The laser system has a long history and today represents one of the fundamental elements that characterize an optimal and precise land leveling process.
In this market, the company MARA S.r.l. has stood out for more than thirty years.
An international company that has made quality, attention to detail, and customer service its main strengths.
Founded in 1986, the company is now a world leader in the market of levelers.
The words of Gianmario Delsignore
The CEO of MARA S.r.l. explains how laser technology originated and how it was brilliantly adapted to the reality of land leveling.
The origins of the laser system: from Einstein to Theodore Harold Maiman
“The idea of a beam of light that remains in space dates back to 1916, with Albert Einstein.”
An idea that for decades remained purely theoretical, but which in the 1960s was finally demonstrated by the American physicist and engineer Theodore Harold Maiman.
“In 1962, the engineer activated the laser for the first time, demonstrating the possibility of keeping a beam of light constant in space.
To carry out a demonstration, he leveled the seabed of San Francisco Bay to allow large ships to access the harbor.
In the absence of a leveled seabed, the vessels were unable to enter due to the shape of the seafloor.
The engineer placed a laser receiver on a dredger: when it reached the correct depth, it stopped, and then continued working while maintaining that same depth.
He then shifted the beam by a certain number of meters and continued until the seabed was completely leveled.”
The innovation of the seventies: the brilliant intuition of physicist Maiman
Laser technology evolved to adapt to different contexts.
In 1978, the American engineer had a brilliant intuition.
He applied a pentaprism to the beam, that is, a five-faced crystal characterized by the ability to make the beam exit at ninety degrees relative to the entry point, regardless of its position.
He placed it on the head of the laser transmitter and rotated the pentaprism using a small electric motor, thereby managing to create a plane.
At this point, the wavelength was extremely precise, ranging between 0.82 and 0.75 mm.
Subsequently, a beam was emitted that struck the receiver ten times per second, that is, 600 rotations per minute.
He used this system to level land using bulldozers.
Originally, bulldozer operators necessarily had to rely on a surveyor or an engineer to perform a field survey—placing stakes at specific distances from one another—to calculate slopes; in this case, the leveling error margin was approximately ±5 cm.
With the cutting-edge system developed by physicist Maiman, however, a bulldozer operator, even without experience, could level land; with this method, the margin of error was reduced by half.
The eighties: Paolo Gramigna and the first laser leveler
Year after year, the incredible usefulness of the laser system attracted the interest of many.
“In 1982, Paolo Gramigna was responsible for importing from the United States the first Spectra laser system with visual control. He later paired it with a manual land leveling blade and automated its operation, thus inventing the laser-controlled leveler.
Initially, he partnered with a company, but was unable to complete his project.
He then began promoting his brilliant idea at trade fairs throughout Italy.
He succeeded in his goal and partnered with another company called Novac; thus, the market for laser levelers was born.”
A story marked by passion, attempts, effort, dreams, and hope.
An idea that has contributed to the growth of countless companies that today could no longer do without this technology.