CAMARILLO, Calif., May 19 -- Advanced Photonix Inc.(API), a developer of large-area avalanche photodiodes, will begin making sensors to be used in an Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) system being produced by Automotive Distance Control Systems and Omron Corp. The $2.9-million production order will be delivered by API's German distributor, AMS Technologies GmbH, over a five-year period. The ACC system is designed to work like a regular cruise control system and then some. First you set the lever to the desired speed and let the car take over; but instead of manually slowing down and speeding up to compensate for traffic conditions, the ACC system does it for you. When the vehicle sensor detects a slower vehicle in front it, the computer will instruct the braking system to slow down until the car reaches a pre-programmed distance from the other vehicle. As soon as the vehicle in front leaves the sensor's field of view, the ACC vehicle resumes its initial cruise speed.