A pendant provided with a touch panel is provided as a robot operating apparatus. Using the pendant, an operating position of, for example, an operator's touch operation on the touch panel is detected. In the pendant, by calculation responding to the touch operation, a coordinate system having axes is set on the touch panel in response to the touch operation, in which the axes are associated with the axes of a robot. A determination area is also set on the touch panel in the periphery of a start position of the touch operation. The determination area has a predetermined size. In the pendant, an axis being operated of the robot is selected based on an arrival position of the touch operation in the determination area. An operating area on the touch panel is set with the arrival position as the center of the determination area, ensuring a highly-reliable touch operation.