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newSchoolWorks.com › VoTechWorks › Manufacturing & Marine › Robotics / Mechatronics › Industrial Robots › Lesson 3
MFG-MECH15-06 · Lesson 3 · 12 clock hours · practice

Teach Pendant Fundamentals: Jogging, Screens, and Status

Objective. Students safely enable the teach pendant, select the correct coordinate system, and jog the robot to a series of specified positions using joint, world, and tool coordinate modes.

⚠ Pending professional review

This lesson, its worked examples and its practice questions has not yet been verified by a licensed engineer or certified journey-level tradesperson or by a certification or approval body. It is a study draft and may contain errors. Do not use it as instructions for work on a job site or on live equipment. Always follow your instructor, your supervising professional, and current official references and regulations.

VoTechWorks program approval and accreditation are still in progress. Credentials are issued only by the certifying bodies named in each program, after their own exams.

Teach Pendant Fundamentals: Jogging, Screens, and Status

What the Teach Pendant Does

The teach pendant is your primary interface with a FANUC robot during setup, programming, and troubleshooting. It lets you move the robot manually (jog), create and edit programs, view system status, and respond to alarms. On a system with the R-30iB controller, the pendant connects by a curly cable and contains an LCD touchscreen, a deadman (enabling device) switch, a mode selector, a speed override dial or keys, and axis jog keys. Nothing on the pendant works for jogging until you meet every interlock condition — which is why the startup sequence and safety checks come first, every time.

Safety Before You Touch the Robot

Before powering the pendant for manual operation, review these non-negotiable requirements:

Pendant Power-Up Sequence

Follow the printed startup checklist step by step:

1. Confirm the safety fence is closed and the indicator is green.

2. Turn the main power breaker on the R-30iB controller to ON.

3. Wait for the controller to boot; the pendant display will illuminate.

4. Turn the mode selector key to T1 (Teach Mode 1, maximum 250 mm/s). Never jog in AUTO mode.

5. Confirm the E-STOP button on the pendant is released (twist to release if necessary).

6. Turn the pendant enable switch (the physical ON/OFF toggle on the side of the pendant) to ON. The status bar will show the pendant is active.

7. Navigate to the JOG screen using the MENU key or the dedicated JOG shortcut.

8. Grip the deadman switch to the middle detent — you will feel or hear a click. The servo-ready indicator lights.

Do not proceed if any step produces an alarm. Read the alarm message, look it up in the controller manual, and resolve it before continuing.

Reading the JOG Screen

The JOG screen shows:

X, Y, Z are linear positions in millimeters. W (waw), P (pitch), and R (roll) are tool orientation angles in degrees relative to the selected frame.

Coordinate Systems

Selecting the right coordinate system before you jog is a core skill.

Joint coordinates move one joint at a time: J1 rotates the base, J2 moves the lower arm, J3 the upper arm, J4 the wrist roll, J5 the wrist pitch, J6 the wrist yaw. This is useful for moving out of singularities or joint limits.

World coordinates (also called the global or robot base frame) move the tool center point (TCP) in straight lines along X, Y, and Z axes of the robot base, or rotate the TCP orientation around those axes. The robot base origin is fixed. Use this when you need repeatable linear moves and when placing the robot near fixtures.

Tool coordinates move along axes that are fixed to the active tool frame — the frame you defined at the TCP. The TCP moves along the tool's own Z-axis (straight in and out along the tool), which is extremely useful for approach and retract moves without recalculating positions.

To switch coordinate systems, press the COORD key repeatedly until the desired system appears in the status bar, or select it from the JOG screen menu.

Speed Override

Speed override scales every robot motion during teaching. FANUC T1 mode hardware-limits speed to 250 mm/s regardless of the override value. Best practice:

Confirming Position and Logging Data

After jogging to a target, release the deadman (robot stops), read the X, Y, Z, W, P, R values from the position display, and record them on your worksheet. Compare the displayed position to the instructor-specified target. The acceptance tolerance for this lab is ±5 mm on linear axes. If you are outside tolerance, re-jog at a lower speed and approach from the same direction each time to minimize positioning error.

Alarms and Status

Common alarms during jogging:

Always acknowledge an alarm only after understanding its cause. Pressing RESET without correcting the root condition creates hazards.

Key terms8

Deadman switch (enabling device)A two-position grip switch on the teach pendant that must be held in the middle detent to allow robot motion; releasing or fully clenching it removes servo power and stops the robot immediately.
T1 modeFANUC teach mode that hardware-limits TCP speed to 250 mm/s and is required for all manual jogging and program teaching; AUTO mode is used only for verified production runs.
Joint coordinate systemA jogging mode in which each jog key moves one individual robot joint (J1–J6) through its rotational or linear axis, without coordinating the other joints.
World coordinate systemA jogging mode in which the tool center point moves in straight lines along X, Y, and Z axes defined by the robot base frame, or rotates around those axes; positions are referenced to the fixed base origin.
Tool coordinate systemA jogging mode in which motion axes are oriented to the active tool frame at the TCP, so the tool can move straight in (Z), side to side (X), or up and down (Y) relative to itself regardless of robot posture.
Tool Center Point (TCP)The reference point at the tip of the robot's end-of-arm tooling, defined by the tool frame; all Cartesian position data (X, Y, Z, W, P, R) describe where the TCP is in space.
Speed overrideA percentage setting that scales robot motion speed during teaching; in T1 mode the absolute maximum is 250 mm/s regardless of override value, and operators should start at low percentages when approaching new positions.
W, P, R (orientation angles)The three rotational components of a Cartesian position record — Waw (rotation about Z), Pitch (rotation about Y), and Roll (rotation about X) — expressing the TCP's orientation in degrees.

