The KUKA youBot is a robot that has been especially designed for research and education in mobile manipulation. It consists of an omnidirectional platform, a five degree-of-freedom robot arm and a two-finger gripper. The KUKA youBot is an open platform that is operated with open source software. In MERLIN the youBot is used in research on the motion planning for mobile manipulators, towards fixed or time varying goals, with instantaneous reaction to unforeseen event like the presence of obstacles.