A Mobile Manipulator

This paper describes a mobile manipulator that uses its wheels for manipulation as well as locomotion. This robot, named the mobipulator, looks like a small car with four independently powered wheels, none of them steered. It is designed to manipulate paper and other objects on the surface of a desk. The wheels are used for locomotion or for manipulation, switching functions dynamically as the task demands. So far we have preliminary demonstrations of a variety of motions, and performance data for the task of moving a sheet of paper in a square while maintaining constant orientation.