Motion Control Instruction Comparison (KEYENCE KV-X / OMRON NJ/NX)

A cross-reference table that lines up, by function, the motion control instructions of the KEYENCE KV-X300 series and the OMRON NJ/NX series. Both have instructions compliant with the PLCopen® function blocks for motion control
For the meaning of the symbols, see the legend at the end of the page.

Common Input/Output Variables

Input/output variables commonly used in PLCopen® function blocks for motion control. On both KV-X and NJ/NX they can generally be used with the same names and meanings.

Category	Variable name	Description	Differences between KV-X and NJ/NX
Target axis	`Axis`	Axis variable	NJ/NX: in-out variable
	`AxisGroup` / `AxesGroup`	Axes group variable	NJ/NX: in-out variable
	`Master` / `Slave` / `Auxiliary`	Master, slave and auxiliary axes for synchronized control (axis variables)
Start	`Execute`	Starts execution on FALSE→TRUE
Start	`Enable`	Executes the function only while TRUE
Status outputs	`Done`	Normal end
	`Busy`	Executing
	`Active`	Controlling
	`CommandAborted`	Aborted
	`Error`	Error end
	`ErrorID`	Error code
	`Status`	Busy
	`Enabled`	Controlling
Operation parameters	`Position` / `Distance`	Target position / travel distance
	`Velocity`	Target velocity
	`Acceleration` / `Deceleration`	Acceleration / deceleration rate
	`Jerk`	S-curve ratio (jerk)
	`Direction`	Direction
	`BufferMode`	Buffer mode
	`TransitionMode`	0: TMNone, 10: TMCornerRadius (auxiliary arc)
	`TransitionParameter`	Auxiliary arc radius
	`CoordSystem`	Coordinate system
	`VelFactor`	Override value
Units	Coordinate unit	Coordinate unit (mm, inch, deg, PLS, etc.)	Set in each tool

Execute type: execution starts on the rising edge of Execute; on normal completion Done becomes TRUE, while executing Busy, when aborted by another instruction CommandAborted, and on an error Error / ErrorID become TRUE (set).
Enable type: the function runs only while Enable is TRUE, and the state is output via Status / Enabled etc.

Instruction Comparison

Basic axis operations

Name	Category	KEYENCE KV-X	OMRON NJ/NX
Servo ON	PLCopen	`MC_Power`	`MC_Power`
Axis error reset	PLCopen	`MC_Reset`	`MC_Reset`
Enable operation	KV only	`MC_OperationEnable`	—
Homing	PLCopen	`MC_Home`	`MC_Home`
Homing with parameters	NJ only	—	`MC_HomeWithParameter`
High-speed homing	Similar	`MC_FastMoveToHome`	`MC_MoveZeroPosition`
Move to base position	KV only	`MC_MoveToBasePosition`	—
Home sensor request	KV only	`MC_InternalHomeSensor`	—
Deceleration stop	PLCopen	`MC_Stop`	`MC_Stop`
Immediate stop	Similar	`MC_ImmediateStop`	`MC_ImmediateStop`
Immediate stop of all axes	KV only	`MC_ImmediateStopAll`	—
Jog operation	Similar	`MC_Jog`	`MC_MoveJog`
Change current position	PLCopen	`MC_SetPosition`	`MC_SetPosition`
Override	PLCopen	`MC_SetOverride`	`MC_SetOverride`
Reset following error counter	NJ only	—	`MC_ResetFollowingError`
Change axis use	PLCopen	—	`MC_ChangeAxisUse`

