Cognex Surpasses $5 Million in Bookings for New In-Sight Vision Sensor

Natick, MA, August 3, 2000-Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ: CGNX), the world's leading supplier of machine vision systems, today announced that it has surpassed $5 million in bookings for its new In-Sight 2000 vision sensor, after only six months of active selling.

In-Sight is an innovative machine vision sensor designed for manufacturers who need multiple low-cost machine vision systems to control the manufacturing processes at numerous points on each of their production lines.  Current customers for In-Sight represent a wide range of industries, including the manufacture of semiconductors, communications and networking products, automotive manufacturing, and consumer packaging.  Applications for In-Sight range from high tech to low tech…from inspecting components used in fiber optic communications to inspecting the size and shape of gaskets used in the assembly of automobile engines and transmissions.

"We are very excited to have reached the $5 million milestone in such a short timeframe…quite a bit ahead of our own internal estimates.  This rapid acceptance indicates that our customers are finding In-Sight to be cost-effective in a wide variety of applications.  Our In-Sight development team, headed up by John McGarry, has clearly hit the 'sweet spot' with this innovative product," said Dr. Robert J. Shillman, Cognex's President, CEO and Chairman. 

"What is most promising is that a large percentage of In-Sight customers are new to Cognex," Dr. Shillman continued. "We now expect In-Sight revenues for this year to approach $10 million, and if the large number of customers who have each purchased an evaluation unit place follow-on orders as we expect them to, then next year's revenues should be significantly higher."

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 100,000 machine vision systems, representing over $1 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.

Certain statements made in this press release are forward-looking statements.  These statements are based on the company's current expectations and estimates as to prospective events and circumstances which may or may not be in the company's control and as to which there can be no firm assurances given.  These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or anticipated.  The company wishes to caution readers not to place undue reliance upon any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made.  The company disclaims any obligation subsequently to revise forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of such statements or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events.  Further discussions of risk factors are also available in the company's registration statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT:
John Cacciatore
Public Relations
Cognex Corporation
(508) 650-3000, ext. 3366