XML 50 R39.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v3.8.0.1

Fair Value Measurements - Liabilities Measured on Recurring Basis, Unobservable Input Reconciliation (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	9 Months Ended
	Oct. 01, 2017	Oct. 02, 2016
Fair Value, Liabilities Measured on Recurring Basis, Unobservable Input Reconciliation [Line Items]
Payment of contingent consideration	$ (1,926)	$ (337)
Foreign Currency Transaction Gain (Loss), Unrealized	39
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 | Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring
Fair Value, Liabilities Measured on Recurring Basis, Unobservable Input Reconciliation [Line Items]
Beginning balance	4,173
Ending balance	3,673
EnShape | Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 | Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring
Fair Value, Liabilities Measured on Recurring Basis, Unobservable Input Reconciliation [Line Items]
Payment of contingent consideration	(1,401)
Manatee | Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 | Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring
Fair Value, Liabilities Measured on Recurring Basis, Unobservable Input Reconciliation [Line Items]
Payment of contingent consideration	(525)
Fair value adjustment to Manatee contingent consideration	(275)
Chiaro | Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 | Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring
Fair Value, Liabilities Measured on Recurring Basis, Unobservable Input Reconciliation [Line Items]
Fair value adjustment to Manatee contingent consideration	185
GVi
Fair Value, Liabilities Measured on Recurring Basis, Unobservable Input Reconciliation [Line Items]
Fair Value adjustment to Chiaro contingent consideration	1,299
GVi | Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 | Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring
Fair Value, Liabilities Measured on Recurring Basis, Unobservable Input Reconciliation [Line Items]
Fair value adjustment to Manatee contingent consideration	$ 178

X

- Definition

Payment of contingent consideration from a business combination

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	cgnx_Paymentofcontingentconsideration
Namespace Prefix:	cgnx_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_FairValueLiabilitiesMeasuredOnRecurringBasisUnobservableInputReconciliationLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

Amount of purchases of financial instrument classified as a liability measured using unobservable inputs that reflect the entity's own assumption about the assumptions market participants would use in pricing.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 820
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (c)(2)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66048111&loc=d3e19207-110258

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_FairValueMeasurementWithUnobservableInputsReconciliationRecurringBasisLiabilityPurchases
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

Fair value of financial instrument classified as a liability measured using unobservable inputs that reflect the entity's own assumption about the assumptions market participants would use in pricing.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 820
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (c)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66048111&loc=d3e19207-110258

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_FairValueMeasurementWithUnobservableInputsReconciliationsRecurringBasisLiabilityValue
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

X

- Definition

Amount before tax of foreign currency transaction unrealized gain (loss) recognized in the income statement.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 28
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66902209&loc=d3e3602-108585

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 830
-SubTopic 20
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=64836518&loc=d3e30690-110894

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 830
-SubTopic 20
-Section 45
-Paragraph 2
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=64836518&loc=d3e30700-110894

Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 830
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6450222&loc=d3e30840-110895

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ForeignCurrencyTransactionGainLossUnrealized
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

Amount of addition (reduction) to the amount at which a liability could be incurred (settled) in a current transaction between willing parties.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LiabilitiesFairValueAdjustment
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

X

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FairValueByFairValueHierarchyLevelAxis=us-gaap_FairValueInputsLevel3Member
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FairValueByMeasurementFrequencyAxis=us-gaap_FairValueMeasurementsRecurringMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis=cgnx_EnShapeGmbHMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis=cgnx_ManateeWorksInc.Member
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis=cgnx_ChiaroTechnologiesLLCMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis=cgnx_GViVenturesInc.Member
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: