Your First FANUC Teach Pendant Program, Step by Step (Video)

FANUC teach pendant programming starts with five moves: put the controller in T1, enable the pendant and hold the deadman, create a TP program from the SELECT list, jog the robot to each point and record it as a motion line (J or L, a speed, and FINE or CNT), then step through it slowly before running it continuously. A first four-point program takes under an hour once you know the keys.

Checked 1 October 2026.

In this lesson by Future Robotics, you see what a FANUC TP program is before you write one: the program types and the properties on the detail screen (name, comment, sub type, group mask, write protection), then how to create a new program on the pendant. It is one of the lessons in our free FANUC Robot Programming course, in the module on the first TP program with joint and linear motion. Watch it with a pendant in front of you, real or the virtual one in ROBOGUIDE, and pause to copy each step.

What you will build

A program that moves the tool through the four corners of a 200 mm square above a table: first as joint moves, then as linear moves. It is the practice task from the course, and it teaches you every field of a motion line.

Before you touch the jog keys: modes and the deadman

FANUC controllers have a mode switch, usually AUTO, T1 and T2. Teach in T1. Reduced speed in teach mode is generally limited to 250 mm/s (10 in/s) at the tool; OSHA's technical manual gives that figure for teaching. T2 runs at programmed speed and is for verification by experienced people only, where the site allows it.

On the pendant itself:

• The enable switch (TP ON/OFF) gives the pendant control of the robot.
• The deadman switch on the back is a three-position enabling device. Hold it at the middle position and motion is allowed; let go, or squeeze it hard in a panic, and motion stops. Most first-day faults are simply the deadman being released.
• RESET clears alarms once the cause is fixed. FCTN opens the function menu, where you can abort a program.

Robot safety is set by ISO 10218, with Part 1 for the robot and Part 2 for the application and cell; both were revised in 2025. The pendant habits above are the practical side of it.

Frames: why the same point can mean different things

FANUC jogging and positions are always relative to a frame. Press COORD to cycle the jog frame: JOINT (each axis on its own), JGFRM, WORLD (fixed to the robot base), TOOL and USER. Two frames matter for every program:

• UTOOL, the tool frame, puts the tool centre point (TCP) at the tip of the gripper or torch instead of the faceplate. With the right UTOOL, rotating the tool rotates it about its tip. The course teaches the three-point method for setting one.
• UFRAME, the user frame, puts an origin and X and Y directions on a table or fixture. FANUC's Tech Transfer material describes the user frame as defining an origin and a plane for teaching positions. Teach your square in a user frame on the table and, if the table moves, you re-teach three frame points rather than every position.

The active UTOOL and UFRAME numbers are stored with each recorded point. Record points with the wrong frame active and they will not mean what you think later.

Step 1: create the program

Press SELECT to open the program list, then CREATE (a function key). Type a name; keep it short, letters and numbers, starting with a letter, because the controller limits what it accepts. Press ENTER. The DETAIL screen, which the video covers in depth, holds:

• Comment: what the program does, in words the next engineer will understand.
• Group mask: which motion groups the program moves. Group 1 is the robot; extra groups are axes such as a rail or a positioner.
• Write protect: lock it once it is proven.
• Sub type: a normal program, or a macro that can be run from a key or called by name.

Step 2: record the first point

Jog the robot to a safe position above the table (SHIFT plus the jog keys, at a low jog speed). Press POINT. The pendant offers a default motion line; choose it and a new line appears, something like:

1: J P[1] 100% FINE

Move to the first corner of the square, press POINT again, and keep going until all four corners and a return to the start are recorded. If you need to move a point after recording it, put the cursor on the line, jog to the new position and press SHIFT+TOUCHUP.

Step 3: understand every field of a motion line

J or L. A joint move (J) gets each axis to its target at the same time; the tool's path is a curve and is hard to predict. A linear move (L) drives the TCP in a straight line. Run the square as four J moves and then as four L moves, and the difference is obvious: only the L version draws straight sides.

Speed units. Joint moves take a percentage of the maximum joint speed; linear moves take a TCP speed in mm/sec (or other units such as cm/min). The speed override on the pendant scales both.

FINE or CNT. FINE makes the robot stop exactly on the point. CNT0 to CNT100 lets it blend through: CNT0 behaves much like FINE, while CNT100 rounds the corner as much as the speed allows and keeps moving, which saves cycle time. Use FINE at a pick, a place or anywhere the position matters; use CNT for moves through clear air.

Step 4: approach and depart

A robot that dives straight down to a part from wherever it happens to be will eventually hit something. Real programs put an approach point above each pick or place, often 50 to 100 mm up, reached with a J or CNT move, then an L move with FINE down to the part, then an L move back up to a depart point. The course's next module covers approach and depart positions in detail. Even in your first square, teach a point above the start and finish there.

Step 5: test it

Set the override to 10% or less. Hold SHIFT and press FWD to step through one line at a time (with STEP mode on), watching the robot, not the pendant. BWD steps backwards through motion lines. When every line behaves, turn step mode off and hold SHIFT+FWD to run continuously, still in T1. Only after that does the program move on to AUTO and production, through the cell's own start-up procedure.

Practise in ROBOGUIDE first

ROBOGUIDE is FANUC's offline programming and simulation software; FANUC describes it as a way to create programs and simulate robot workcells in 3D before building them. It runs a virtual controller with a virtual teach pendant, so every key in the video works the same way. FANUC Europe offers a 30-day trial through its MyFANUC portal; many colleges and employers hold licences. The course's ROBOGUIDE modules show how to install it, build a cell from a robot backup and connect a pendant. If you cannot get a licence, our guide to free robot programming simulators compares the alternatives.

Common mistakes

• Recording points with the wrong UTOOL or UFRAME active, then wondering why the robot misses.
• Using J for the last few millimetres to a part, so the tool swings in on a curve.
• CNT100 at a pick point, so the gripper closes while the robot is still moving.
• Running the first pass at 100% override. Start at 10% or less.
• Editing a proven program with no backup. Save one first; the course covers backup and restore.

What to do after watching

The course module that holds this video sets the square task: four corners of a 200 mm square, first as J moves, then as L moves, both run in T1 step. You are done when you can describe the path difference and the L version draws a straight-sided square with FINE at each corner.

After that, the course goes on to circular moves, editing, registers and position registers, branching, I/O and waits, offsets, a gripper pick-and-place, palletising and alarm recovery. For the bigger picture across brands, read our industrial robotics training guide.

Learn it free

The full FANUC Robot Programming course is free, with lessons from Dan Staifer, Elite Automation, Future Robotics, Automation Academy and others, credited on every lesson. For other brands, see ABB RobotStudio and RAPID, Universal Robots PolyScope and RoboDK offline programming, all part of the industrial robotics path.

The certificate is optional. If you pass the final assessment and want one, it costs from US$2.99 for a beginner course. It is an EDWartens Certificate of Completion with a verification code, not a FANUC certification.

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