The techniques and systems herein enable robot management in populated areas. Specifically, a vehicle system receives sensor data indicating aspects of an environment proximate a vehicle that comprises the vehicle system. Based on the sensor data, it is determined whether robots are in the environment proximate the vehicle. Responsive to determining that a robot is in the environment proximate the vehicle, attributes of the robot are determined based on the sensor data. A robot message is then generated that includes indications of the attributes of the robot, and the robot message is transmitted for receipt by a robot management system. By using the described techniques, the robot management system can leverage the vast number of vehicles with advanced sensor suites to monitor robots. Doing so may enable verification of routes and identification of robots that are not registered.