B&R demonstrated its first ACOPOS series drive control device in May 1999 and launched it to market by the end of the year. This series entered the new millennium with rapid growth: the initial product line of only seven drive modules quickly evolved into a comprehensive solution for various servo motors, induction motors, and stepper motors. Therefore, we have ample reason to review the success story of ACOPOS. The Greek word "acopos" means "effortless" – reflecting the extremely high standards B&R set for the ACOPOS series. The design, construction, and commissioning of drive technology should be easily integrated into the integrated automation solution. This sense of integration garnered industry attention when B&R first demonstrated its integrated drive control solution at the Vienna-Tec trade fair at the turn of the millennium: the solution consisted of intelligent drives, servo motors with rotary encoders and embedded parameter chips, and a unified software development environment for control and drive. This solution was more compact than other automation drive technologies at the time. Traditional solutions used analog servo drives to drive motors. As part of the electronic control equipment, they connected to the setpoints on the positioning module via a ±10 V interface. Various manufacturers offered analog servo drives, many of them specializing in drive technology. “At that time, the world was divided into two camps: control technology experts and drive technology experts,” explains Alois Holzleitner, manager of B&R Motion. “Because you were sending analog signals in both directions – into and out of the rotary encoder – there was no way to provide integrated diagnostics.” At the forefront of the digital revolution , around the turn of the millennium, a transition from analog to digital occurred in many fields. “We realized this shift was also significant for drive technology,” says Holzleitner, who has been involved in the development of ACOPOS since 1997. An embedded electronic parameter chip in the motor could store configuration data on the controller, enabling device replacement without field reconfiguration. This was a crucial stepping stone for further development. Replacing different positioning modules with drives to perform two tasks on the same device was another breakthrough. The interface problems between them disappeared, revealing a control solution from the motor and controller all the way to the motion axis. To achieve these hardware innovations, it was necessary to break down software barriers and achieve integrated programming in a unified environment. B&R Automation Studio remains the most comprehensive integrated development tool for automation technologies. From the outset, B&R has been very generous with its ACOPOS servo drives, both in terms of processing power and floating-point operations, enabling rapid data transfer . This has paved the way for new applications in closed-loop control and path planning, playing a crucial role in the future success of ACOPOS. "We've freed up the burden of resource-intensive processing tasks," said Holzleitner. "This has a significant impact on the controller." Because path calculations and other control operations can be performed simultaneously, a smaller CPU or a greater number of servo axes can be operated. ACOPOS is an indispensable driving force in the field of drive technology. We relieved ourselves of the burden of resource-intensive processing tasks, which had a significant impact on the controller. Alois Holzleitner, Manager of the Motion Division, clearly stated that these new processing requirements, accompanied by correspondingly large amounts of data, exceeded the capabilities of the fieldbus systems available on the market at the time. Therefore, the prospect of integrated drive control gave rise to Ethernet POWERLINK. Ensuring the safety of machine and personnel operation has always been a focus for B&R. From the initial seven performance levels of ACOPOS equipment, Safe Torque Off (STO) has always been a standard feature. A groundbreaking semiconductor-based wear-free solution was developed, replacing the traditionally used relay switches. The revolution continued. “The high demands of customers in fields such as plastics and packaging technology are severely limited by the control/drive section,” Holzleitner explained. “Then suddenly, they were able to achieve unprecedented numbers of axes at a reasonable cost and effort. One leading packaging manufacturer even had 64 axes.” The ACOPOS series has set new standards in speed and accuracy through its fully integrated functionality. At the same time, the demand for safety technology and improved usability is also rapidly increasing. Advances in semiconductor technology have enabled B&R to move towards simpler, more convenient, and more efficient development. In 2007, the ACOPOSmulti drive system, a compact module suitable for devices with a large number of axes, was developed. The distributed safety logic of the new ACOPOSmulti drive system represents another milestone in B&R's pursuit of "perfect automation." Based on this philosophy, ACOPOSmulti offers advanced options, rapidly transforming motion control challenges into solutions that exceed machine manufacturers' expectations. Its design allows for module-to-module expansion and plug-and-play operation with minimal wiring. Especially