Cognex Introduces New High-Performance Frame Grabbers.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

ROSEMONT, Ill. & NATICK, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 3, 2003

Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX), the world's leading supplier of machine vision systems and sensors, today unveils the MVS-8500 Series of frame grabbers at the International Robots & Vision Show. The new MVS-8500 Series is designed to support next generation high-speed analog cameras that use the latest progressive scan CCD sensor technology.

The Cognex MVS-8504, the first model available in the new series, offers four completely independent channels supporting up to four cameras. In order to help engineers meet a wide range of high-performance acquisition requirements, the highly flexible MVS-8504 is designed to handle asynchronous, synchronous, and dual tap image acquisition. Additionally, the MVS-8504 provides users with the capability to mix-and-match camera formats, clock rates, partial and full scans, as well as color and monochrome acquisition on a single frame grabber, which eliminates the need for multiple frame grabbers for different camera types. The next model in the MVS-8500 Series to be released later this year will be a high performance, single channel, four-camera frame grabber called the MVS-8501.

"Combined with the new high-speed analog cameras that provide twice the performance of standard cameras at a comparable price point, the MVS-8500 Series enables customers to cost effectively achieve higher performance in their machine vision applications," said Justin Testa, Senior Vice President of Marketing for Cognex. "The new frame grabbers also offer the added benefit of support for legacy analog cameras, simplifying migration to next generation high-speed analog cameras for equipment builders and factory automation engineers.

Designed to support high-bandwidth requirements, the MVS-8500 Series half-slot PCI frame grabbers are PCI 2.31 compliant. The MVS-8504 has 16 MB FIFO for reliable image transfer and employs a high-speed 32 bit/66-MHz bus architecture that is compatible with standard PCI 32 bit/33MHz, as well as higher-speed 64 bit/66MHz and PCI-X busses. General availability for the MVS-8504 is scheduled for September. The MVS-8501 will accommodate up to four multi-plexed high-speed analog cameras and offer a 32 bit/33 MHz bus architecture when it is released later this year.

All MVS-8500 Series frame grabbers provide real-time image transfer over the PCI bus to system memory for analysis. Independent DMA (Direct Memory Access) on each acquisition channel eliminates delays by allowing captured images to be processed at the same time other images are being captured. Moreover, the frame grabbers come equipped with the industry's highest performance machine vision software tools, including Cognex's industry leading PatMax technology for locating objects despite changes in angle, scale, and appearance. Developers familiar with Microsoft Visual C++ can choose the CVL(R) (Cognex Vision Library) Software Developer's Kit to program fully customized solutions for a variety of vision applications. Alternatively, developers will be able to choose VisionPro(TM), a suite of COM/Active-X based vision software tools that combines the power and flexibility of advanced programming with the ease of development that graphical programming environments such as Visual Basic provide.

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 175,000 vision systems, representing over $1.3 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, plastics, and nonwovens. 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.