Teaching Positions on the Pendant

Put the controller in T1 and enable the pendant

Set the three-mode switch to T1, which caps tool center point and flange speed at 250 mm/sec for both jogging and playback. Grip the deadman switch, then turn the teach pendant enable switch on. With the enable switch on and the deadman gripped, the pendant holds motion control.

Caution: If you release the deadman while the enable switch is on, the robot goes to an alarm condition and cannot run. Re-grip the deadman and press RESET to clear it.

Open the program and move the cursor to where the point belongs

On the program edit screen, place the cursor on the line where the new motion instruction should appear, or on the [End] marker to append. A position number is assigned automatically when the instruction is taught, incrementing from the most recently added point.

Caution: Prohibit starting a program from the pendant while teaching, using the function menu, so an accidental key press cannot run the robot.

Select the jog coordinate system

Press COORD to pick joint, world, tool, or user jog based on which reaches the target most cleanly. Joint jog moves one axis at a time; world and tool jog move the tool center point along straight axes. When you change the jog frame, the override drops automatically to the safety value (default 10%).

Set a safe jog override

Press the override keys to set the jog feed rate shown on the pendant. If you are not sure how the robot will move, keep the override low so any error produces slow, controllable motion. FINE and VFINE step the robot a small amount each time you press and release the jog key.

Set the active tool and user frames before recording

A Cartesian point stores the currently selected tool coordinate number (UT) and user coordinate number (UF) along with X, Y, Z, W, P, R. Confirm UT and UF are the frames this point should be tied to, because at playback the controller checks that the selected frame numbers match the recorded ones.

Caution: If the recorded UF or UT does not match the frame selected at run time, the controller refuses to execute the move and raises an alarm for safety. Correcting the frame later means re-teaching or using the coordinate replacement shift function.

Jog to the intended position at reduced speed

Hold SHIFT and press the jog key for the direction you want; the robot stops when you release the key. Watch clearance from fixtures, the part, and the tooling as you approach. Keep out of the operating area and keep the work envelope clear of other people.

Fine-tune the final approach

Lower the override further as the tool nears the target to avoid overshoot or contact. Switch to wrist joint jog (FCTN, then TOGGLE WRIST JOG) if you need to set orientation without dragging the tool center point. Stop exactly on the point you want to record.

Insert a standard motion instruction with POINT

Press F1 POINT to list the standard motion statements, choose the one you want, and press ENTER. The current position is written into the position variable at the same moment, and the pendant confirms with a message like Position has been recorded to P[1]. To repeat the same standard statement at the next point, hold SHIFT and press F1 POINT.

Choose the motion type

Joint (J) moves all axes together to the end point with no path control and is the basic, most reliable way to reach a pose. Linear (L) drives the tool center point in a straight line and controls tool orientation between start and end. Circular (C) and circle arc (A) trace curved paths through taught points.

Set the feed rate and unit

For joint motion, set a percentage from 1 to 100% of maximum, or a time in sec or msec. For linear or circular motion, choose mm/sec (1 to 2000), cm/min (1 to 12000), inch/min, deg/sec (1 to 272 for pure rotation), or a motion time. The programmed speed cannot exceed the robot's allowable range, and a speed that is too high triggers a warning.

Set the positioning path (FINE or CNT)

FINE makes the robot stop exactly at the point before moving on; use it for pick, place, and any workpiece hold position. CNT with a value from 0 to 100 blends through the point without stopping; higher values round the corner wider and keep speed up. Use CNT for move-around points where exact arrival does not matter.

Add a position comment and confirm the number

With the cursor on the position number, press ENTER to add a comment of up to 16 characters, such as APPROACH POS, so the program reads clearly later. The position number is assigned automatically and stays fixed even if you delete other points. Deleting a point does not renumber the others unless auto renumbering is enabled.

Reuse a taught standard statement for the next points

Jog to the next target, then hold SHIFT and press F1 POINT to add another instruction identical to the last one, with the new position recorded automatically. This keeps motion type, speed, and termination consistent across a run of similar points. Change any single item afterward by moving the cursor to it and pressing F4 CHOICE.

Touch up a point that needs correcting

Move the cursor to the line, jog the robot to the corrected position, then hold SHIFT and press F5 TOUCHUP to overwrite the stored position. The pendant confirms with Position has been recorded. If Confirmation of TOUCHUP is set TRUE in the system config menu, answer the Are you sure to TOUCHUP prompt before it commits.

Edit position detail numerically when needed

With the cursor on a position variable, press F5 POSITION to open the detail screen showing UF, UT, CONF, and the X, Y, Z, W, P, R values. Type a new coordinate to nudge a point, press F3 CONF to change configuration, or press F5 REPRE to toggle between Cartesian and joint representation. Press F4 DONE to finish.

Test the single point at reduced speed

Step through just this line in test mode at low override to confirm the robot reaches the intended position cleanly. Watch the whole path into the point, not only the endpoint, because the approach can clip a fixture even when the endpoint is correct. Keep a hand ready to release the deadman if anything looks wrong.

What can go wrong: the robot is at a singular point when you record

If the pose sits at or near a singular point and singular point checking is on, the pendant warns that it cannot record the point in Cartesian form and prompts Record current position on joint with YES and NO. Choosing YES stores the point in joint coordinates so it stays reachable. Choosing NO cancels the teach so you can jog away from the singularity first.

Caution: A point taught through a singular pose can play back with a different attitude than you intended. Jog slightly off the singularity, or record the point in joint form, rather than forcing a Cartesian record.

What can go wrong: the move runs slower than the taught speed

In T1 the tool center point and flange are held to 250 mm/sec regardless of the taught value, so a point taught at 300 mm/sec still runs at 250. Where the tool changes orientation, for example a tight corner, the controller may trim the speed further and post a warning. This is expected protection in teach mode, so verify real cycle speed only after moving to production mode with the cell secured.

What can go wrong: the point will not play back after a frame change

Each Cartesian point records its UF and UT numbers, and at run time the controller compares them against the selected frames. If they differ, it stops the move and raises an alarm rather than driving to a shifted location. Re-select the correct tool and user frames, or re-teach the point against the frames you actually run with.

What can go wrong: a CNT point cuts a corner into a fixture

CNT blends through a point without stopping, so the real path bows toward the inside of the corner and can clip nearby tooling. Lower the CNT value to tighten the corner, or switch the point to FINE if the robot must reach it exactly. Re-test the blended path at low override after any change.