Max Robotics — Global Service Robot Directory + US Certification

About

Patrick Saucy is a pioneer in the field of Internet-based telerobotics, with his groundbreaking work centered on enabling open, remote access to mobile robots via the web. His major contribution is the development and deployment of the "KhepOnTheWeb" project, which allowed researchers and students worldwide to control a real Khepera mobile robot through a standard web browser. This work, detailed in his most-cited paper (97 citations), demonstrated how the Internet could transform expensive, localized robotics hardware into a globally accessible experimental platform. Saucy’s research directly addressed the high cost and complexity of mobile robotics, providing a low-barrier entry for remote experimentation. His 1999 paper on interacting mobile robots on the web (35 citations) further explored the potential for real-time human-robot interaction across networks. By creating a fully functional, open-access system that operated for over a year, Saucy not only advanced the technical feasibility of web-based robotics but also laid the conceptual groundwork for modern remote labs and cloud robotics. His doctoral thesis at EPFL formalized this distributed environment for controlling distant mobile robots, cementing his role as a key innovator in democratizing access to robotic research.