Microsoft Makes Its Robotics Studio Available

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Among the many remarkable innovations emerging out of the robotics industry, from surveillance robots that can defuse roadside bombs to robotic arms that perform surgeries, one persistent challenge has been the lack of a common development platform that would allow developers to easily create robotic applications for varied hardware platforms. Now, Microsoft is closing this gap with the release of Microsoft Robotics Studio, a new Windows-based development environment for creating robotic software for a wide variety of hardware platforms. Microsoft has also introduced a new third-party partner program featuring Microsoft Robotics Studio-enabled applications, services and robots from independent software vendors, service providers, hardware component vendors and robot manufacturers. Already more than 30 third-party companies have pledged support for the new robotics development and runtime platform, which is available for download and evaluationhere.

The Microsoft Robotics Studio environment is an end-to-end, scalable and extensible robotics development platform that includes the following:
• A visual programming language that enables nonprogrammers to easily program robots using a drag-and-drop environment;
• A 3-D tool that simulates robotics applications in physics-based virtual environments, using the licensed PhysX engine from AGEIA Technologies;
• A lightweight, services-oriented runtime that enables applications to communicate with a wide variety of hardware.

With Microsoft Robotics Studio, robotics applications can be developed using a selection of programming languages, including those in Microsoft Visual Studio and Microsoft Visual Studio Express languages (Visual C# and Visual Basic), which are free to download, as well as Microsoft IronPython. Third-party languages that support the Microsoft Robotics Studio services-based architecture are also supported.

Microsoft Robotics Studio is now compatible with applications, services and robots from the following companies: CoroWare, fischertechnik, iRobot, KUKA Robot Group, Larsen & Toubro InfoTech, the LEGO Group, Lynxmotion, Parallax, Phidgets, RoboDynamics, Robosoft, RoboticsConnection, Senseta, Sharp Logic, Surveyor and WhiteBox Robotics. In addition, many leading companies from around the world have joined the Microsoft Robotics Studio Partner Program with plans to ship compatible applications, services and robots in the future. They include Braintech, Camelot Robotics ApS, Cerebellum, ED, Graupner, Hanulkid, InTouch Health, JADI, LG CNS, MicroInfinity, Mostitech, RE2, RidgeSoft, Robo3, SRI, VIA Technologies and Yujin Robot.

Microsoft also continues to work closely with many top universities and research institutions in the area of robotics, such as the Institute for Personal Robots in Education hosted at Georgia Tech with Bryn Mawr College, and the Center for Innovative Robotics hosted at Carnegie Mellon University.

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