Robot Whispering
The unofficial guide to programming FANUC robots.
Everything I wish someone had handed me on day one — frames, offsets, background logic, and the habits that keep production running. 100+ pages, no fluff.
Across aerospace, automotive, robotics, and manufacturing.
Nobody hands you the manual that actually helps.
Learning to program FANUC robots the traditional way is slow and expensive. You can attend an official training course — if it isn't waitlisted and you can stomach the cost — and walk away knowing the features without knowing which ones to use, when, or why the approach you just took will haunt you eighteen months later when someone else has to modify your program.
I learned that the hard way, over 20+ years of commissioning cells, chasing intermittent faults, and inheriting programs held together by hope. Along the way I built a set of habits and patterns that made the work faster, calmer and far more reliable.
Robot Whispering is that knowledge, organized the way I wish I'd learned it. It's the book I'd hand a new programmer on their first day — and the one I still reach for myself.
"Your Robot Whispering book was really helpful to ramp up my electrical team rapidly... Reading it before the FANUC training classes helped guys catch up more than the average knowledge dispensed."
Structure TP programs your whole team can read, extend and hand off without a translator.
Know how an experienced developer works — so you can handle any application that comes your way.
Test your code before it ever touches a live cell — and know your recovery path when things go wrong.
Written for the pendant in your hands.
This isn't theory. I guide you through developing a material handling application from first principles — doing things the easiest, most obvious (and sometimes wrong) way before implementing the better approach and explaining why.
Read it front to back in a day or two, or keep it open on the desk and jump to whatever is biting you today. Every chapter stands on its own.
This is a great book for anyone with a FANUC robot. It includes everything you need to know to simply touch-up points, or to write a complete efficient program from scratch. Jay breaks it all down into easily understandable pieces — and all without spending thousands of dollars for the OEM training or materials. Couldn't recommend the book enough.
This clear and concise book gave me a crucial boost in learning how to safely program FANUC robots. Full of best practices and advice on how to create well engineered programs, it provided a much better starting point than FANUC's documentation.
Cover to cover.
Read it front to back or jump to what's biting you today. Every chapter is standalone and packed with real examples.
STEP Mode and Moving BackwardsUFRAMEs and UTOOLs)WAIT StatementsEND StatementABORT Statement"Your book has made a 100% difference in my robotics classroom... Robot Whispering is laid out for the full spectrum of robot implementers and practitioners. It is a distillation of what works and what does not work, all laid out in a clear and understandable format. Essential for beginner to practitioner and even automation engineers who have been in the field for many years."
The step-by-step instructions make it approachable for beginners, but the larger concepts and best-practices are universal. If you can navigate the teach pendant and write a simple TP program, you're ready.
Primarily R-30iA and R-30iB. The concepts carry across generations — frames and control flow haven't fundamentally changed.
No — this book is TP only. In 20+ years I've found TP is enough for the vast majority of applications. KAREL is covered extensively in the articles on this site.
Yes. A training class teaches the features; this book teaches you how to use them well on real production applications.
Yes — free forever. I'll email you as soon as a new edition is released, and you get it at no extra cost.
Each purchase is for a single reader. For team, company or educational institution licensing, get in touch — universities get educational pricing.
Email me within 30 days and I'll refund you in full. No forms, no interrogation.
Maybe. If you're a student or the price is a genuine hardship, send me an email.
Start whispering.
One payment — $79. PDF. Free updates forever, and a 30-day refund if it's not for you.