Robot with seven or more degrees of freedom

A robot, comprising:

• a positioning robot having m degrees of freedom, a first base end, and a first free moving end;
• and
• a manipulator robot having n degrees of freedom, the manipulator robot having a second base end coupled mechanically to the first free moving end of the positioning robot and a second free end configured to have a robotic end effector mounted thereon;
• wherein the robot is configured to be operated in a first mode of operation, in which the positioning robot is controlled to position move the manipulator robot into a position to perform a task and the manipulator robot is controlled independently of the positioning robot to perform the task;
• and in a second mode of operation, in which at least a subset of the m degrees of freedom of the positioning robot and at least a subset of the n degrees of freedom of the manipulator robot are controlled together, by a single controller, to perform the task.