to a light activated switch in the coil module 52 and this switch provides electrical pulses to the ignition coil after timing pulses from the distributor are read and sent optically to the coil module a current sensor on the starter detects reduction in electrical current as well as information from the distributor which indicates the engine is running the crypto lock 48 then disengages the starter so as to provide an 34 automatic start 34 function optional features can also be provided with the system 10 for example an optional holographic transmissive gradient can be positioned between the activating key and its associated detector so as to produce preselected interference patterns from the infrared beams this of course increases the complexity of the optical code read from the ccd array further an optional fiber optic link can be provided wherein an optical fiber is used to separate the basic optical system emitter and detector assembly from the processing electronics to reduce the possibility of tampering an anti tampering function is already provided through the use of random pulses of 100 nanosecond light pulses delivered from the crypto lock 48 and echoed by the modules 46 50 52 54 with a built in delay the lock 48 looks for missing pulses and can be utilized to activate either a silent or audible alarm in summary the basic operation of the present invention will be the same regardless of the functional use to which it is employed in every case infrared light beams from one to n number of sources laser or light emitting diode is collimated before passing through many.