Mitsubishi Electric and Cognex pair up to develop vision products

SEPTEMBER 2, 2008--Cognex Corp. (Natick, MA, USA; www.cognex.com) has signed an agreement with Mitsubishi Electric Corp. (Tokyo, Japan; www.mitsubishi-automation.com/)to jointly develop and market Cognex vision products to Mitsubishi's global customer base. Mitsubishi Electric is the largest supplier of factory automation products such as programmable controllers, motion controls, and industrial robots in Japan and throughout Asia.

Cognex will work with Mitsubishi to develop specially configured versions of Cognex In-Sight vision systems that will be designed to integrate with Mitsubishi's factory automation products. The two companies will also jointly promote their integrated technologies at tradeshows and seminars. As a result of this collaboration, Mitsubishi's factory automation customers will be able to purchase Cognex vision systems and quickly deploy them in their manufacturing operations.

"Cognex machine vision systems are already being used together with Mitsubishi factory automation products to help guide robots, to direct motion control systems and to automate a wide range of manufacturing processes," said Robert J. Shillman, chairman and CEO of Cognex.

Cognex expects that this partnership will significantly accelerate the sale of its vision systems, first in Japan and eventually in fast-growing markets throughout Asia.