Microsoft busting onto robotics scene with Robotics Studio

First Windows, then PlaysForSure -- what's the next realm of disparate hardware that Microsoft wants to unify under its big blue banner? Why, robotics, of course. Yesterday Microsoft launched its new Microsoft Robotics Studio, a development environment for Windows that supports "a wide variety of hardware platforms" for making all those crazy robots do their thing. The Robotics Studio includes a visual programming language for drag-and-drop robot programming -- though if hand coding is more your style, many programming languages are supported as well -- a 3D visualisation tool based on AGEIA's PhysX engine for simulating bots, and a lightweight runtime environment for working with a multitude of hardware. Plenty of big names in robotics seem to be getting behind the platform, including iRobot and LEGO, who both announced compatibility with the Robotics Studio. Microsoft's approach is quite extensible, and 3rd party software add-ons for commercial and educational use are already cropping up. The best news is that the Studio is free to hobbyists, students and academics, while commercial developers can score a license for $399. Bill Gates seems to have his full weight behind the initiative, with a self-penned eight page article in Scientific American likening the Robotics Studio to what Microsoft did for the computer industry in the 70's. No matter your stance on Microsoft, it's hard to argue with the unifying effect this app could have on the robotics industry -- but let's go easy on the bundled apps this time around, mmkay?

[Matt B @ Dec 13th 2006 1:55PM]

Yeah! Now robots can get viruses. Maybe Bill can see the future and is laying the foundation to give humans a chance to defeat the uprising.

[Patrick @ Dec 13th 2006 2:09PM]

*******Insert virusspywarebluescreencrashM$takingovertheworld joke here*******

[z @ Dec 13th 2006 2:17PM]

Sorry man, must have posted your message at about the same time, I will insert here then.

[z @ Dec 13th 2006 2:14PM]

Can't wait to see what the bsod will look like in the final products.. ;-)

[Bob Spencer @ Dec 13th 2006 2:15PM]

First the free XNA game development program for xbox360 announced a few days ago and now this new robot programming framework - very cool ! What is next?

Thanks Bill!

[GeneMack @ Dec 13th 2006 2:23PM]

Well, all jokes aside, as someone that actually designs industrial robotics, this is a welcome step. As it is now, I have to basically know 10 different programming languages. They may be all similar, but the differences are enough to make you scratch your head on why something isn't working, until you realized you used a command from another manufacturer�s command set.

Having a single, unified, environment to program, regardless of hardware, makes life much easier for those in this field of work.

And, while you may hate Microsoft, try using one-off type software designed by a company that is not really a software company! And paying $3,000 to $5,000 per copy. My company can routinely pay over $50,000 a year on software and upgrades, just to have the privilege of using THEIR hardware.

[oooh-wii @ Dec 13th 2006 2:25PM]

These MS 'jokes' are just so damn boring now... please come up with some new ones!

Remember that this myth that whatever MS touches crashes blah blah is just rubbish; remember why there are so many viruses for MS, because of its userbase.. As apple gains, then viruses will emerge for them also; in fact there already has been some. Any viruses found in xBox's yet or on Live or Zune..?

Anyway, back to this subject - it seems that MS is certainly looking at things at new angles what with their video game studio setup and now this.. looks more like fun than a serious application at this stage though, and it's free which is always nice.

[z @ Dec 13th 2006 2:40PM]

Let's never forget the MS's business plan seems well based on the fact that the flows their software have generate jobs (software dev, support, ...), and therefore will nourish a professional marketplace that will try to sell as much of MS stuff they can because the success of their business will depend on patching these flaws.

[Andir3.0 @ Dec 13th 2006 2:39PM]

Not really a joke, but if you want more ammo on how Microsoft is trying to take over, read into Vista's new TCP stack and Network structure. It's technically possible for Microsoft to disallow you access to your PC if your other PC doesn't meet their requirements (read Linux and Macs will have to pay to license CTCP in order to access other Windows machines on your network). While they aren't acting on it right now, the fact is that it's possible for Microsoft to force lockout any operating system if they feel like it. Since it transfers version information as well, anyone on the network smart enough to intercept this packet of data will know what OS you have and if their hack will work on your system without even having to try first.

