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Precise reorientation and repositioning of sliding objects presents an interesting control problem. It is necessary to understand these control issues in order to perform several robotic manipulation tasks. These tasks include maneuvering sliding payloads and reorienting objects witihin the grasp of a manipulator. In each case, it may be necessary to precisely control the object's position and orientation, and so adequate models of the object's motion in the presence of robotic as well as environmental constraints are required. Reorienting and repositioning sliding objects in a plane involves three degrees of freedom; however, only two degrees of motion are available by pushing the object at a point. Therefore a successful reorientation generally requires compound motions. The planning issues regarding the determination of suitable compound motions are an important aspect of the reorientation problem. This thesis addresses the planning problem, and presents several reorientation strategies involving compound rotations of a sliding object. An analysis of sliding-object motion in the presence of frictional contact is also presented. The analysis leads to linearized models for straight-line and curvilinear motion of slidin