Worked examples3

1. The position display shows the TCP at X = 412.3 mm. The instructor's target is X = 425.0 mm. How far must you jog in the +X direction, and is the resulting position within the ±5 mm tolerance if you stop at X = 421.8 mm?
  1. Step 1 – Find the required move: Target X − Current X = 425.0 − 412.3 = 12.7 mm in the +X direction.
  2. Step 2 – Jog in world +X until the display reads approximately 425.0 mm.
  3. Step 3 – Check the actual stopped position: 421.8 mm.
  4. Step 4 – Calculate the error: |425.0 − 421.8| = 3.2 mm.
  5. Step 5 – Compare to tolerance: 3.2 mm < 5 mm, so the position is within tolerance.
Answer: You must jog 12.7 mm in the +X direction. Stopping at 421.8 mm gives an error of 3.2 mm, which is within the ±5 mm acceptance criterion — the position passes.
2. You are jogging in world coordinates at 10% speed override. The cell log shows the three-waypoint path takes 48 seconds. You increase override to 50%. Estimate the new cycle time, assuming the relationship is directly proportional and T1 mode's 250 mm/s limit is not reached.
  1. Step 1 – Identify the ratio of the new override to the old override: 50% ÷ 10% = 5.
  2. Step 2 – Because speed increases by a factor of 5, the time to cover the same distance decreases by a factor of 5 (time is inversely proportional to speed).
  3. Step 3 – New cycle time = 48 s ÷ 5 = 9.6 seconds.
  4. Step 4 – Note the assumption: this estimate holds only if the robot does not hit the 250 mm/s hardware cap at any point along the path.
Answer: The estimated cycle time at 50% override is approximately 9.6 seconds — five times faster than the 48-second time recorded at 10% override.
3. While jogging in world coordinates, the display shows W = 0°, P = 0°, R = 0° (tool pointing straight down). You press the +W jog key for 2 seconds and the value changes to W = 15°. What happened to the TCP, and does the linear position (X, Y, Z) change during a pure orientation jog?
  1. Step 1 – W is the rotation of the TCP about the world Z-axis (yaw rotation). Pressing +W rotated the tool 15° around that axis.
  2. Step 2 – In world coordinate jogging, an orientation key (W, P, or R) rotates the TCP about the selected axis while attempting to keep the TCP linear position fixed.
  3. Step 3 – Ideally, X, Y, and Z remain unchanged during a pure orientation jog. In practice, a small deviation (a few hundredths of a millimeter) may appear due to TCP calibration error or mechanical compliance, but it is not significant at normal teaching tolerances.
  4. Step 4 – Record the new W value (15°) on the worksheet; verify X, Y, Z have not moved beyond your tolerance.
Answer: Pressing +W rotated the tool tip 15° about the world Z-axis. The linear position (X, Y, Z) should remain essentially unchanged; only the tool orientation changed.

The math in this lesson2

Learners scale cycle time inversely when speed override changes from 10 to 50 percent.
6.RP.3N-Q.3
Brush up in the math halls at newSchoolWorks.com:
In class: Guided step-by-step pendant power-up sequence: students power the controller, confirm the safety fence is closed, turn the teach pendant enable switch ON, navigate to the JOG screen, and confirm deadman (enabling device) grip before jogging — all following the printed startup checklist. · Coordinate-system jogging drill: students jog the robot to six instructor-specified Cartesian positions in world coordinates, recording actual X, Y, Z, W, P, R values from the position display, then repeat in joint coordinates and compare how each axis moved. · Speed override practice: students complete a timed precision path (three waypoints marked on a fixture) first at 10% speed override, then at 50%, logging cycle time and noting how override affects operator control; debrief covers production vs. teaching speed rules.
Materials: FANUC robot cell with R-30iB controller, teach pendant, printed startup checklist, position-recording worksheet, painted target fixture with three waypoints, stopwatch
Check: Instructor observes pendant operation using a 12-point performance checklist (deadman grip confirmed, correct mode selected before jogging, no joint-limit alarms, positions within ±5 mm of targets, safe speed selection). Pass = all safety steps correct plus 9 of 12 technique points.

Practice check8

Answer each question, then check it. Nothing is recorded; this is your own practice.

FANUC CERT – Robot Safety and Setup
1. Before jogging a FANUC robot in T1 mode, which condition must be confirmed first according to ANSI/RIA R15.06?
FANUC CERT – Teach Pendant Operation
2. A technician grips the deadman switch fully to the bottom (maximum squeeze). What happens to robot motion?
FANUC CERT – Coordinate Systems and Jogging
3. In world coordinate jogging mode, pressing the +Z jog key moves the TCP in which direction?
FANUC CERT – Coordinate Systems and Jogging
4. A student is trying to move the TCP straight into a fixture along the tool's approach direction without changing any other position values. Which coordinate system is most appropriate?
FANUC CERT – Position Recording and Verification
5. The position display reads X = 310.0 mm and the target is X = 318.0 mm. After jogging, the display shows X = 314.5 mm. What is the position error, and does it pass the ±5 mm criterion?
Safety – Lockout/Tagout and Robot Safety Standards
6. A student enters the robot work envelope to retrieve a dropped tool while the robot is in TEACH mode but the controller is still powered. Which OSHA standard is most directly violated?
FANUC CERT – Robot Safety and Operating Modes
7. Why does FANUC T1 mode impose a hardware speed limit regardless of the override percentage setting?
FANUC CERT – Coordinate Systems and Robot Kinematics
8. A technician jogs the robot in joint mode and notices J1 moves but no other joint changes. She then switches to world coordinates and presses +X. Several joints move simultaneously. Which statement best explains the difference?
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