As automatic manufacturing systems become more sophisticated, there is an increasing need for advanced robots which can be easily integrated into the overall system. These robots need to interact with both a supervisory control network and with various sensory devices. VAL-II is a new robot control system and programming language which addresses these needs by supporting network communications, general sensory interfaces, real-time trajectory modification, and concurrent user-program execution. In addition, VAL-II includes high-level computer programming facilities that allow professional programmers to develop special-purpose application programs which simplify the operator interface.