Cognex Corporation

Cognex Corporation is a manufacturer of machine vision systems, software and sensors used in automated manufacturing to inspect and identify parts, detect defects, verify product assembly, and guide assembly robots. Cognex is headquartered in Natick, Massachusetts, USA. It has offices in more than 20 countries.

Cognex was one of the first companies to explore commercial applications for machine vision in the early 1980s. In the 1990s, Cognex’s business grew rapidly due to the demand for machine vision tools to help automate semiconductor and electronics manufacturing. While semiconductor manufacturing remains an important market for Cognex vision, today the company receives a greater portion of its revenue from general manufacturing applications in areas such as pharmaceutical, automotive, healthcare, packaging, aerospace and consumer products manufacturing.

The company’s product portfolio includes In-Sight, a vision system that combines a camera, software and processor into one compact unit; VisionPro vision software; Checker, a single-purpose vision sensor used to provide high performance at certain common vision tasks, such as checking for the presence or absence of parts and features; DataMan, a family of fixed mount and handheld ID readers used to identify and track items by reading 1D and 2D Data Matrix codes; and SmartView, a vision system used to detect defects in materials such as metal, paper, and nonwovens that are manufactured at high speeds on a web.