Toyota Tsusho Corporation ("Toyota Tsusho") announced today that it has invested in TriOrb Inc. ("TriOrb"), a startup developing a next-generation transport robot platform leveraging ball-driven omnidirectional mobility technology.

In recent years, the manufacturing industry has faced increasingly severe labor shortages and growing demand for high-mix, low-volume production driven by diversifying market needs. As a result, the automation and advancement of production sites have become critical management priorities.
Manufacturing sites are also experiencing increasing demand for efficient production while allowing flexible changes to production equipment and logistics flow lines. In response, the adoption of unmanned transport systems, such as automated guided vehicles (AGVs) and autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), which enable flexible adaptation to process changes and high-precision transport, is accelerating.

However, conventional unmanned transport systems are designed based on fixed logistics routes and flat floor surfaces. As a result, limitations and challenges remain in adapting to confined spaces, environments with steps and uneven surfaces, as well as achieving flexible layout changes and advanced transport control.

Toyota Tsusho has promoted the introduction of industrial robots and transport robots to manufacturing industries in Japan and overseas, particularly in the mobility sector, supporting the automation of production sites. Against this backdrop, demand is growing for next-generation mobility and transport infrastructure that removes mobility constraints.

TriOrb is a startup that develops autonomous transport robots using a ball-driven omnidirectional mobility mechanism as its core technology. These robots are designed for environments and applications that are difficult for conventional unmanned transport systems to support.
TriOrb’s patented technology, “TriOrb BASE,” uses three spheres instead of wheels in the drive unit. This enables mobility in any direction within a 360° range and provides high maneuverability capable of handling steps, trenches, and slopes.

Furthermore, by combining with Visual SLAM, which visually maps the surrounding space using cameras deployed in four directions, the system delivers innovative performance that could not be achieved with conventional unmanned transport systems. This includes high-precision control accurate to the millimeter, as well as the ability to transport long and heavy objects through coordinated transport that links and controls multiple units.

This investment aims to combine TriOrb’s omnidirectional mobility technology with the Toyota Tsusho Group’s expertise and on-site capabilities in the machinery and equipment field to enable flexible layout changes and advanced transport operations that have been difficult to achieve with conventional transport systems. Through this collaboration, Toyota Tsusho seeks to realize next-generation flexible production lines that remove mobility constraints in manufacturing environments.

Going forward, Toyota Tsusho will utilize TriOrb’s autonomous transport robots as mobility platforms for production equipment and robots at manufacturing sites. The two companies will work together to establish and standardize use cases, while also exploring future expansion into global markets.

Through this investment, Toyota Tsusho will combine TriOrb’s omnidirectional mobility technology with the Toyota Tsusho Group’s manufacturing solutions expertise and global network to further drive automation and advancement in manufacturing environments. In addition, both companies will work together to expand market deployment and pursue the realization of flexible and reconfigurable next-generation production lines, thereby contributing to solutions for social challenges such as labor shortages and productivity improvement in the manufacturing industry.