in terms of safety technology, there have been new and more stringent requirements since the introduction of ACOPOS. While some aspects have remained consistent with the original device, such as the Safe Torque Off function, the market has consistently anticipated more advanced safety features for speed and rotation direction control. ACOPOSmulti uses openSAFETY, a fully network-based communication solution—a fieldbus-independent solution still found in many third-party systems today. Flexible cooling allows customers to customize their ACOPOSmulti solutions as early as when configuring the drive system. For example, to optimize control cabinet temperature, they can choose between control cabinet, external air, or liquid cooling systems. A stable DC bus power supply further improves the efficiency of the entire solution. Power factor correction reduces the apparent power in the drive system to the machine's active power, and energy regeneration further reduces power consumption. In short, this means improving energy efficiency, reducing overall power consumption, and eliminating reactive power by better utilizing existing power supplies. Like the excellent ACOPOS series, the software-compatible ACOPOSmulti series quickly gained market recognition. Looking to the future , while ACOPOSmulti is an important step towards a comprehensive drive technology portfolio, it is by no means the end for B&R. In 2010, B&R launched ACOPOSmicro, expanding its servo drive product line to cover the two lowest power levels. Also launched was the ACOPOSmicro stepper motor controller. These mature X20 stepper motor modules offer power ranging from 20 to 500 watts. Moreover, like the X20 modules, they can be directly integrated into B&R control systems via X2X Link, without the need for a fieldbus system. For applications that do not require servo drives with higher dynamic characteristics, B&R introduced the ACOPOSinverter series of frequency converters in 2009 as a cost-effective alternative. These are equipped with X2X Link or POWERLINK interfaces and range in power from 180 to 500 kW. Like all ACOPOS series products, these also offer integrated safety features. In response to the increasingly modular machine designs of the mechatronics era , B&R developed the highly robust ACOPOSmulti65, which can be directly mounted on the machine structure. Since its launch in 2011, these servo drives have freed themselves from the constraints of control cabinets, bringing great flexibility and convenience to machine manufacturers. They can be networked via a single hybrid cable, enabling power supply voltage, DC bus, and POWERLINK communication on a single cable. The ACOPOSmulti65 can also serve as a hub for connecting B&R X67 input and output modules. This makes it very easy to build optional machine modules as fully autonomous mechatronic units. The latest advancement in modular mechanical drive technology is the ACOPOSmulti65m servo actuator mounted on a motor. This solution integrates all key components, such as the motor, positioning sensor (encoder), precision gearbox, and servo drive, into a compact unit. The ACOPOSmulti65m is available in three different sizes, with power ranging from 500 watts to 2 kilowatts, achieving significant size reduction and simplified commissioning. The latest achievement in servo drive technology: the motor-mounted ACOPOS multi65m. It offers unprecedented space savings and simplified commissioning. "Our engineers are working on the product specifications for some of the equipment that will appear on the market in the future," Holzleitner revealed, foreshadowing the continued growth of the ACOPOS product line. "In an industry with long product lifecycles and a long-term commitment, we are already looking for the driving force for the next decade," Holzleitner said. Thus, the ACOPOS millennium continues... B&R Industrial Automation is a global leader in automation, specializing in innovative cutting-edge automation technologies. Headquartered in Austria, it currently has branches in 68 countries and 166 offices worldwide. "Perfect Automation" and "Your Global Automation Partner" are B&R Industrial Automation's mission and pursuit. In August 1996, B&R Industrial Automation (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. officially settled in Shanghai, China, with localized sales and a highly skilled technical team providing Chinese customers with faster service responses. For over a decade, B&R (China) has focused on providing domestic users with a full range of high-quality automation products and excellent technical solutions. Today, B&R's products and solutions are widely used in mechanical automation fields such as packaging, printing, plastics, textiles, food and beverage, machine tools, semiconductors, and pharmaceuticals; as well as in process automation fields such as power, metallurgy, municipal engineering, transportation, petroleum, chemical, and cement industries. B&R products have obtained international certifications such as ISO 9001, UL, TÜV, and GOST-R, and their quality and performance have been widely praised by users, earning them a strong reputation. B&R (China) has established offices in Beijing, Guangzhou, Jinan, Xi'an, Chengdu, and Shenyang, with comprehensive technical training centers in Shanghai and other offices, as well as joint university laboratories throughout the country.