FANUC
The Japanese factory-automation maker behind the CRX cobots, LR Mate arms and R-30iB Plus and R-50iA controllers. Since 2025 FANUC maintains its own Apache-2.0 ROS 2 driver.
| Organisation | FANUC CORPORATION (Oshino-mura, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan) |
|---|---|
| Website | fanuc.com/ |
| Licensing | Proprietary controller software and ROBOGUIDE; FANUC ROS 2 Driver under Apache-2.0, with BSD and MIT third-party components |
| Pricing | Robots, controller options and ROBOGUIDE are quoted by FANUC and its integrators; no public prices at the time of writing |
| Updated | 14 Nov 2026 |
Products and offerings #
| Name | Kind | Positioning |
|---|---|---|
| CRX-10iA/L | cobot | 6-axis cobot, 10 kg payload, 1418 mm reach, ±0.05 mm repeatability |
| LR Mate 200iD | arm | 6-axis industrial arm, 7 kg payload, 717 mm reach, ±0.01 mm repeatability |
| R-30iB Plus and R-50iA | controller | Current controller families, both supported by the FANUC ROS 2 Driver |
| ROBOGUIDE | simulator | PC simulation and offline programming with virtual FANUC controllers |
| fanuc_driver | library | Maker-maintained ros2_control driver using Stream Motion, for Humble and Jazzy |
Who they are
This hub is for engineers working with FANUC robots in production cells or bringing one into a ROS 2 system. FANUC CORPORATION is headquartered in Oshino-mura, Yamanashi Prefecture, at the foot of Mt. Fuji. It started developing numerical controls (NC) in 1955 and was established as a company in 1972, according to its company page. Its products span CNC controls, servos, lasers, robots and machine tools, and the robots reuse the same in-house servo and control technology.
For a long time FANUC robots reached ROS only through community packages. That changed in July 2025 when the FANUC-CORPORATION/fanuc_driver repository appeared, written by FANUC America and FANUC CORPORATION.
Tooling and APIs
Robots run on FANUC controllers. The R-30iB Plus family (with Mate Plus and Mini Plus variants) and the newer R-50iA family are the current ones. Programs are written on the teach pendant in FANUC’s own language, and controller features are separate software options identified by codes.
Two arms show the range. The LR Mate 200iD (6-axis arm, 7 kg payload, 717 mm reach, ±0.01 mm repeatability) weighs 25 kg, according to FANUC America. The CRX-10iA/L (6-axis cobot, 10 kg payload, 1418 mm reach, ±0.05 mm repeatability) weighs 39 kg, according to its product page. Both list the R-30iB Plus controller.
ROBOGUIDE is FANUC’s PC simulation and offline programming software, version 10 at the time of writing. FANUC does not list a price or licence model on its ROBOGUIDE page. The ROS 2 driver documentation treats it as a Windows program, because it tells you to open the Windows firewall for the UDP link.
The FANUC ROS 2 Driver is a ros2_control hardware interface with FANUC-specific controllers, MoveIt 2 configuration and mock hardware. Its system requirements are:
| Item | Requirement |
|---|---|
| ROS 2 | Humble on Ubuntu 22.04, or Jazzy on Ubuntu 24.04 (the main branch targets Jazzy) |
| Controller | R-30iB Plus, R-30iB Mate Plus, R-30iB Mini Plus, R-50iA, R-50iA Mate |
| Software options | J519 Stream Motion and R912 Remote Motion, or S636 External Control Package (which contains both) |
| Controller software | V9.40P/81 or later (R-30iB Plus, Mate Plus), V9.40P/77 or later (Mini Plus), V10.10P/26 or later (R-50iA) |
A PREEMPT_RT kernel is optional. The documentation notes that the options J568 and J570 are not needed even though their names contain “ROS 2”. A 1 kHz command mode exists, but it needs an R-50iA controller and option S647, which not every robot model supports. Features such as the force sensor broadcaster and alarm recovery depend on specific driver and controller software versions, listed in the driver overview. The driver also controls virtual robots in ROBOGUIDE HandlingPRO.
Pain points: the right options and software versions must be on the controller before anything works, and ordering them goes through FANUC sales. The supported-model list is long but finite, so check your exact variant.
Migration notes
- Model names changed. The same arm has a different name on each controller family. The CRX-10iA/L on R-30iB Plus is the CRX/10-14A on R-50iA, and the LR Mate 200iD is the LR Mate/7-7D, according to the supported models list. The URDF names follow the older names (
crx10ia_l,lrmate200id). - Frames and units. User frames and tool frames are defined on the controller, and the pendant shows positions in the controller’s own units and angle convention. ROS expects metres, radians and quaternions. Do the conversion in one place and test it by jogging to a known point.
- From community drivers. Older community FANUC packages used a different controller-side setup. The official driver is built on Stream Motion and Remote Motion, so launch files, parameters and controller configuration need redoing rather than porting.
- Between makers. The pattern matches ABB EGM and KUKA RSI: an external PC streams joint setpoints, and the controller keeps the safety and servo loops.
Watch for
- Options cost money and time. J519, R912 or S636 must be ordered and installed on each controller. An older controller below the required software version may need an update from FANUC.
- Driver age. The official driver repository dates from July 2025 and supports two ROS distributions. Expect changes between releases and pin a version.
- Closed controller. Safety functions stay in the controller. ROS commands motion through Stream Motion but does not replace FANUC’s safety layer.
- Collaborative speed limits. From driver 2.0.0 with recent controller software, commands that exceed the cobot’s collaborative speed limit are clamped. A ROS trajectory may therefore run slower than planned.