You can change manufacturing setups without reprogramming the sensor, which is essential for highmix, low-volume manufacturing with frequent color changes.

Motion control and machine vision are used throughout the semiconductor manufacturing process, from monitoring the diameter of ingots as they are formed from a crystal seed to aligning a die lead frame prior to wire bonding. In nearly every step of the process, motion and vision can be found working together to align, inspect, measure, and identify wafers and die so that the various pieces of equipment can do their tasks.

Market analyst firm Techno Systems Research (www.t-s-r.co.jp/e/), of Japan, projects that application volumes for CMOS image sensors will surpass those for CCD sensors next year and, by 2008, 20 million CMOS sensors will be in use in the automotive market. With this progress report in mind, OmniVision Technologies, Inc. (www.ovt.com), supplier of CMOS image sensors, has launched its first image sensor designed specifically for the automotive market.

Seven New Mexico research institutions have signed the Inter-Institutional Agreement, a contract that allows bundling of patents for economic development. The move is designed to provide rapid response and flexibility so that when commercialization opportunities arise, the institutions can capitalize on them quickly rather than having to negotiate individual contracts. To that end, each institution identifies specific patents available for licensing; selected patents can then be bundled and the licensing handled by a single institution.

InterScience, a contract R&D company, is developing a spherical surveillance device that provides a hemispherical field of view. C-View, with the approximate dimensions of a softball, has a range of a 360° horizontal and>180° vertical field of view with no blind spots. Currently in the advanced prototype development stage, the device can be integrated with visible light and IR thermal cameras for use in commercial and military surveillance, perimeter detection, and industrial and pipe inspection, among other applications.

No, not the software kind; the germ-y kind. A University of Arizona study claims that the typical office desktop hosts 400 times more bacteria than your average toilet seat. And iBiz Technology Corp. suggests that its version of the virtual laser keyboard can help cut workplace absenteeism due to sickness by eliminating a major hangout for these troublesome creatures.

In the middle of a dark night, you suddenly dream the answer to your company's $64,000 question. But you've got to get it in writing before you lose it. You stumble down the hall, guided by a weirdly glowing red light emanating from the den, where your PDA sits on the coffee table. The ghostly glow draws you like the proverbial moth to the flame. You drop onto the couch, stretch out your hands . . . and begin typing on the full-sized virtual keyboard projected in soft, clear light onto your coffee table.

If hearing this question from a teenaged grocery clerk holding up a cucumber leaves you staring in disbelief and worrying about the future of the free world, you're going to love IBM's Intelligent Scale with the company's Veggie Vision software. Unlike a youngster raised on pizza and toaster pastries, this scale not only recognizes most produce—in or out of a plastic bag—but also weighs it and prints a bar-coded price tag, all in a split second, with no time wasted ogling the hot prospect at the next cash register.

Cognex Corp. (www.cognex.com), which calls itself the world's leading supplier of machine vision systems, has joined with another machine vision leader in its purchase of DVT Corp (www.dvtsensors.com). "This is the largest acquisition that Cognex has ever completed . . . in terms of price, in terms of revenue, and most importantly, in terms of the positive impact that it will likely have on our company," says Cognex chairman and CEO, "Dr. Bob" Shillman.

Teenagers share horror tales about it. Otherwise competent adults break into cold sweats at the mere thought of doing it. Some people will do anything—go anywhere—to avoid it. Admit it: You've driven around the block rather than attempt to parallel park in a tight spot.