It's a sad attempt for Microsoft to try to take over the open standard of TCP/IP and bastardize it to make money on licensing, just like DirectX (OpenGL), .NET (Java), MSSQL and more.

[Barden @ Dec 13th 2006 2:50PM]

And I, for one, welcome our new robotic overlords.

[Dae @ Dec 13th 2006 3:21PM]

Sigh.

It has become a fad or trend to mock Microsoft (and the President of the United States)

[FrankTheCrank @ Dec 13th 2006 3:29PM]

Look at that shit eating grin on Bill's face..
Is that the same shit eating grin Google has now?

[Gordy @ Dec 13th 2006 3:34PM]

Excellent...this may be the back door we need when robots take over the world years from now.

[Jean-Michel Decombe @ Dec 13th 2006 3:38PM]

As a Mac user and developer for 22 years, I have to say that MS is clearly thinking ahead here, even though robotics is nothing new, even for personal use; indeed, we have all played with virtual (Robotwar, etc.) and actual (Mindstorms, etc.) robots in the past. But that is nothing compared to what robotics will be in the next decade. That stuff will be *HUGE*.

[FuzzyOne @ Dec 13th 2006 4:02PM]

@Andir3.0

You truly are one of the many idiots I have the displeasure of coming accross day-to-day.

Your argument is pathetic with no basis.

As for the art, This is great news and hopefully there should be some great inovation show up in the furture.

[par @ Dec 13th 2006 5:25PM]

LOL!

The stuff about Microsoft trying to take over TCP/IP made me laugh my ass off! I'm still laughing as I'm writing this. oh my

[James @ Dec 13th 2006 5:34PM]

I had to spend a semester using the Zilog IDE -- one of the better single-product systems, I understand. Somebody mentioned earlier that MS's vulnerability is their user base, but it's also their biggest asset -- they get feedback constantly, and the have the money to do genuinely useful user studies. One-note companies like Zilog (yes, they make a number of different micros, etc., but they're nowhere near the scale of MS) struggle just to keep up fixing the bugs reported by current users. The latest version of their IDE looks like it was designed ten years ago. For that matter, it probably *was* designed around 1996, and only the internals have been updated since -- it works, why invest time and money in making it more user-friendly?

I would really welcome an attempt at a standard from a big gun like MS. I find Visual Studio to genuinely boost productivity over a simpler option like Textpad, and I don't have another 4 years to devote to getting an advanced degree in Emacs. The Visual Studio suite works for novices, and has enough power to sustain large projects too. I don't want to sound like a fanboy -- I'm not -- but as long as this stays free for hobbyists, I think it will really be a net force for good.

[quiksilver @ Dec 13th 2006 6:39PM]

How exactly is this related to their core competencies?

Sure they are creating software, but is it necessary? If they can do it well, then I give them props for that. And I guess they have some companies interested in it. I guess I'm somewhat skeptical.

[William @ Dec 14th 2006 12:59AM]

Microsoft announced this months ago:

http://www.gorobotics.net/The-News/Latest-News/Microsoft-Releases-Robotics-Studio/

[The Jeremy @ Dec 14th 2006 1:56PM]

Wow, so now Bill Gates wants to be Nolan Bushnell with this robotics fascination. How 1985 of him! :)

I wonder how Gates would do as President. With his wealth, I'm surprised he hasn't given it serious consideration...considering how much Bloomberg blew on becoming the mayor of NYC.

[The Jeremy @ Dec 14th 2006 2:00PM]

I take that back. Its not a motive to be Nolan Bushnell; he simply saw that episode of *The Simpsons* where in the future, iPods ruled humans. And in response, Gates has decided that he will personally make sure that it won't be iPods herding our offspring like cattle, but gigantic Zunes instead. Wait...not a lot of new design to go into that since the Zunes are already gigantic!