As part of the OPC Foundation’s Field Level Communication Initiative, B&R is one of the initial vendors to have effectively integrated this protocol into its offerings, elevating field communications. The ACOPOS M4 is among the earliest servo drives globally designed natively on OPC UA FXTM.
Eggelsberg/Nuremberg – Open Platform Communication Unified Architecture (OPC UA) serves as a vendor-independent communication framework, recognized as the first genuinely open protocol with extensive backing from the industry. When paired with Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN), OPC UA FX offers a solution to the compatibility issue of outdated real-time, field-level factory networks and serves as a secure, essential technology for industrial communication networks, facilitating real-time interactions in the industrial setting. OPC UA FX specifically enhances the core OPC UA standard to meet the needs of field-level devices, allowing drives, I/O modules, sensors, and instruments to interact directly, securely, and in a deterministic manner.
B&R’s industrial PCs, panel PCs, PLCs, and network infrastructure elements already include integrated support for OPC UA FX C2C (Controller-to-Controller) communication, offering an open, vendor-neutral base for next-generation automation frameworks. In the industrial sector, our clients frequently encounter a tangle of networking standards that are incompatible, complicating machine automation more than necessary. “Our goal with OPC UA FX is to transform that,” stated Veli-Pekka Ketonen, Product Manager Industrial Networks at B&R Industrial Automation
The newly launched ACOPOS M4 from B&R is one of the first servo drives in the world to be developed natively on OPC UA FX. It is designed to unlock the full potential of this next-generation fieldbus for future, truly plug-and-produce machine automation. The OPC UA FX Technology Package from B&R extends OPC UA to the field level, thereby supporting both C2D (Controller-to-Device) and C2C scenarios*. It combines software, controllers, remote IO and network components into a single, cyber-secure solution. With ACOPOS M4 at its core – and integrating the X20BC008T bus controller and a TSN switch – the full potential of this next-generation industrial communication platform can be realized.
OPC UA FX has built in robust cyber security capabilities, minimizing potential attack vectors and ensuring resilient and trusted operations even in the face of evolving threats. The platform simplifies compliance to (amongst others) the CRA, a European Union regulation that establishes mandatory cybersecurity requirements for products with digital components. This ensures that users are prepared for current and future cybersecurity requirements and threats.
OPC UA FX comes natively with secure communication channels and user authentication. This provides a more robust security environment, compared to legacy fieldbus protocols. Built in certificate management removes error-prone configuration steps by automating the certificate lifecycle. OPC UA FX extends secure, deterministic communication to field-level devices, enabling open and in-teroperable architectures for next-generation automation. With ACOPOS M4 and integrated TSN support, B&R delivers a unified solution for real-time control, cybersecurity compliance, and streamlined machine integration.