An automated sanding system that includes a robotic arm and a sanding end effector coupled at the distal end of the robotic arm, with the sanding end effector configured to sand a target surface. The system can further include a computing device executing a computational planner that generates instructions for driving the sanding end effector and robotic arm to perform at least one sanding task that at least includes the sanding end effector sanding a target surface, the generating based at least in part on obtained target surface data; and drives the end effector and robotic arm to perform the at least one sanding task.