Modulight, Vaisala Extend Laser Supply Agreement

Modulight Inc. of San Jose, Calif., and Vaisala have extended a 2004 agreement, to 2010, to use Modulight laser diodes in Vaisala's DCS111 remote road-surface sensor. Vaisala is a Finland-based maker of electronic measurement systems and equipment for meteorology and the environmental sciences, traffic safety and industrial applications. Its laser-based road-monitoring system bounces light from the road to a detector to take short-range spectroscopic measurements of water and ice on a road surface to inform drivers and maintenance crews, via ectronic signs or radio, about slippery conditions. The systems are now used in Scandinavia, and Vaisala said it expects to distribute them in the US, England, Ireland and Germany. Both companies are based in Finland with US operations.