Microsoft Robotics News Feed

Channel Description:

Latest Articles in this Channel:

11/09/06--16:08: Tandy Trower Enumerates the New and Changed Features of the November 2006 CTP (chan 1255246)

Tandy Trower, General Manager of the Microsoft Robotics Group enumerates the updates for the November 2006 CTP release of Microsoft Robotics Studio.


11/22/06--13:46: Decentralized Software Services Protocol – DSSP (chan 1255246)

An overview and description of "Decentralized Software Services Protocol."


12/18/06--13:33: Microsoft Robotics Studio (1.0) Now Available! (chan 1255246)

Tandy Trower, General Manager of the Microsoft Robotics Group enumerates the features in the first commercial release of Microsoft Robotics Studio.


12/18/06--13:38: Microsoft PressPass Q&A: Microsoft Announces Release of Microsoft Robotics Studio (chan 1255246)

Tandy Trower, the general manager in charge of the effort, discusses how Microsoft’s first robotics product offers a common foundation for simplifying robotics development.


12/18/06--13:41: Microsoft Robotics Studio Now Available to Provide Common Development Platform (chan 1255246)

More than 30 vendors offer support for creating broad range of innovative robotics applications.


12/18/06--13:45: Read the Different Licensing Options and Download Microsoft Robotics Studio v. 1.0 (chan 1255246)

Read the Licensing Agreements--Free for non-commercial use. Download the Microsoft Robotics Studio v. 1.0.


12/21/06--17:17: A Robot in Every Home (chan 1255246)

An 8 page article in this month's Scientific American written by Bill Gates, co-Founder and Chairman of Microsoft.


01/03/07--08:51: Win Cool Home Music Gear with MSDN Flash (chan 1255246)

Customize your MSDN Flash newsletter today and you’ll be automatically entered to win a chance for cool home music gear like a new Microsoft Zune™ or a wireless home digital music system from Sonos!


01/03/07--13:10: Get Started with Microsoft Robotics Studio! (chan 1255246)

Over 30 tutorials for everyone from novices to advanced developers.


03/29/07--10:19: New On-demand Video Tutorials (chan 1255246)

Learn how to develop robotics applications, as well as control real or simulated robots. Hear directly from the Microsoft Robotics Studio development team. Explore nearly 10 hours of technical content.


04/27/07--10:23: RoboCup 2007 Soccer Simulation for Microsoft Robotics Studio 1.5 (CTP May 2007) Available (chan 1255246)

Microsoft is sponsoring RoboCup 2007 in Atlanta, and will host a competitive simulation demonstration league. Download the preview today and stay tuned for info on using this new soccer playing field and scoring system.


05/09/07--10:25: MEDC 2007 Robot Sumo Simulation For Microsoft Robotics Studio 1.5 (CTP May 2007) Available (chan 1255246)

This package includes a 3-D simulated sumo robot ring, a scoring system, and a 3D physics-based model of an iRobot Create robot. Download today to create your own sumo robot competition—or come to MEDC 07 and enter the Sumo Robot Competition. Finalists will be invited to port their simulation code into real robots.


05/10/07--10:26: Community Technical Preview of Microsoft Robotics Studio 1.5 (CTP May 2007) Available (chan 1255246)

Tandy Trower, General Manager of the Microsoft Robotics Group talks about the many added improvements and features of the new Microsoft Robotics Studio 1.5.


08/24/07--10:39: News from Microsoft Robotics Studio Community (chan 1255246)

Check out the new and exciting things happening in the community with Microsoft Robotics Studio. We now have a section on user groups and many new cool robotics with videos and pictures.


08/24/07--13:12: .NET Rocks! - Nick Landry on Robotics Studio (chan 1255246)

Check out this .NET Rocks! Audio Talk Show where Nick Landry calls in to discuss his experiences with Microsoft Robotics Studio. Nick Landry is a principal architect in New York for Infusion Development, a Microsoft Gold Partner and specializes in .NET mobility, SOA, architecture & design patterns, High-Performance Computing (HPC), Game Development with XNA, and application security.


08/27/07--10:22: Scientific paper on CCR and DSS: "High Performance Multi-Paradigm Messaging Run Time on Multicore Systems". (chan 1255246)

Performance evaluation of CCR and DSS by Xiaohong Qiu and Geoffrey Fox from Indiana University Bloomington


08/27/07--10:24: Robosoft releases simulated robuDOG package for Microsoft Robotics Studio (1.5) (chan 1255246)

Robosoft's robuDOG, which was first presented at RoboCup 2007 in Atlanta, can now be programmed using Microsoft Robotics Studio (1.5) Simulation.


