diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 67bca16a7..63e20b912 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 * Changed the behavior of Duration class when accepting both seconds (float) and nanoseconds (int) where the decimal point of seconds and the nanoseconds add up to more than 1 second.
 * Changed GH Component `ConstraintsFromPlane` to `FrameTargetFromPlane`.
 * Changed GH Component `ConstraintsFromTargetConfiguration` to `ConfigurationTarget`.
+* Changed `RosClient` constructor to take a type for planner backend instead of a string. This also changes the name of the argument from `planner_backend` to `planner_type`.
 
 ### Removed
 
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 632a4af65..b8d3b27dd 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+numpy >= 1.15.4, < 2
 compas >= 2.0.4, < 3
 compas_robots >= 0.3, < 1
 roslibpy >= 1.1.0
diff --git a/src/compas_fab/backends/ros/client.py b/src/compas_fab/backends/ros/client.py
index fe98a4305..ba7bbe594 100644
--- a/src/compas_fab/backends/ros/client.py
+++ b/src/compas_fab/backends/ros/client.py
@@ -33,8 +33,6 @@
     "RosClient",
 ]
 
-PLANNER_BACKENDS = {"moveit": MoveItPlanner}
-
 
 class CancellableRosActionResult(CancellableFutureResult):
     def __init__(self, goal):
@@ -116,10 +114,10 @@ class RosClient(Ros, ClientInterface):
         Port of the ROS Bridge. Defaults to ``9090``.
     is_secure : :obj:`bool`
         ``True`` to indicate it should use a secure web socket, otherwise ``False``.
-    planner_backend: str
-        Name of the planner backend plugin to use. The plugin must be a sub-class of
-        :class:`compas_fab.backends.PlannerInterface`. Defaults to ``"moveit"``,
-        making use of :class:`compas_fab.backends.MoveItPlanner`.
+    planner_type: type
+        Type the planner backend to use. The backend must be a sub-class of
+        :class:`compas_fab.backends.PlannerInterface`.
+        Defaults to :class:`~compas_fab.backends.MoveItPlanner`.
 
     Examples
     --------
@@ -132,11 +130,9 @@ class RosClient(Ros, ClientInterface):
     For more examples, check out the :ref:`ROS examples page <ros_examples>`.
     """
 
-    def __init__(self, host="localhost", port=9090, is_secure=False, planner_backend="moveit"):
+    def __init__(self, host="localhost", port=9090, is_secure=False, planner_type=MoveItPlanner):
         super(RosClient, self).__init__(host, port, is_secure)
-
-        planner_backend_type = PLANNER_BACKENDS[planner_backend]
-        self.planner = planner_backend_type(self)
+        self.planner = planner_type(self)
         self._ros_distro = None
 
     def __enter__(self):