Implementations of the disclosed subject matter provide receiving a command at a communications interface, touch interface, microphone, or input device of a mobile robot device. A processor of the mobile robot device controls a drive system to follow a person or guide the person based on the command, and based on input received from one or more sensors of the mobile robot device. The processor controls drive system to stop following or guiding the person, based on at least one predetermined condition from a decision tree stored in a memory that is accessible by the processor.