09/05/07--17:22: Korean Microsoft Robotics Studio Developer Center (chan 1255246)

Read about Microsoft Robotics Studio in Korean


09/05/07--17:25: Added community link to Conscious-Robots.com pages for MSRS (chan 1255246)

The Conscious-Robots.com research team is performing a number of experiments with autonomous mobile robots. These community pages include information, MSRS services, C# sample code, and resources for the programming of Pioneer 3 DX robots using MSRS.


09/07/07--18:55: Updated online documentation with new samples, tutorials, and courseware (chan 1255246)

Check out the updated MSDN library online documentation including a bunch of new samples, tutorials and courseware. See forum post for details.


09/10/07--11:25: Ben Axelrod Updates Microsoft Robotics Studio Extras to target version 1.5 (chan 1255246)

New features also include SimpleDashboard support for keyboard control of the robot. Check out Ben's post to the forum. Please see Microsoft Robotics Studio Community for more community information.


09/14/07--16:26: uBot-5 from Lab for Perceptual Robotics at UMASS Amherst tele-operated by MSRS (chan 1255246)

Check out the videos referenced in Patrick Deegan's forum post showing the very cool uBot-5 tele-operated by MSRS services. This robot is developed at the Laboratory for Perceptual Robotics at UMASS Amherst.


09/18/07--09:36: New download on how to orchestrate gamepad services using VPL and Microsoft Robotics Studio (chan 1255246)

Check out Pedro77's article and source download on how to orchestrate gamepad services using VPL and Microsoft Robotics Studio.


09/18/07--16:27: Braintech releases VOLTS-IQ SDK version 1.5 adding high-performance vision services to Microsoft Robotics Studio (chan 1255246)

VOLTS-IQ SDK Version 1.5 adds high-performance vision services to Microsoft Robotics Studio including the Vi_Tracker service for real-time tracking as well as Vi_ObjectDetector--a service for simultaneously detecting the presence of multiple object types, Vi_WebCam, an augmented WebCam service, and Vi_MissileLauncher for controlling the DreamCheeky USB missile launcher.


09/19/07--10:15: Controlling LEGO® MINDSTORMS® NXT using C#, VB.Net, and VPL (chan 1255246)

Brian Peek demonstrates how to use Microsoft Robotics Studio (1.5) to control LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT. A simple remote-controlled robot will be built and controlled using C#, VB.Net, and Microsoft Visual Programming Language.


10/06/07--09:23: Samples Updates for Microsoft Robotics Studio (1.5) (chan 1255246)

The Samples Update package includes two new general service tutorials and a brand new set of services for LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT that dramatically simplifies building applications that control your NXT. For more information, see this blog post.


10/10/07--09:20: Connecting embedded sensors and robots by integrating Microsoft Robotics Studio and Microsoft Invisible Computing platform. (chan 1255246)

Evaluation of an independent implementation of DSSP on the Microsoft Invisible Computing platform and how it is used to connect Microsoft Robotics Studio with embedded sensors. In addition to the paper, source code is also available as part of the Microsoft Invisible Computing platform. Submitted to IADIS International Conference 2007.


10/12/07--08:31: Moving day: Microsoft Robotics Studio Developer Center RSS Feed is getting new address (chan 1255246)

Welcome to our new location for the Microsoft Robotics Studio Developer Center RSS Feed. The feed will still keep you updated with MSRS news so please update your existing feed subscription accordingly.


10/23/07--10:28: MSRS Class Reference Documentation is now online (chan 1255246)

We have updated our MSDN Library documentation to include the MSRS class reference documentation. This means that you now can browse the MSRS classes online using your Web browser or the MSDN Help Explorer.

Furthermore you can put the cursor on an MSRS class, method, property, or attribute and hit F1 in Visual Studio, you will see the associated reference documentation.

Please let us know what you think and post issues/comment on our Community Forum.


10/31/07--10:32: Microsoft Robotics Studio Datasheets available in multiple languages (chan 1255246)

Datasheets describing Microsoft Robotics Studio (1.5) is now available in English, French, Korean, and Traditional Chinese.


11/02/07--11:22: MSRS: Driving a LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT using a Wii controller (chan 1255246)

Zeddy Iskandar from Microsoft Indonesia posted this video showing how to control a LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT with a Wii controller.


