LOS ALTOS, CA-Two of the founders of Adept Technology Inc. (Livermore, CA) have left the company and started a new automation company, Precise Automation.

Brian Carlisle, Adept's CEO, and Bruce Shimano, Ph.D., its vice president of research and development, left the company in December 2003. The two were instrumental in developing the PUMA robot, the world's first precision assembly robot. They founded Adept Technology in 1983, and the company grew to become a market leader in the United States and Europe, with sales of $100 million by the late 1990s.

Their new company, Precise Automation, is developing compact, low-cost, high-performance vision-guided motion controllers with integrated motor drives for robots and other multiaxis machines. The controllers can run stand-alone, be networked together, or be PC-controlled. The controllers are for machines for the electronics, semiconductor and life sciences industries.

In addition, Precise is developing a series of new mechanisms for material handling and assembly in the life sciences and electronics industries. The mechanisms will range from light-payload, low-cost devices to medium-payload, high-performance devices.

Precise expects to begin delivering products early next year, and the company is seeking OEMs and other companies to help in the development of these products and controls.

For more information, call 408-395-6086 or visit www.preciseautomation.com.