RVSI Names James A. Schemenaur President of RVSI Acuity CiMatrix Divison

CANTON, MASSACHUSETTS - February 1, 2001 -Robotic Vision Systems, Inc. (RVSI) (Nasdaq: ROBV) today announced the appointment of James A. Schemenaur as president of the company's RVSI Acuity CiMatrix Division.

Mr. Schemenaur joins RVSI from Inex Vision Systems, Clearwater, Florida, where he was president and chief executive officer of that company.  His career also includes senior management positions with the Emhart Powers division of Black and Decker Corporation, and Intec, Inc.

"Jim brings a strong understanding of the machine vision industry and exceptionally good management credentials," said Pat V. Costa, Chairman and CEO of RVSI.  "RVSI Acuity CiMatrix has explosive growth potential.  To realize that potential we sought an executive with business building experience, sales and marketing acumen, and a commitment to profitability.  Jim fits our needs very well."

RVSI Acuity CiMatrix is one of RVSI's two operating groups and had revenues of $52 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2000.  The division designs, manufactures, and sells board-level machine vision products, high-speed one-dimensional bar-code scanning systems for material handling, and readers and mark verifiers for two-dimensional bar codes, including Data Matrix codes.

"I've been handed an extraordinary opportunity," Mr. Schemenaur said.  "RVSI Acuity CiMatrix possesses the technology edge, the applications knowledge, and the product portfolio to be the leader in manufacturing management systems.  My goal is to spur the growth of the division by harnessing its considerable energy to focus on creating customer solutions that can track, control and inspect both parts and complete products.  We have the tools to help organizations improve quality, eliminate waste, and improve profits; now these tools need to be assembled into value-added solutions."

Curtis W. Howes, who has served as acting president of RVSI Acuity CiMatrix during the past year, will return to his corporate role as the company's Vice President - Automatic Identification.

About RVSI
Robotic Vision Systems, Inc. (RVSI) has the most comprehensive line of machine vision systems available today. Headquartered in Canton, Massachusetts, with offices worldwide, RVSI is the world leader in vision-based semiconductor inspection and media transfer equipment. Using leading-edge technology, RVSI joins vision-enabled process equipment, high-performance optics, lighting, and advanced hardware and software to assure product quality, identify and track parts, control manufacturing processes, and ultimately enhance profits for companies worldwide. Currently serving the semiconductor, electronics, aerospace, automotive, pharmaceutical and packaging industries, RVSI holds approximately 100 patents in a broad range of technologies. For the fiscal year ended September 30, 2000, RVSI has revenues of $223 million. 

Additional information for shareholders
Except for the historical information herein, certain matters discussed in this release include forward-looking statements that may involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual results may vary significantly based on a number of factors, including, but not limited to: the historical cyclical nature of the semiconductor industry, risks in products and technology development, market acceptance of new products and continuing product demand, the impact of competitive products and pricing, changing economic conditions, both here and abroad, timely development and release of new products and strategic suppliers and customers, the effect of the company's accounting policies and other risk factors detailed in the Company's most recent registration statement, annual report on Form 10-K and 10K/A, and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

For further information contact:
Neal H. Sanders
(781) 302-2439