11/10/07--09:01: Microsoft Robotics Studio Dinner Seminars (chan 1255246)

Want to learn more about Microsoft Robotics Studio? Microsoft is hosting two FREE dinner seminars in the Washington, DC area open to everybody geared towards developers, hobbyists and academics that are curious to learn about the capabilities of Microsoft Robotics Studio. The sessions are demonstration-oriented and will provide an overview of MSRS, its application model and Visual Programming Language as well as peek under the hood at the MSRS technology foundation - Concurrency and Coordination Runtime (CCR), and Decentralized Software Services (DSS).

To sign up, register online or by phone for the event near you:



1. Reston Virginia: Wednesday, Dec 05, 2007, 6:00-8.00 PM




2. Washington, DC: Thursday, Dec 06, 2007, 6:30-8:30 PM




11/16/07--12:47: Microsoft Robotics Studio booth at International Robot Exhibition (iRex), Nov. 28 through Dec. 1 2007, Tokyo, Japan (chan 1255246)

International Robot Exhibition (iRex), which has run every alternate year since 1973, is the world's largest trade show focusing on robotics. You can expect to see the Industry leading companies exhibiting: manufacturing robots, robot simulation and vision systems, related equipment and device/element equipment, non-manufacturing robots, special zone to exhibit robots under development at universities and public research institutes, robot part suppliers, and a miniature manufacturing system demonstration area. Microsoft Japan and Microsoft Robotics Studio team will be participating in this event with a booth exhibit.


12/07/07--09:48: Japanese Microsoft Robotics Studio Developer Center (chan 1255246)

Read about Microsoft Robotics Studio in Japanese and check out our new Microsoft Robotics Studio data sheet in Japanese.


12/13/07--14:08: Microsoft Robotics Studio at CES 2008, Jan. 7-10 in Las Vegas (chan 1255246)

Come and see the Microsoft Robotics team at CES, Jan. 7-10 in Las Vegas. Tandy Trower, General Manager of the Robotics Group, will be presenting on the state of robotics and doing a robot demonstration daily at the Theater within the Microsoft booth. Come talk with team members at the Microsoft Robotics Studio exhibition booth within the Microsoft booth.


12/13/07--14:12: MSDN Seminar on Microsoft Robotic Studio (and XNA), Dec 15, 2007, Malvern, PA 19355 (chan 1255246)

It does not matter if you are a seasoned developer, a hobbyist or a student. Come and enjoy this great event!


12/13/07--14:17: DSS Service Description Index (chan 1255246)

This DSS Service Description Index provides a searchable RSS-based index of all services that ship as part of Microsoft Robotics Studio (1.5). Using a tool provided by Microsoft Robotics Studio, you can generate your own service description index of services that you have written and announce it to the Microsoft Robotics Studio community. See our documentation for details.


12/13/07--14:50: Microsoft Robotics Studio (1.5) Refresh Available (chan 1255246)

This full installation refresh of Microsoft Robotics Studio (1.5) contains all available updates including the Runtime and Tools Update and the Samples Update. If you already have a Microsoft Robotics Studio installation then you can install the Runtime and Tools Updates for Microsoft Robotics Studio (1.5)


12/13/07--14:52: Runtime and Tools Updates for Microsoft Robotics Studio (1.5) (chan 1255246)

The Microsoft Robotics Studio Runtime and Tools Update Package can be applied to an existing Microsoft Robotics Studio installation and contains several bug fixes that have been raised since the release of Microsoft Robotics Studio (1.5). If you don't have an existing Microsoft Robotics Studio installation then you can install the Microsoft Robotics Studio (1.5) Refresh.


12/17/07--10:47: Dan Waters' Introductory Series of Web Casts on Microsoft Robotics Studio (chan 1255246)

Check out this series of no less than five web casts on the subject of Robotics, Microsoft Robotics Studio and .NET for the very intro-level type. Content ranges from level 100-200 (progressively more advanced from 1 to 5).


12/17/07--21:11: Mindstorm NXT & MS Robotics - A Good...no...A GREAT Couple! (chan 1255246)

Shazam (Azam) and Magic (Majid) recently embarked on a journey at the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario to play around with the LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT and program it using Microsoft Robotics Studio. Read about their experiences.


