Four Toyota Industries Group materials handling products receive the iF DESIGN AWARD 2022
— Electric reach lift truck from European subsidiary awarded Gold —
Toyota Industries Corporation (President: Akira Onishi) announces that four of the Group's materials handling products were selected for the iF DESIGN AWARD 2022. Among them, the BT Reflex E-series electric reach lift truck produced by its European subsidiary was awarded Gold as a particularly outstanding product.
The iF DESIGN AWARD is one of the most prestigious design awards worldwide. It is organized by the Hanover, Germany-based iF International Forum Design GmbH, a design organization with the longest history in the world, founded in 1953.
In 2022, more than 10,000 entries were received from 57 countries and regions. 3,512 entries were awarded the DESIGN AWARD and 73 were awarded the Gold Award after rigorous judging by an expert jury.
■iF DESIGN AWARD Gold
BT Reflex E-series electric reach lift truck (model not yet introduced in Japan)
The BT Reflex E-series is the world's only lift truck with a tilting cabin to reduce the risk of strain on the operator's posture caused by repetitive upward checking. The design was highly evaluated not just for its driver-friendly design, but also for other benchmarks such as superior safety, ergonomics, and energy efficiency. The product was also awarded Gold at the German Design Award 2022.
■iF DESIGN AWARD
Autonomous tow tractor
The autonomous tow tractor is a vehicle that tows container dollies loaded with baggage and cargo in airports and transports them in an automated manner. The vehicle is equipped with obstacle detection and automatic shutoff using 2D/3D LiDAR*1, as well as self-position estimation and guidance functions using road pattern matching*2 and GNSS*3, as technologies to enable it to accurately recognize surrounding conditions and the location of its own vehicle and destination while traveling with safety and precision. A demonstration test was conducted at Haneda Airport in March 2021 together with All Nippon Airways Co., Ltd. toward practical application. This product also received the Good Design Best 100 award at the 2021 Good Design Awards.
| *1: | A sensor that can accurately measure the distance to an object by emitting a laser beam onto the object and measuring the reflected light; used to determine the surrounding conditions around the vehicle. |
| *2: | Technology that obtains vehicle positioning and attitude information by matching road surface images captured by a vehicle-mounted camera with road surface image map data created in advance. |
| *3: | Abbreviation of Global Navigation Satellite System, the common name for satellite positioning systems such as GPS in the U.S. and the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) in Japan. |
Traigo 80 2-3.5ton electric counterbalanced lift truck (model not yet introduced in Japan)
The Traigo 80 2-3.5ton lift truck combines durability and reliability suitable for both indoor and outdoor operation, enabling customers to make the shift to electric lift trucks. It also provides a comfortable and user-friendly workspace, featuring a floating operator's compartment to protect the operator from noise and vibration as well as ergonomic armrests with touch screens.
Ultralifter (concept model)
The ultralifter is a lift truck that learns to operate automatically in a virtual space that replicates a customer's distribution warehouse. It recognizes people and objects through artificial intelligence, prioritizes them and make situational decisions, and learns their movements. It also works alongside other logistics equipment to calculate optimal travel routes and the number of machines, enabling the rapid implementation of automation solutions at the customer's worksite.
