The Dutch motion control specialist Nyquist is joining forces with the Swiss motor-maker Maxon to develop products that combine Nyquist`s PC-based control technology with Maxon`s digital servo drives.

The partnership came about because Nyquist was looking for an experienced partner in the low-power digital servo market, at the same time as Maxon was looking for a partner that could make high-end digital motion control work using open PC standards.

The jointly developed products, aimed at OEMs, will use standard FireWire networking technology to link the controls to the drives. Control software based on Windows NT will perform machine sequencing, I/O processing, path planning, kinematic and display functions. The partners are focusing on drives systems up to 400W.