FARO Acquires Technology Rights from Dimensional Photonics International

5 May, 2008

FARO to develop, manufacture, and sell DPI's scanning solutions and establish a Technology Center of Excellence.

FARO Technologies, a provider of portable computer-aided measurement hardware and software, announced that it has acquired an exclusive license from Dimensional Photonics International (DPI, a provider of high-speed, high-accuracy digital shape scanners) to develop, manufacture, and sell DPI's technology and products.

"This is a perfect fit for FARO, both strategically and operationally," said FARO President and CEO Jay Freeland. "I have been very open about my desire to expand our noncontact capabilities, and DPI's technology provides us with a one-of-a-kind platform to do so. Their current products are highly applicable to all the existing industrial markets we currently serve, and we will continue to enhance and refine the technology as we move forward."

Olaf Krohg, chairman and CEO of DPI, agreed. "FARO is a great match for this technology given their significant market presence, depth of technical knowledge, and history of making small technology-driven acquisitions highly successful."

The license covers technology and products only (no personnel or facilities are involved), rights to more than 20 existing and pending patents, and rights to certain technology developed and patented by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

In addition, FARO will establish a new Technology Center of Excellence in the Boston area, close to the existing DPI team, to ensure successful technology transfer. The new R&D team will fall under FARO's current engineering organization headed by Jim West, senior vice-president of engineering and CTO.

DPI's proprietary technology, Accordion Fringe Interferometry (AFI), creates a 3D digital model of a physical object's surface by immersing it in patterns of light then recording how the light reflects. It reportedly can achieve accuracy of 25 microns or better in a 500 mm field of view. AFI is capable of 3D scanning of objects from nanoscale to several meters in size.

FARO states that the AFI technology is complementary to its existing noncontact offerings. "This is game-changing technology for FARO," Freeland said. "When combined with our significant level of expertise in three-dimensional measurement, imaging, and optics, it will enable us to positively impact more industries and applications than ever."