Autonomous Robots 15, 299–316, 2003 c  2003 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Manufactured in The Netherlands. Tele-Presence in Populated Exhibitions Through Web-Operated Mobile Robots WOLFRAM BURGARD Computer Science Department, University of Freiburg, Germany burgard@informatik.uni-freiburg.de PANOS TRAHANIAS Foundation for Research and Technology—Hellas (FORTH) and University of Crete, Greece DIRK H ¨ AHNEL Computer Science Department, University of Freiburg, Germany MARK MOORS AND DIRK SCHULZ Department of Computer Science, University of Bonn, Germany HARIS BALTZAKIS Foundation for Research and Technology—Hellas (FORTH) and University of Crete, Greece ANTONIS ARGYROS Foundation for Research and Technology—Hellas (FORTH), Greece Abstract. This paper presents techniques that facilitate mobile robots to be deployed as interactive agents in populated environments such as museum exhibitions or trade shows. The mobile robots can be tele-operated over the Internet and, this way, provide remote access to distant users. Throughout this paper we describe several key techniques that have been developed in this context. To support safe and reliable robot navigation, techniques for environment mapping, robot localization, obstacle detection and people-tracking have been developed. To support the interaction of both web and on-site visitors with the robot and its environment, appropriate software and hardware interfaces have been employed. By using advanced navigation capabilities and appropriate authoring tools, the time required for installing a robotic tour-guide in a museum or a trade fair has been drastically reduced. The developed robotic systems have been thoroughly tested and validated in the real-world conditions offered in the premises of various sites. Such demonstrations ascertain the functionality of the employed techniques, establish the reliability of the complete systems, and provide useful evidence regarding the acceptance of tele-operated robotic tour-guides by the broader public. Keywords: web-operated robots, tele-presence in exhibitions, navigation competences, remote visualization 1. Introduction Mobile robotic technology and its application in var- ious sectors is currently an area of high interest. Re- search in this field promises advanced developments and novelties in many aspects. Over the last decade, a variety of service robots were developed that are de- signed to operate in populated environments. Example