creation Corporation. At the same time, Toyota Tsusho seeks to expand the service application area by developing new inspection services with UVeye beyond the automotive industry.

Toyota Tsusho’s investment in UVeye is being carried out by the company’s Next Technology Fund.

Undercarriage imaging unit		Undercarriage image analysis

[UVeye]

[Toyotsu Automotive Creation Corporation]