About the Project
Toyota, a global leader in automotive manufacturing and technology, is dedicated to optimizing every aspect of its operations, from the factory floor to the employee experience. With expansive corporate campuses and multi-level parking structures, the company sought an intelligent solution to improve navigation and efficiency for its vast workforce and visitors. Navigine partnered with Toyota on a pilot R&D project to test the efficacy of indoor navigation technology for both pedestrians and vehicles in a real-world parking environment.
Product used in this project: Navigine x Minew Indoor Navigation and Wayfinding BLE Kit
Technology used for the Toyota pilot project:
- Navigine Navigation License
- Navigine White Label Mobile App (SDK)
- Minew E5 Location Beacon
The Challenge
Toyota’s corporate campus features a large, multi-level parking garage that serves thousands of employees and hundreds of daily visitors. The sheer size and complex layout of the structure, particularly the multi-level parking garage, presented an opportunity for innovation. Toyota proactively sought a solution to enhance internal logistics and the on-site experience for both employees and visitors, recognizing the potential to save time, reduce frustration, and improve overall operational efficiency. Toyota needed a solution to address these challenges head-on by providing intuitive, real-time guidance not only for a person on foot, but also for drivers navigating inside the garage.
Projected Impact:
- Reduce average vehicle search time by 2-5 minutes per user.
- Projected annual savings of tens of thousands of hours across the workforce.
- Increase parking space utilization by up to 10%
What Toyota Needed
Toyota’s R&D team required a cost-effective, low-risk way to test indoor positioning and wayfinding capabilities. They were looking for a pilot solution that could:
- Accurate Positioning:Provide accurate indoor positioning for both pedestrians and vehicles.
- Real-Time Wayfinding:Offer real-time, turn-by-turn directions to help users navigate throughout the parking areas.
- Easy Vehicle Location:Help users easily locate parked vehicles location .
- Quick Deployment:Be deployed quickly without extensive infrastructure modifications.
- Future-Proof:Serve as a proof of concept for future enterprise-level deployment.
The Navigine x Minew Indoor Navigation Demo Kit
To meet these needs, Toyota deployed the Navigine x Minew Indoor Navigation Demo Kit. This comprehensive kit included Navigine’s advanced software platform, a set of Minew Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons, and a white-label mobile application. This turnkey solution allowed Toyota to test the technology’s full potential in a controlled environment.
Ready to get started on your own project? Purchase the Navigine x Minew Demo Kit
Why Choose a Demo Kit?
Starting with a demo kit was the ideal first step for Toyota. It allowed the R&D team to:
- Test with Minimal Investment:The kit offered a complete, small-scale solution at a fraction of the cost of a full deployment.
- Validate Technology:It provided the opportunity to verify that the technology worked flawlessly in their specific environment and met their performance requirements for both pedestrian and in-car navigation.
- Ease of Deployment:The kit’s simple setup allowed for rapid installation and testing, accelerating the pilot phase and providing quick results.
- Future-Proofing:It served as a scalable foundation, demonstrating how a full-scale deployment could be rolled out across multiple buildings and campuses in the future.
Why Choose Navigine Indoor Navigation Solution?
Navigine was selected for its proven accuracy and flexibility. The platform’s ability to combine multiple positioning technologies and its user-friendly SDK allowed Toyota to quickly integrate the wayfinding capabilities into the white-label app, which could be customized for the pilot. The robust and scalable nature of the Navigine platform made it the clear choice for a company with such a vast and complex infrastructure.
Looking to build a custom solution? Start building with the Navigine SDK
Why Minew Hardware?
In this project, Toyota adopted Minew’s E5 Location Beacon together with Navigine’s advanced navigation platform to deliver reliable and accurate indoor navigation. Its compact design, stable performance, and robust durability ensured seamless operation in the complex multi-level parking environment.
Beyond the E5 Location Beacon, Minew offers a diverse portfolio of beacons tailored for different application needs. The MBS02 Location Beacon, introduced as the upgraded version of E5, provides enhanced flexibility for scalable deployments. The MBM01 Ultra-Long Range Beacon delivers extended battery life and reliable coverage for long-term deployments, while the MBM02 Proximity Navigation Beacon features a slim and versatile form factor ideal for proximity-based navigation and flexible installation scenarios.
With this comprehensive lineup and global deployment expertise, Minew empowers enterprises like Toyota to achieve real-time visibility, accurate positioning, and smarter automation, laying a solid foundation for sustainable and intelligent IoT operations..
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