The Future is Mobile Manipulation

The future of autonomous mobile robotics rests squarely on the shoulders of researchers and academics who are able to harness the reliability of Robotic Mobility Platforms (RMPs) with multifaceted mobile manipulation capabilities using the latest developments from the open source ROS (Robot Operating System) community. This new frontier is still in its infancy and researchers are just beginning to understand how a fully integrated mobile manipulation robot can accelerate their own cutting-edge research.

What is Mobile Manipulation?

Mobile manipulation allows for the seamless execution of complex manipulation tasks — no matter the environment or obstacles in place. Mobile manipulation is the complete unification of the mobility platform and the robot arms and grippers. The mobile robots of yesteryear were often hampered by the need to alternate between the separate tasks of moving through the environment, perceiving objects, and manipulating objects within the environment, Today’s fully integrated mobile manipulation robots can execute complex tasks in a seamless and intuitive manner.

This opens up a vast range of applications for which mobile manipulators are useful. Within manufacturing and distribution environments, autonomous mobile robots with robotic arms can be used sort, pick, and pack products then dynamically move to multiple locations as needed. Our sister company, Waypoint Robotics, is taking this a step further by making extremely intuitive and easy to use mobile manipulators for workers to easily deploy. Contact the team at Waypoint for more information.