s Bob Dobson organises a series of challenging excursions to Wales for members of the motion industry. Control Techniques launches Mentor, the world’s first digital DC drive. 1986 Asea of Sweden and BBC of Switzerland merge to form ABB, and Stromberg became part of the group. 1988 1986 Electric Drives is renamed Drives & Controls and its coverage is widened. 1997 Bob Dobson leaves and Tony Sacks takes over as editor of Drives & Controls. 1994 The Drives & Controls Show makes its debut at the National Motorcycle Museum. 1995 The Drives & Controls show moves to the Telford Exhibition Centre, where it stays until 2000. Bob Dobson is appointed as deputy editor of Drives & Controls, and later becomes editor. Profibus is introduced in Germany, standardising fieldbus networks to connect controllers such as PLCs to field devices. 1989 Commercialisation of IGBTs (insulated gate bipolar transistors) revolutionises AC drive technology. 1990 Schneider acquires Modicon, the pioneer of PLCs 1997 The Swiss firm Demaurex sells six Delta robots for a packaging application involving pretzels being loaded into blister trays. 1992 Control Techniques is acquired by Emerson Electric. 1994 Control Techniques launches Unidrive,“the world’s first universal AC drive”. 1995 Invertek Drives is founded in Welshpool, mainly by former employees of nearby Control Techniques. 1998 Companies began to create virtual software representations (digital twins) of physical factory assets to monitor status and simulate outcomes. Early 2000s Modbus TCP/IP is standardised, allowing the Modbus protocol to operate over standard Ethernet, linking plant floor data to corporate IT. 2003 Beckhoff Automation introduces EtherCat, combining standard Ethernet hardware with an efficient "processing-on-the-fly" protocol. 2002 The Drives & Controls show moves to the Birmingham NEC. 1990s ABB launches Flexpicker delta robot for picking and packing industry. Foundation Fieldbus is launched, offering digital, two-wire communications and device diagnostics. 1999
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