Single-axis positioning, velocity and torque

Name	Category	KEYENCE KV-X	OMRON NJ/NX
Absolute positioning	PLCopen	`MC_MoveAbsolute`	`MC_MoveAbsolute`
Relative positioning	PLCopen	`MC_MoveRelative`	`MC_MoveRelative`
Positioning	NJ only	—	`MC_Move`
Velocity control (position control mode)	PLCopen	`MC_MoveVelocity`	`MC_MoveVelocity`
Velocity control (CSV)	Similar	`MC_VelocityControl`	`MC_SyncMoveVelocity`
Torque control	PLCopen	`MC_TorqueControl`	`MC_TorqueControl`
Cyclic synchronous torque control	NJ only	—	`MC_SyncTorqueControl`
Cyclic synchronous absolute positioning	Similar	`MC_AbsolutePosFollowUpControl`	`MC_SyncMoveAbsolute`
Synchronous follow-up control	KV only	`MC_SyncTypeFollowUpControl`	—
Interrupt feeding	NJ only	—	`MC_MoveFeed`
Torque limit	Similar	`MC_SetTorqueLimit`	`MC_SetTorqueLimit` `MC_SetTorqueLimit2`
Velocity feed-forward	KV only	`MC_SetVelocityFeedforward`	—
Torque feed-forward	KV only	`MC_SetTorqueFeedforward`	—
Stop sensor request	KV only	`MC_InternalStopSensor`	—
Stop sensor detection mask	KV only	`MC_MaskStopSensor`	—

Changes during operation and position offsets

Name	Category	KEYENCE KV-X	OMRON NJ/NX
Change positioning target position	KV only	`MC_ChangeTargetPosition`	—
Change positioning velocity	KV only	`MC_ChangeTargetVelocity`	—
Change interpolation target position	KV only	`MC_ChangeTargetGroupPositions`	—
Position offset compensation	NJ only	—	`MC_OffsetPosition`
Cyclic synchronous position offset compensation	NJ only	—	`MC_SyncOffsetPosition`

Point operation (KV-specific)

Name	Category	KEYENCE KV-X	OMRON NJ/NX
Positioning control (point parameters)	KV only	`MC_MoveToPoint`	—
Resume positioning operation	KV only	`MC_ResumePositioning`	—
Force execution of next point	KV only	`MC_MoveToNextPoint`	—
Interrupt continuous operation	KV only	`MC_SuspendNextPositioning`	—
Stop at specified position	KV only	`MC_StopAtTargetPosition`	—
M code OFF	KV only	`MC_MCodeOff`	—
Release wait	KV only	`MC_ReleaseStandby`	—
Teaching	KV only	`MC_Teach`	—

Synchronized control (cam and gear)

Name	Category	KEYENCE KV-X	OMRON NJ/NX
Start synchronized control	PLCopen	`MC_SyncControl`	`MC_CamIn` `MC_GearIn`
Start cam operation	PLCopen	—	`MC_CamIn`
Start cam operation with specified curve	NJ only	—	`MC_CamInCurve`
End cam operation	PLCopen	—	`MC_CamOut`
Cam monitor	NJ only	—	`MC_CamMonitor` `MC_CamMonitorCurve`
Synchronous cam switching	KV only	`MC_SwitchCam`	—
Start gear operation	PLCopen	—	`MC_GearIn`
Positioning gear operation	NJ only	—	`MC_GearInPos` `MC_GearInPos2`
End gear operation	PLCopen	—	`MC_GearOut`
Trapezoidal pattern cam	NJ only	—	`MC_MoveLink`
Addition/subtraction positioning	NJ only	—	`MC_CombineAxes`
Master axis phase shift	PLCopen	`MC_MainAxisPhasing`	`MC_Phasing`
Auxiliary axis phase shift	KV only	`MC_AuxAxisPhasing`	—
Main clutch control	KV only	`MC_MainClutch`	—
Auxiliary clutch control	KV only	`MC_AuxClutch`	—
Synchronous torque limit clutch control	KV only	`MC_TorqueLimitClutch`	—
Pseudo mechanical synchronized stop	KV only	`MC_StopSimMechanicalSync`	—
Set external reference command value for synchronized control	KV only	`MC_SetSyncExternalReference`	—
Change synchronous contact output parameters	KV only	`MC_UpdateSyncContactParameter`	—
Monitor deviation between axes	NJ only	—	`MC_AxesObserve`

