This article discusses the basic capabilities needed to enable robots to operate in human-populated environments for accomplishing both autonomous tasks and human-guided tasks. These capabilities are key to many new emerging robotic applications in service, construction, field, underwater, and space. An important characteristic of these robots is the "assistance" ability they can bring to humans in performing various physical tasks. To interact with humans and operate in their environments, these robots must be provided with the functionality of mobility and manipulation. The article presents developments of models, strategies, and algorithms concerned with a number of autonomous capabilities that are essential for robot operations in human environments. These capabilities include: integrated mobility and manipulation, cooperative skills between multiple robots, interaction ability with humans, and efficient techniques for real-time modification of collision-free path. These capabilities are demonstrated on two holonomic mobile platforms designed and built at Stanford University in collaboration with Oak Ridge National Laboratories and Nomadic Technologies.

Mobile manipulation capabilities are key to many new applications of robotics in space, underwater, construction, and service environments. This article discusses the ongoing effort at Stanford University for the development of multiple mobile manipulation systems and presents the basic models and methodologies for their analysis and control. This work builds on four methodologies we have previously developed for fixed-base manipulation: the Operational Space Formulation for task-oriented robot motion and force control; the Dextrous Dynamic Coordination of Macro/Mini structures for increased mechanical bandwidth of robot systems; the Augmented Object Model for the manipulation of objects in a robot system with multiple arms; and the Virtual Linkage Model for the characterization and control of internal forces in a multi-arm system. We present the extension of these methodologies to mobile manipulation systems and propose a new decentralized control structure for cooperative tasks. The article also discusses experimental results obtained with two holonomic mobile manipulation platforms we have designed and constructed at Stanford University. 0 2996 ]ohti Wiley 6 Sons, Inc.

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