A Tradition of Innovation
In 1966, we developed the nation's first electronic stadium scoreboard and soon after revolutionized the elevator industry by creating a microprocessor-controlled elevator. Throughout the 1960s, we gained worldwide recognition for our geodetic SECOR satellite surveying system, the first product to offer a coast-to-coast measurement of the United States. This solid-state system was introduced long before the advent of Global Positioning System (GPS) technology.
By 1968, we had introduced more than 60 products and services, generating annual sales in excess of $28 million. By far our major profit generator was our Electrotape Distance Measuring Instrument, the world's first commercial distance surveying system that provided centimeter accuracy from 100 meters to 50 kilometers. The instrument modernized land surveying for mapping, subdivisions, land development and engineering construction, providing users with a major cost savings tool.
We followed-up the Electrotape with the Autotape, the first two-range, high-accuracy positioning system for the petroleum and offshore construction industry. Autotape was employed before the advent of GPS technology and was used for major pipe-laying and off-shore construction projects throughout the world, revolutionizing the oil industry as it allowed for precise offshore oil exploration. Next came our ARGO offshore positioning system, a long-range ship positioning system that quickly became a standard tool for U.S. and Australian hydrographic fleets.
Bolstering Defense
Among our earliest developments were highly precise distance and angle measurement (tracking) systems for aircraft and test missile ranges, which became adopted by companies and militaries around the world. These core technologies led to our development of combat training instrumented systems that offered positioning and tracking systems, and data fusion and display.
By 1973, we leveraged our expertise with data links, data processing and the precision tracking of high dynamic targets as we created the world's first "Top Gun" ACMI system, commissioned by the Marine Corps Air Station at Yuma, Arizona. Later, we pioneered the world's first turnkey ground combat instrumentation system, which was deployed in Hohenfels, Germany.
Over the years, we refined these technologies and incorporated them into our broadcast data links and combat personnel recovery system, which were used successfully during Operation Desert Storm and later in peacekeeping operations in Bosnia.
Mass Transit Efficiencies
Following the success of our work for the defense industry, in 1972, we expanded into the mass transportation industry, acquiring Western Data Products of Los Angeles. One year later, we had developed and launched an Automatic Fare Collection (AFC) system for Chicago's Illinois Central Gulf Railroad, which led to numerous, large-scale AFC deployments:
- Hong Kong Mass Transit Railway Corporation
- Eastern Suburbs Railway in Sydney
- Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system in San Francisco
- Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
- Pennsylvania Port Authority Transit Company