Cam data

Name	Category	KEYENCE KV-X	OMRON NJ/NX
Read cam data	KV only	`MC_CamRead`	—
Write cam data	Partial	`MC_CamWrite`	`MC_SetCamTableProperty` `MC_SetCamTableEndPointIndex`
Generate cam data	Similar	`MC_CamGenerate`	`MC_GenerateCamTable`
Save cam table	NJ only	—	`MC_SaveCamTable`

Latch, monitoring and digital output

Name	Category	KEYENCE KV-X	OMRON NJ/NX
Enable external latch	PLCopen	—	`MC_TouchProbe`
Disable external latch	PLCopen	—	`MC_AbortTrigger`
Zone monitor	NJ only	—	`MC_ZoneSwitch`
Digital cam switch	PLCopen	—	`MC_DigitalCamSwitch`
Calculate axis position from time stamp	NJ only	—	`MC_TimeStampToPos`

Parameters and system

Name	Category	KEYENCE KV-X	OMRON NJ/NX
Save parameters	KV only	`MC_SaveParameter`	—
Write axis parameters	NJ only	—	`MC_WriteAxisParameter`
Read axis parameters	NJ only	—	`MC_ReadAxisParameter`
Write MC settings	NJ only	—	`MC_Write`
Read servo parameters	KV only	`MC_SV3_ReadServoParameter`	—
Write servo parameters	KV only	`MC_SV3_WriteServoParameter`	—
Update motion variables	Partial	`MC_RefreshMotionVariable`	`MC_PeriodicSyncVariables`
Clear maximum processing time	KV only	`MC_ClearMaxCycleTime`	—

Axes groups (interpolation)

Name	Category	KEYENCE KV-X	OMRON NJ/NX
Enable axes group	PLCopen	—	`MC_GroupEnable`
Disable axes group	PLCopen	—	`MC_GroupDisable`
Axes group error reset	PLCopen	—	`MC_GroupReset`
Linear interpolation (absolute)	PLCopen	`MC_MoveLinearAbsolute`	`MC_MoveLinearAbsolute`
Linear interpolation (relative)	PLCopen	`MC_MoveLinearRelative`	`MC_MoveLinearRelative`
Linear interpolation	NJ only	—	`MC_MoveLinear`
Circular interpolation	Similar	`MC_MoveCircularAbsolute` `MC_MoveCircularRelative`	`MC_MoveCircular2D`
Axes group deceleration stop	PLCopen	`MC_GroupStop`	`MC_GroupStop`
Axes group immediate stop	NJ only	—	`MC_GroupImmediateStop`
Axes group override	PLCopen	—	`MC_GroupSetOverride`
Get axes group position	NJ only	—	`MC_GroupReadPosition`
Write axes group composition axes	NJ only	—	`MC_ChangeAxesInGroup`
Axes group cyclic synchronous absolute position	NJ only	—	`MC_GroupSyncMoveAbsolute`

No matching instructions found.

Legend

PLCopen	Instructions defined in the PLCopen® function blocks for motion control. Common input/output variables can be used with the same meanings (including when an instruction exists on only one model)
Similar	Proprietary instructions of each manufacturer with equivalent functions. Instruction names and argument structures differ
Partial	Functions that partly overlap, or can be substituted by a combination of instructions
KV only / NJ only	Proprietary instructions available on only one of the models
—	No corresponding instruction

How rows are organized

Each function is one row.
Breakdown by category: PLCopen 27, similar 8, partial 2, KV only 33, NJ only 24 (94 rows in total).

Scope

KV-X: covers the motion control FBs (MC_...) in chapter 3 of the Instruction Reference Manual.
NJ/NX: covers the Instructions Reference Manual, Motion Control volume (axis command, axes group command and common command instructions).
Instruction specifications and availability vary by CPU model and version. Check each manufacturer's manual before actual use.

Sources

KEYENCE: KV-X500/X300 Series Instruction Reference Manual 084A06 (March 2026)
OMRON: NJ/NX-series Instructions Reference Manual, Motion Control, SBCE-434N (July 2026)