12/17/07--21:14: VOLTS-IQ SDK 1.6 adds face detection, motion detection, more... (chan 1255246)

In this post Rob Sim explains the news features in VOLTS-IQ SDK 1.6. The SDK is free for non-commercial use, and it's compatible with both MSRS 1.5 and the 1.5 Refresh.


12/19/07--16:48: Technologies to support autonomous navigation from SRI International (chan 1255246)

SRI International, a Microsoft Robotics Studio partner, has now released its Karto SDK that provides developers with the ability to easily add autonomous navigation to their robotics applications.


12/19/07--16:57: Use of MSRS in manipulation and control (chan 1255246)

The The Robotics Research Group (RRG) at University of Texas at Austin is now utilizing Microsoft Robotics Studio to develop and demonstrate a Win XP and Win CE based robot arm controller that implements real-time trajectory generation, kinematic control, redundancy resolution and tele-operation with input scaling to guide an operator.


12/31/07--13:12: MSDN Library Information on how to document a DSS Service (chan 1255246)

This topic describes a set of mechanisms that can be used to document DSS services so that it shows up in VPL and the DSS Service Description Index.


01/03/08--16:13: Home-centric robot to assist people (chan 1255246)

Robosoft, has now developed and demonstrated a home centric service robot to assist people. The prototype robot was based on ‘robuLab10’ - mobile platform and ‘robuBox’ - robotic middleware based on Microsoft Robotics Studio. The prototype was demonstrated at Microsoft®'s Innovation Day at Brussels. More information on the prototype and demonstrations can be found here:

Advanced Robotics Solutions

ROBOSOFT Introduces a New Robuter Aiming at Assisting People at Home


01/18/08--10:58: HEREY from Microrobot (chan 1255246)

Herey is a hexapod robot intended to be utilize by hobbyists as well as academia/Students. Utilizing the services provided by Microrobot, Herey is programmable through Microsoft Robotics Studio’s Visual Programming Language. More information on the robot can be found here.


01/18/08--17:20: Conscious-robots joins Microsoft Robotics Studio as a partner (chan 1255246)

Conscious Robots is an organization dedicated to research and development in the area of Cognitive Robotics. The primary focus is to explore, develop, and promote technology advances in the scientific quest for machine consciousness. Our artificial consciousness technology is to be applied to several demanding fields of application like security, health care, and social robots.


01/20/08--08:18: Robotever Inc. (chan 1255246)

I am pleased to indicate that Robotever, a Korean based company, that focuses on the development of Human Robot Interface (HRI) solutions has now joined Microsoft Robotics Studio Partner Program (MSRSPP). Currently, Robotever is in the process of developing robot vision solutions such as face recognition, object recognition and vision-based localization.


01/20/08--09:21: OLogic (chan 1255246)

OLogic, an embedded systems research and development company with a focus on robotic applications has now joined the Microsoft Robotics Studio Partner Program (MSRSPP). OLogic is currently working with clients across a wide-spectrum of application domains such as consumer electronics, toys, medical products, defense, and education.


02/27/08--07:56: Feb 27 2PM ET: Web Cast: Microsoft Robotics Studio -- An Introduction (chan 1255246)

Register now for this introductory Web Cast on Microsoft Robotics Studio Wednesday, February 27, 2008 2:00P-3:30P EST (11:00A-12:30P PST).

The session will introduce Microsoft Robotics Studio (MSRS) which is a Windows-based environment for robot control and simulation. Technologies comprising MSRS are applicable to a wide range of domains, including command and control, sensor networks, financial transactions processing, server management and many others. 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 (C# and VB.NET), as well as scripting languages such as Microsoft Iron Python. Third-party languages that support the Microsoft Robotics Studio services-based architecture are also supported. This session will provide an overview of MSRS, its application model and Visual Programming Language as well as peek under the hood at the MSRS technology foundation - Concurrency and Coordination Runtime (CCR), and Decentralized Software Services (DSS).


02/28/08--15:54: RobotTurK: Disaster Emergency Video System (chan 1255246)

Autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (AUAVs) equipped with cameras, developed in partnership with the Istanbul government and Microsoft, is that are capable of steaming live video of disaster struck areas to any number of ground command stations.


02/29/08--18:34: Distributed Computing Gets Spruced-Up with CCR/DSS! (chan 1255246)

CCR/DSS is not just for Robotics - it’ll help you spruce-up your enterprise distributed systems architectures too!


04/09/08--10:23: Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 2008 CTP April Available (chan 1255246)

Microsoft announces the first Community Technical Preview (CTP) of Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 2008. The preview contains a large number of new features and improvements which are ready for you to try out and we also have a detailed description of changes from previous versions.

