FANUC industrial robots and CRX cobots
How a FANUC robot could start a Tallyfy procedure
Section titled “How a FANUC robot could start a Tallyfy procedure”FANUC makes industrial robots and counts more than 1 million installed worldwide ↗[1]. It also publishes a driver ↗[2] that lets other software control a robot. So when a robot stops with an error, your own software could start a written procedure in Tallyfy, with an owner and a deadline for each step.
Tallyfy doesn’t sell that connection. Your team or your integrator would have to build it.
What FANUC makes today
Section titled “What FANUC makes today”As of October 2026:
- Cobots. These are robots made to work alongside people. FANUC’s cobots, which include the CRX series, carry from 3 kg to 50 kg ↗[3]. FANUC said in April 2026 that the 3 kg CRX-3iA was available for customer order ↗[4].
- Controllers. A controller is the box that runs a robot’s programs. The CRX-10iA cobot lists the R-30iB Plus ↗[5] as its controller. FANUC calls the R-50iA its new controller ↗[6], and says the CRX line will also be available on it ↗[7].
- Integrators. FANUC’s authorized system integrators ↗[8] design, build and support custom robot systems.
What outside software can ask a robot to do
Section titled “What outside software can ask a robot to do”FANUC’s driver is for ROS 21. FANUC says it’s available now ↗[9] for the CRX series and several other models, and the source code is public ↗[10].
As of October 2026, a program using the driver can:
- Read the robot’s status ↗[11], such as whether it’s in error, stopped by an emergency stop, or moving.
- Read up to 5 active error messages ↗[12].
- Read and set input and output signals ↗[13], along with the number registers a robot program reads.
- Send motion instructions ↗[14], or call a program that’s already on the robot.
- See whether the program built from those instructions is running, paused or aborted ↗[15].
- Pass motion control back ↗[16] to the robot’s own programs, then take it again.
FANUC documents three other routes:
- MQTT is a standard for passing short messages between machines. With FANUC’s MQTT option, the robot connects to a message broker ↗[17] and publishes, subscribes or both.
- OPC UA is a standard for sharing factory data. FANUC’s OPC UA Server lets up to 10 clients ↗[18] on the same network read, write and subscribe to robot information.
- Python runs on the R-50iA controller itself ↗[19], as a standard feature. FANUC’s page names no other controller. A Python program can use the robot’s signals and register values. With the optional Remote Motion Interface, a Python program can also move the robot.
What outside software can’t do
Section titled “What outside software can’t do”All four limits are as of October 2026.
- The driver’s documented topics and services ↗[20] include no job or mission call, so your software sends instructions or calls a robot program.
- The driver docs describe no webhooks (messages pushed to another system’s web address). It publishes status on ROS 2 topics ↗[21], and a program has to subscribe to them.
- The driver won’t run on every controller. It needs two controller software options ↗[22], Stream Motion and Remote Motion, or a package that includes both. If your controller lacks them, the quick start guide says to contact FANUC to obtain them ↗[23]. FANUC’s pages list no price for them, so ask.
- The command manual isn’t in the driver docs, which point you to FANUC’s Remote Motion Interface manual ↗[24].
Where a written procedure in Tallyfy fits
Section titled “Where a written procedure in Tallyfy fits”A robot can report that it stopped. People still have to find the cause, fix it and sign off. A Tallyfy template is the written procedure for that work: the steps, who does each one, and by when.
As a concept, a small connector your team writes would watch the robot’s status. When the robot reports an error, the connector would call Tallyfy’s API to launch the matching process and put the error text into its kick-off form. Tallyfy would then assign the repair and the sign-off to named people. Once the sign-off is complete, a Tallyfy webhook could tell the connector to set a signal that the robot’s own program waits for.
You don’t need a connector to begin. A person can type what the robot shows into a Tallyfy form field.
Keep safety with the robot’s controller and your own safety review. Tallyfy would only track the work people do.
For developers
Section titled “For developers”(Skip this unless you’re setting up the technical side.)
- The driver repository ↗[25] README says the driver is licensed under Apache-2.0, with four bundled libraries under BSD or MIT licenses. The Apache-2.0 text ↗[26] sits in its
LICENSESfolder. As of October 2026, the newest releases ↗[27] are v2.4.0 and v1.6.0, both dated October 1, 2026. - The system requirements ↗[28] list Ubuntu 22.04 with ROS 2 Humble, or Ubuntu 24.04 with ROS 2 Jazzy. Supported controllers are the R-30iB Plus, R-30iB Mate Plus, R-30iB Mini Plus, R-50iA and R-50iA Mate. The software options are J519 Stream Motion ↗[29] and R912 Remote Motion ↗[30], or the S636 External Control Package.
- The supported models ↗[31] page covers the CRX, LR Mate, R-1000, M-10, M-20, M-710, M-800, M-810, R-2000, Paint and CR series.
- The MQTT option ↗[32] supports MQTT 5.0. The OPC UA Server ↗[33] page gives no option number.
- The controller usage page ↗[34] names each topic and service, such as
~/robot_status,~/read_error,~/set_bool_io,~/add_call_instructionand~/switch_control_state. - On the Tallyfy side, the connector starts a process with
POST https://go.tallyfy.com/api/organizations/{org_id}/runs. The launch process reference lists the headers and fields.
Related articles
Section titled “Related articles”Robotics > KUKA industrial robots and cobots
Robotics > ABB industrial robots, cobots and controllers
Robotics > Universal Robots collaborative arms
Footnotes
Section titled “Footnotes”-
ROS 2 (Robot Operating System 2) is an open-source framework and set of libraries for building robot applications. ↩