In the world of industrial manufacturing, FANUC CNC (Computer Numerical Control) machines are the gold standard—powering everything from automotive assembly lines to aerospace component machining. For decades, extracting data from these controllers or sending commands to them meant relying on proprietary, vendor-specific software (often written in C++ or ladder logic). That barrier has now fallen.

(example):

Place the DLL in a location Python can find (e.g., C:\Windows\System32 or your project folder). Every FANUC CNC with Ethernet needs an IP address and port (usually 8193 by default for FOCAS). You also need to enable the FOCAS server function on the CNC side (often a parameter change: e.g., set parameter 148 bit 0 = 1).

try: while True: # Get absolute position (X, Y, Z, etc.) pos_data = focas2.cnc_rdposition(h, 0) # 0 = absolute print(f"X: pos_data['data'][0]:.3f Y: pos_data['data'][1]:.3f Z: pos_data['data'][2]:.3f")

Here’s a minimal Python connection test: