The detection and tracking of moving objects is an essential task in robotics. The CMU‐RI Navlab group has developed such a system that uses a laser scanner as its primary sensor. We will describe our algorithm and its use in several applications. Our system worked successfully on indoor and outdoor platforms and with several different kinds and configurations of two‐dimensional and three‐dimensional laser scanners. The applications vary from collision warning systems, people classification, observing human tracks, and input to a dynamic planner. Several of these systems were evaluated in live field tests and shown to be robust and reliable. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.