Cognex Announces a Breakthrough in Sensor Technology; Checker Opens Large New Market Opportunity for Cognex.

NATICK, Mass. -- Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ - CGNX), the world's leading supplier of machine vision systems, today announced the introduction of Checker(TM) 101, a simple-to-use and inexpensive sensor that can visually detect the presence or absence of components during the manufacturing process.

"Checker 101 is the first member of Cognex's new Checker family of vision sensors. Unlike general purpose vision systems that can be programmed to perform a wide variety of tasks, each model in the Checker family will do only one thing, but it will do it extraordinarily fast and well," said Dr. Robert J. Shillman, Cognex's CEO and Chairman. "Checker 101 was designed from the ground up to be far simpler to use than any general purpose vision system...so simple that even first-time users will have it up and running in a matter of minutes. And, because of its low price and ease of use, factory technicians and electricians will find Checker an attractive tool for solving many manufacturing problems that they previously solved...or tried to solve...with photodetectors or other similar devices."

Dr. Shillman continued, "The currently-served market for all presence-sensing devices is in excess of $1 billion annually, worldwide, and, because Checker 101 has a significant price/performance advantage over other means of presence sensing in complex applications, we expect it to garner a significant percentage of that market over time. We believe that Checker's low cost and ease of use will make the saying, 'Check it with Checker,' a commonly heard expression on the factory floor."

Checking for the presence or absence of multiple items...such as the cap and the label on a bottle, or all of the lugs on a truck wheel, or all of the pills in a blister pack...is one of the most frequent tasks in manufacturing. To ensure product quality in applications such as these, most manufacturers currently use either a complex system of multiple photodetectors, or they rely on people to perform inspections. Now, with a single Checker, manufacturers will be able to inspect 100% of their products at each stage of their production lines. And, because Checker can analyze over 400 images each second, it can keep up with even the fastest manufacturing operations.

Checker's compact design provides illumination, optics, sensor, processor, memory and I/O, all fully integrated in a single industrial-grade package about the size of a cell phone. In addition, unique, patent-pending technology enables Checker to automatically detect when a product is ready to be inspected; because of that, it doesn't require an external trigger, even for products in continuous motion at high speed, as do all other vision sensors and systems.

Checker will be introduced at the PackExpo trade show opening Sunday, November 7 at McCormick Place in Chicago, IL. Cognex plans to begin shipping Checker 101 in Q1 of 2005, and it will have an introductory selling price of under $1,500.

About Cognex

Cognex Corporation designs, develops, manufactures, and markets machine vision systems, or computers that can "see." Cognex is the world's leader in the machine vision industry, having shipped more than 225,000 machine vision systems, representing over $1.6 billion in cumulative revenue, since the company's founding in 1981. Cognex's Modular Vision Systems Division, headquartered in Natick, Massachusetts, specializes in machine vision systems which are used for automating the manufacture of a wide range of discrete items and for assuring their quality. Cognex's Surface Inspection Systems Division, headquartered in Alameda, California, specializes in machine vision systems which are used for inspecting the surfaces of products manufactured in a continuous fashion, such as metals, paper, and plastics. In addition to its corporate headquarters in Natick, Massachusetts, Cognex also has regional offices located throughout North America, Japan, Europe, and Southeast Asia. Visit Cognex on-line at http://www.cognex.com.