- Microscan Systems
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Microscan Systems, Inc. Founded 1982 Headquarters Renton, Washington, USA Key people Mike Mertel, Founder Products Vision Systems, Vision Lighting, Vision Software and Auto ID readers Employees 150 Website www.microscan.com Microscan Systems, Inc. is a manufacturer of precision data acquisition and control solutions for automation and OEM applications. Founded in 1982, Microscan provides systems for ID tracking, traceability and inspection. The company invented the first laser diode scanner and is credited with the development of the Data Matrix 2D symbology.[1]
Microscan focuses on automatic identification, machine vision, and illumination, and provides applications ranging from symbol decoding to machine vision inspection, gauging, and measurement.
Microscan is an ISO 9001 certified company and a subsidiary of Spectris plc, a technology-based instrumentation and electronics controls company based in the UK.
History
The company was founded in 1982 when engineer Mike Mertel was working out of his garage and integrated a laser diode into a bar code scanner to develop the first laser diode scanner. This technology reduced the size of the scanner and when it was added to a decoder board, it read 400 scans per second. To illustrate this point, Microscan first placed bar code labels on the blades of a desktop fan and the scanner read the spinning labels. Prior to the laser diode scanner, bar code scanners were built with helium-neon lasers that came in 6" tubes that could be explosive. In contrast to helium-neon lasers, the laser diode technology was safer, smaller, more rugged and featured a longer life.
In 1994 Mertel sold Microscan to Spectris, a British engineering company.[2]
In September 2008 Microscan acquired the Siemens' Machine Vision line headquarted in Nashua, New Hampshire. The acquisition added 10 product lines and over 60 technology patents from a long history of technology innovation.[3]
The Nashua NH Northeast Technology Center was the original location of Acuity Imaging, the machine vision company formed by the 1994 merger of two machine vision industry pioneers, Automatix and Itran, which, just like Microscan, were themselves founded in the early 1980s. In 1995, RVSI (Robotic Vision Systems Inc), another early 3D machine vision pioneer, acquired Acuity. Through the follow-on acquisition of two other early autoID companies, ID Matrix – the inventor of Data Matrix – and Computer Identics – the inventor of code 128 – the company formed RVSI Acuity CiMatrix. Following the semiconductor industry downturn of the early 2000s, RVSI’s 3D machine vision technology was ultimately acquired by Rudolph Technologies while the 2D vision & autoID business of Acuity CiMatrix was initially acquired by Siemens in 2005 and ultimately by Microscan in 2008.
References
- ^ "About Microscan". Microscan Systems, Inc.. http://www.microscan.com/en-us/AboutUs/AboutMicroscan.aspx.
- ^ Virgin, Bill (April 15, 1996). "Scanning the Globe, Microscan Carves Its Own Niche in the Market". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. http://www.seattlepi.com/archives/1996/9604150050.asp.
- ^ http://www.ibtimes.com/prnews/20081016/wa-microscan-siemens.htm
External links
Categories:- Technology companies of the United States
- Commercial computer vision systems
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