Also check out our blog for more information.


04/09/08--12:33: Countdown to RoboChamps launch -- are you ready? (chan 1255246)

Check out this CNET article - "Microsoft's new gig: Virtual host to robot competitions". The countdown has begun...


04/09/08--12:41: Mary Jo Foley: Why business users should grab a copy of Microsoft’s new robotics toolkit (chan 1255246)

Check out Mary's blog on Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 2008 CTP April launch


04/24/08--11:07: RoboChamps is live -- are you ready to rumble with robots? (chan 1255246)

RoboChamps is a simulated robotics league based on Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 2008. It is open to academics, hobbyists and developers from around the world to compete. Check out the RoboChamps web site and this introductory video on "on10.net" to see what it is all about!



06/05/08--04:02: Microsoft Robotics Team at TechEd in Orlando (chan 1255246)

Henrik Frystyk Nielsen from the Microsoft Robotics Team will be present at TechEd on Friday, June 06 in the in the RoboChamps booth. You are most likely to find me from 10-12 and again from 2-4 in the afternoon. Looking forward to hearing what you think!


07/18/08--15:21: July CTP of Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 2008 (chan 1255246)

July Community Technical Preview (CTP) of Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 2008 is available for download. The release contains a number of exciting new features as well as many new samples and tutorials. For a complete list, please see What’s New.


08/04/08--16:49: New RoboChamps Challenge (chan 1255246)

The first RoboChamps competition, the Amazed Challenge, is now over and the winners have been announced. However, if you missed the deadline there is a new Amazing Second Chance Challenge.
The big news is that the second challenge, the Sumo Challenge, is now available for entry. You can download it from the Challenges page.


11/17/08--18:34: Robotics Developer Studio 2008 is available now! (chan 1255246)

The 2008 version of Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio (also known as V2,.0) has been released. It comes in three Editions: Express Edition is available for free download; Standard Edition can be purchased; and Academic Edition is available through the normal distribution channels for academic products.


12/02/08--14:33: You Make IT Smart in Switzerland (chan 1255246)

Microsoft Switzerland is sponsoring a You Make IT Smart competition using LEGO NXT robots and Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio. Students first have to complete an exercise in simulation and then will compete using real robots at the finals in May 2009 in Berne. This is all in preparation for the Imagine Cup later in 2009.


12/31/08--12:00: Simulated LEGO NXT Environment from SimplySim (chan 1255246)

SimplySim, a Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio partner, has released an application that allows you to control either a simulated LEGO^® NXT Tribot in a rich 3D environment or a real Tribot. To download the package, which requires RDS 2008, visit the SimplySim news page.


01/16/09--17:30: Collada Update for Microsoft RDS 2008 (chan 1255246)

Microsoft® Robotics Developer Studio Standard and Academic Editions have the ability to import Collada models that have been exported from SolidWorks. These models can be used in the Visual Simulation Environment. This update improves compatibility with the Collada format. A new service is also provided that allows you to manipulate joints in Collada models when they are run in the simulator. The new Collada Update is now available for download.


03/27/09--17:02: RDS 2008 available to High School Students through DreamSpark (chan 1255246)

Microsoft has announced the expansion of the DreamSpark program to include high school students. Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 2008 Academic Edition can be download by students directly from the DreamSpark home page. Because this is a new offering, High School administrators will need to sign up. However, hundreds of tertiary institutions are already enrolled as Identity Providers in 110 countries worldwide which means that students and teachers can download software using the login details from their own academic institutions.


04/22/09--11:23: RDS 2008 and CCR and DSS Toolkit Standard Editions available through MSDN and BizSpark (chan 1255246)

Due to customer demand, both Robotics Developer Studio (RDS) 2008 Standard Edition and CCR and DSS Toolkit 2008 Standard Edition are now available to all MSDN Professional and MSDN Premium subscribers, which includes BizSpark customers. This enables customers to acquire a simple, per-user license for all the software they need in their development projects, enhancing their investment in MSDN. Subscribers can download the software from:
MSDN Subscriber Downloads


06/18/09--10:56: RDS 2008 R2 Released (chan 1255246)

Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 2008 is a platform for developing robotics applications. The R2 upgrade has now been released. There is a brand new Robotics Web Site and an Introduction Video. You can download the Express Edition at no cost, or purchase the Standard Edition or download it from MSDN if you have a Pro or Premium subscription. The Academic Edition can be obtained through MSDNAA or DreamSpark.


07/09/09--10:40: Robosoft announces robot for elder care that uses RDS (chan 1255246)

Robosoft, a Microsoft RDS partner in France, has announced RobuLAB10 which is aimed at assisting elderly people in their homes. The robot uses RDS as its core platform. For more information see: Robosoft RobuLAB10


07/09/09--10:43: Imagine Cup Winners Announced - Includes Robotics Competition (chan 1255246)

The finals of the Imagine Cup for 2009 were held recently in Cairo, Egypt. This year the Imagine Cup included a Robotics competition for the first time, which took over from the very popular RoboChamps. It is planned to offer a Robotics competition again in 2010. See Imagine Cup Winners.


07/22/09--20:22: Introductory Videos on RDS (chan 1255246)

A series of introductory videos about RDS will be released over the coming weeks. These are intended to be short (about 5 minutes) and cover topics that will help you to get started using RDS. The first video is available at: MSRobotics on YouTube.


08/26/09--18:01: CoroWare announces new robot and simulation software (chan 1255246)

In June this year CoroWare announced a new robot in their range, called the Explorer, which is designed for outdoor use. More recently, they have announced the availability of the ClassPack simulation software as an open source package. The ClassPack is based on the CoroBot which was the predecessor to the Explorer. For more information, contact CoroWare,


09/08/09--16:23: Learn Page now available on Microsoft Robotics web site (chan 1255246)

The Learn Page on the Microsoft Robotics web site provides links to most of the content available for learning about RDS. You can search the content list in a variety of different ways and the links will take you directly to the resources on the Internet.


10/07/09--17:53: CCR in use at MySpace (chan 1255246)

A video entitled CCR at MySpace has been released on Channel 9. It describes how the Concurrency and Coordination Runtime (CCR) has been used to handle requests for data on the MySpace servers which process tens of thousands of web requests per second. This is a perfect application for CCR which simplifies concurrent programming and provides very high throughput with a minimal number of threads.


12/21/09--16:08: iRobot launches SPARK website for STEM Education (chan 1255246)

Earlier this month iRobot launched a new web site called SPARK - Starter Programs for the Advancement of Robotics Knowledge. The purpose of the site is to promote Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) in education. For more information visit the SPARK web site.


02/08/10--10:48: National Robotics Week (chan 1255246)

Recognizing the importance of robots in 21st century technology, a group of about 20 companies, universities, museums, and other organizations is promoting a National Robotics Week in the USA from April 10-18. This is intended to become an annual event. Its purpose is to educate the public about robotics and inspire students to pursue careers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). For more information see the National Robotics Week web site.


02/08/10--18:33: e-nuvo Humanoid Robot (chan 1255246)

The Nippon Institute of Technology (NIT) announced late last year the e-nuvo Humanoid robot in conjunction with several partners including ZMP who manufacture the robot. It was widely reported in blogs, such as cnet and Plastic Pals, but it seems there are no details yet in English on the NIT web site. More details are available in Japanese on the ZMP web page. Use your favorite on-line translation tool if you want to find out more.


02/25/10--15:17: New tool and tutorials for learning about Robotics Developer Studio (chan 1255246)

Young Joon Kim in Korea maintains a web site about Robotics Developer Studio called Hello Apps. He has recently added the topics below:


• C# interface programming with SPL
• Java interface programming with SPL
• Python interface programming with SPL
• LabView interface programming with VPL and SPL
• MATLAB interface programming with VPL
• Flash interface programming with VPL and SPL
• VPL UI programming
• And a lot of robotics and creativity course samples


Note that SPL (Simulation Programming Language) is Young Joon's own development environment for RDS. SPL adds a scripting layer to the RDS Simulator. Although it is based around simulation, the principles apply to real-world robotics as well.
There is a lot of great material on the web site, especially if you are just learning how to use RDS or if you might want to teach a class using RDS. You can download both RDS and SPL for free, which makes learning basic robotics very low cost.


03/26/10--18:18: Kompai Robot from Robosoft (chan 1255246)

Robosoft has announced the Kompaï R&D Robot which is designed to assist elderly and handicapped people in their homes. It could also be used as a receptionist. Users can interact with the robot via speech recognition and synthesis or a touch screen. It also has a WiFi connection and can do autonomous navigation. The first version of the robot is intended for developers so that they can start creating robotics applications.

