A movable range of angle of each of the plurality of joints and a safety region defined within the movable range are set. An angle command value is generated to each of the plurality of joints, based on current angle data and a distal end position command value. A fault avoidance control is carried out to make a change rate of the angle command value small, when the angle command value is generated to either of the plurality of joints, and the angle command value of the joint exceeds the safety region.

A method and apparatus for failure handling of a robot having at least a first and a second movement axis are disclosed. In one embodiment the method includes receiving a first position information of the first movement axis for a first point of time and a first position information of the second movement axis for the first point of time and storing the received first position information as a motion data set, receiving a second position information of the first movement axis for a second point of time and a second position information of the second movement axis for the second point of time and storing the received second position information in the motion data set and controlling the robot according to a failure procedure.