  Solving mobile manipulation tasks in inaccessible and dangerous environments
is an important application of robots to support humans. Example domains are
construction and maintenance of manned and unmanned stations on the moon and
other planets. Suitable platforms require flexible and robust hardware, a
locomotion approach that allows for navigating a wide variety of terrains,
dexterous manipulation capabilities, and respective user interfaces. We present
the CENTAURO system which has been designed for these requirements and consists
of the Centauro robot and a set of advanced operator interfaces with
complementary strength enabling the system to solve a wide range of realistic
mobile manipulation tasks. The robot possesses a centaur-like body plan and is
driven by torque-controlled compliant actuators. Four articulated legs ending
in steerable wheels allow for omnidirectional driving as well as for making
steps. An anthropomorphic upper body with two arms ending in five-finger hands
enables human-like manipulation. The robot perceives its environment through a
suite of multimodal sensors. The resulting platform complexity goes beyond the
complexity of most known systems which puts the focus on a suitable operator
interface. An operator can control the robot through a telepresence suit, which
allows for flexibly solving a large variety of mobile manipulation tasks.
Locomotion and manipulation functionalities on different levels of autonomy
support the operation. The proposed user interfaces enable solving a wide
variety of tasks without previous task-specific training. The integrated system
is evaluated in numerous teleoperated experiments that are described along with
lessons learned.