The robuBox software system is based on Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio and includes a 3D simulation of the robot in an apartment environment which allows developers to get started without a real robot.


More info...


05/20/10--07:00: Microsoft Announces Robotics Developer Studio 2008 R3 (chan 1255246)

Taking a look back at the recent past in the robotics industry reflects a period full of promise, excitement, anticipation, and rapid evolution. So much movement has happened in the right direction; we've watched closely as robotics technology has begun to transition along the path from a big, expensive, specialized, industrial level towards a future of a friendly, service-oriented, home and personal level, where everyone has the potential to use and benefit from this technology. But putting this positive progress aside for a moment, it's critical to the future sustainability and success of the industry that we keep working to expand the reach of our robotics community to a greater scale.

Just consider the huge potential of consumer robotics, for one example -- an area that's ripe for innovation and for building compelling new scenarios and businesses. In this consumer space, we've learned that best enabling these opportunities isn't really about sophisticated and expensive hardware, it's about the software stack and user experiences. We're building our business to focus first and foremost on positive user experiences -- and by exploring innovations such as Natural User Interfaces (NUI) and the cloud, we want to help you in the robotics community build the software stack that, with your imagination and ingenuity, will lead to the new and innovative robotics scenarios of the future.

But for the robotics market overall to reach a tipping point of sustainable scale, we're going to need more software that can help our community to create a broad and relevant range of scenarios for consumers. It doesn't matter if you're a hobbyist, academic or working in the commercial space -- you're going to need a common platform to build these new applications and scenarios.

Well, we heard the community demand for such a platform clearly, which is why we developed Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio, which gives developers a common framework for development. It's already been behind the creation of scenarios like exploring "what's next" for in-car connectivity applications that will be on display at this year's Maker Faire, built by Ford and University of Michigan students as part of the "American Journey 2.0" project. We're so excited about the implications of this collaboration, both for the future of robotics development as well as for offering a window into how bright young developers are using our software in unexpected new ways.

And today, we're even more excited to announce the availability of the Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 2008 R3 (Microsoft RDS). What's new?

• Microsoft RDS is now offered free of charge as a download at http://www.microsoft.com/robotics/.
• Microsoft RDS is now available as a single edition -- containing all of the functionality of the previous Standard Edition at no cost.
• New features in Microsoft RDS 2008 R3 include added support for Visual Studio 2010 and two additional simulation environments (Multi-level House and Factory).
• Additional samples have been made available on CodePlex, including Sumo and Soccer simulations. By making source code available on CodePlex, the community can modify and extend the Microsoft RDS platform.

Other new updates/changes include:

• The CCR & DSS Toolkit has been merged into RDS 2008 R3
  • CCR & DSS will remain a core component of RDS
  • CCR & DSS can be obtained by installing the full RDS package
• R3 is no longer compatible with Compact Framework (CF) development
• Samples for languages other than C# have been moved to CodePlex.




Whether you're a hobbyist, academic or commercial customer, or just curious about developing robotics applications, Microsoft RDS 2008 R3 gives you everything you need to easily create robotics applications across a wide variety of different hardware.

By offering this software free of charge, we're hoping to help push the robotics market towards the sustainable scale I mentioned earlier -- putting Microsoft RDS in the hands of as many developers as possible to innovate and experiment with. We're enthusiastic to see what developers around the world, of all backgrounds and levels of knowledge, will bring to the table using Microsoft RDS in the months to come.


-- Stathis Papaefstathiou, General Manager, Microsoft Robotics


08/25/10--12:16: Microsoft Surface meets Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio at U. Mass Lowell (chan 1255246)

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Lowell Robotics Lab have used a Microsoft Surface as a way to command multiple robots to move around by drawing out the paths on the Surface. You can watch the video to see how easy it is.


07/13/11--06:00: Kinect Services for RDS 2008 R3 Released (chan 1255246)

Kinect Services for RDS provides sample services that use the Kinect for Windows SDK Beta to allow access to the Depth and RGB data from a Kinect sensor. The package includes both binaries and source code.
As well as a service for a real Kinect, there is also a service for a simulated Kinect that works with the RDS Visual Simulation Environment. A sample application, called Kinect Wander, shows how to use a Kinect on a simulated robot to wander around and avoid obstacles.
Note that both Visual Studio 2008 and 2010 are required to compile the Kinect services. This release is licensed for non-commercial use only.


