Contains papers from a March 2000 workshop on recent trends and future directions in research on the algorithmic foundations of robotics. Major themes include geometric algorithms, minimalist and underactuated robotics, robot controllability, manufacturing and assembly, holonomic and nonholonomic motion planning, manipulation planning, sensor-based and task-level planning, grasping, navigation, biometrics, medical robotics, self-assembly, modular and reconfigurable robots, and distributed manipulation. Specific topics include compensatory grasping with the parallel jaw gripper, synthesis and regulation for cyclic behaviors, and randomized kinodynamic motion planning with moving obstacles. The book is not indexed. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)