Here's a different hint

#!/usr/bin/perl

# http://perlmonks.org/?node_id=1120349

use strict;
use warnings;

my $keyboard = <<end_of_keyboard;
ERTYU1
DFGHJ2
CVBNM4
end_of_keyboard

my ($oldrow, $oldcol);
for my $press ( split //, shift // 'RFGM' )
  {
  $keyboard =~ /(.*)\Q$press/ or next; # find key, ignore if missing
  my ($row, $col) = ($` =~ tr/\n//, length $1);
  defined $oldrow and print
    'v' x ($row - $oldrow), '^' x ($oldrow - $row),
    '>' x ($col - $oldcol), '<' x ($oldcol - $col);
  ($oldrow, $oldcol) = ($row, $col);
  print $press;
  }
print "\n";
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