08/28/11--15:30: Robotics Developer Studio at Maker Faire in New York (chan 1255246)

The Robotics Team will be showing a pre-release of the next version of Robotics Developer Studio in New York on the weekend of the 17th and 18th of September at Maker Faire. Microsoft Research will also be presenting the Kinect for Windows SDK and the .NET Gadgeteer. Look for the Microsoft tent at the northern end of the Faire in the grounds of the New York Hall of Science.


09/17/11--06:00: Announcing Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 4 Beta (chan 1255246)

In my July blog post, we announced the Kinect Services for Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio (RDS) and I promised that we would have some exciting announcements this fall. It is my pleasure to announce the release of RDS 4 Beta available as a free of charge download at Microsoft.com/robotics.

It's inspiring to see the tremendous excitement with Microsoft Kinect within the robotics space signaling the energy and potential opportunities that exist in essentially transforming robots to low-cost mainstream consumer devices. This beta release is one of our early steps towards realizing our long term strategy of accelerating the consumer robotics industry. There are many new capabilities that we are bringing to the latest release of RDS, but I will focus on three major additions I’m particularly excited about.

Unlike computers that primarily implement a single computational model, which means that when I write a sorting algorithm that runs on one computer, the same algorithm will work on another computer even if it uses a different processor technology, has different component configuration, and runs a different software stack. This is not the case with robots that come in many shapes and configurations. For example a navigation algorithm is typically dependent on the sensor and other hardware configurations. This makes it difficult for people to share solutions.

For the first time we define a Kinect-based hardware reference platform that can help in the delivery of an affordable and capable robot that will be able to support technologies and scenarios for the consumer audience. Most everyone can build a robot using this specification, and we are working with robotic hardware vendors that will make kits and preassembled units available. The first such kit is called Eddie and it is available from Parallax for pre-order now. Eddie is intended to be a turnkey solution for using RDS with this platform and our aspiration is that there will be development and sharing of technology for this hardware platform. In addition, we made sure that there is an accurate representation of a robot that is based on the hardware platform in our simulation environment. You can start developing your applications in the simulator before you decide to buy and run them on a physical robot.

The second additional feature in RDS 4 is beta the availability of Kinect services that support the Kinect for Windows SDK capabilities shipped by Microsoft earlier this summer. You will be able to use the CCR/DSS programming model to access all of the Kinect for Windows SDK functionality. This unlocks a whole new world around Human Robot Interaction (HRI) with the use of skeleton tracking and speech. But we are also making available the raw sensor stream for your use in building additional capabilities such as navigation algorithms. As a matter of fact, we are shipping an obstacle avoidance service that fuses the Kinect input with the other proximity sensors to demonstrate how the sensor array can be used to intelligently perform directional based navigation.

In RDS 4 we make available for the first time the CCR programming model in Silverlight. Why is this important? Although this new capability might seem esoteric, it is manifesting a baby step towards engaging a broader community of developers who might not have previously been involved with Robotic scenarios. We feel that this is very important because we see that many of the experience and scenario innovations used today in the mobile device space can translate to new unique and exciting applications for Robotics.

In an effort to help spur continued creativity and new consumer robotics scenario within the community, we are also excited to announce our first Robots @ Home Contest. We are inviting developers of all stripes to innovate and create new software that can lead to more personal consumer robotics scenarios. You can submit idea proposals into one of the following categories:


1. Consumer usage scenarios;
2. Human Robot Interaction; and
3. Autonomous Navigation.

Please visit our Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio Web site for more details.

It’s been exciting to see how Microsoft’s Kinect sensor has already captured the imaginations of researchers, academics, and robotics enthusiasts around the world. Our motivation in releasing these tools is to extend and democratize access to robotics development, bringing value to the space through ease-of-use, accessibility, and a robust existing developer community.

As you can imagine, these are hard problems that we are trying to solve. And given the constraints and expectations of the market within the consumer robotics space, we believe that if we combine both Microsoft’s unique technology portfolio with the creativity and enthusiasm of the community, we can develop new experiences and scenarios that can revolutionize peoples’ relationship with Robotics.

--Stathis Papaefstathiou, General Manager, Microsoft Robotics




12/07/11--12:15: Announcing Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 4 Beta 2 (chan 1255246)

Robotics Developer Studio 4 Beta 2 is an update to the Beta that was released at Maker Faire in September. This update is primarily to support the Beta 2 release of the Kinect for Windows SDK. It also includes some improvements, additional documentation, and the new DSS Log Analyzer. For more information, see the Download page.