Toyota Systems, Fujitsu utilize quantum-inspired technology and AI to streamline on-board computer design and contribute to sustainable development

The mobility industry faces demand for sustainable product development and the need to address increasingly complex software and hardware designs but is facing a severe shortage of skilled personnel. In the ECU development process at Toyota, the connector pin placement design for a 100-pin terminal array theoretically involves a vast number of combinations (9.3 x 10^157). This led to prolonged design review times and reliance on individual expertise.

To address these issues, Toyota Systems and Fujitsu, in collaboration with Toyota, tried to automate the process applying Toyota's design standards and expertise, Toyota Systems' operational and infrastructure knowledge in Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) analysis [1] for the Toyota Group, and Fujitsu's Digital Annealer, a core component of Fujitsu Computing as a Service, and its AI technology.

This initiative involved training an AI model with information on connector pin placement patterns and their evaluation scores, previously determined by the knowledge and experiences of skilled engineers. This AI model was then converted into mathematical expressions and processed at high speed by the Digital Annealer to automatically calculate the optimal connector pin placement. As a result, the process was accelerated by more than 20x compared to conventional methods.

Both companies began applying this mechanism in actual operations for Toyota's mass-produced ECUs in parallel with conventional methods starting in May 2025.

Moving forward, Toyota Systems aims to expand this development to supplier companies, promoting the application of cutting-edge technology and digitalization in Toyota Group's wider manufacturing processes. Fujitsu will contribute to realizing a safe, secure, and comfortable mobility society by supporting the Toyota Group's sustainable development and design. Both companies will work to improve development speed and quality and reduce costs by expanding the application scope of this mechanism.