RoboticsStudio
Latest
Robosoft shows off Microsoft Robotics Studio-based service robot
It looks like France's Robosoft is keen on getting its robots into as many places as possible, with it now following up its RobuCab and RobuDog with a service robot designed to help the elderly and disabled. Like the RobuDog, this one makes heavy use of Microsoft Robotics Studio, and provides just about all the features you'd expect from a 24-hour monitoring bot, including daily reminders, remote teleconferencing abilities, scaring off of house pets, and alerts if the patient falls or is in trouble. The company apparently even hopes to add cleaning capabilities to the mix, although there's no indication as to when the robot will actually be put into service. Head on past the break for a glimpse of it in action.
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?
