A tachymeter is used to map a certain area (distances, directions and relative elevations), often as preparation for civil construction activities. Professor Bogaerts developed the first automated version of a tachymeter to reduce the workload.

The Automatic Reducing Tachymeter (ART) automatically reduced (processed) the measured distances and directions into coordinates, and stored this data on coded disks. These could be transferred to punched cards, enabling further calculations with computers.

Theo Bogaerts received his doctorate in 1969 for his work on the ART, and became professor at the TU Delft in 1976. In 1970, the ART was prototyped in collaboration with De Oude Delft. Further automation of the tachymeter is continuing even today.