Alliances abound
Rockwell Automation (Milwaukee, WI), a supplier of industrial automation systems, and Cognex Corp. (Natick, MA), a supplier of machine-vision systems, have signed a letter of intent to form a global relationship. Under this relationship, Cognex will acquire rights to certain technologies of Rockwell`s Allen-Bradley machine-vision business and will become the preferred global supplier of machine-vision products to Rockwell`s customers as a member of Rockwell Automation`s Encompass Program.
Electrohome Ltd. (Kitchener, Ontario, Canada), a manufacturer of large-screen video/data/graphics projection systems, has formed a Visualization Group and has completed an equity investment in Fakespace Inc. (Mountain View, CA). The new group will investigate opportunities and potential partnerships in advanced visualization technologies. The equity investment allows Electrohome to leverage its projection system technology and resources in the development and marketing by Fakespace of virtual model displays and other immersive visualization products.
Mitsubishi Electronics America Inc. (Sunnyvale, CA) is supplying its TFT flat-panel display in the $999 Presario FP500 14.1-in. flat-panel monitor from Compaq Computer Corp. (Houston, TX).
Keyware Technologies (Boston, MA) and STMicroelectronics (Lexington, MA) have signed an agreement concerning the development by STM of digital-signal-processing integrated circuits that incorporate Keyware`s layered biometric verification technology for voice, face, and fingerprint measurements.
BrainTech Inc. (Vancouver, BC, Canada) has signed an agreement with UTMC Microelectronics Systems Inc. (Colorado Springs, CO) to jointly develop, manufacture, and market a visual-recognition-accelerator board called Impac. This board will incorporate BrainTech`s BrainTron adaptive fuzzy chip and UTMC`s Engine content-addressable memory chip to achieve high speeds for recognizing visual patterns in machine-vision systems.
Identicator (San Bruno, CA) has signed a licensing agreement with Compaq Computer Corp. (Houston, TX) to offer Identicator`s DFR-200 finger scanner and software algorithms and reader for Compaq`s fingerprint-identification technology on its Desk Pro line of computer systems.
