New version of Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 2008

I have been trying out Microsoft Robotics Studio ever since version 1.0. Despite the shortcomings of the product (compared to NXT-G), I like what Microsoft is trying to do in the robotics industry - i.e. create one 3-tier interface that is standardised and can be used to work with most of the robot vendors - including iRobot and LEGO MINDSTORMS.

Up to now, the biggest draw back in using MS Robotic Studio for me has been the lack of on-board support for the NXT. This means that if you want to give your NXT robot autonomy, you need to embed a Windows Mobile device (or a laptop) in the robot to control the NXT (via Bluetooth). However, it did not stop me from spending a lot of time and effort over the last 12 months learning to use it.

So when Microsoft announced the new CTP (Customer Technical Preview) version this week, I decided to try it out.

So far it seems to be pretty good.

The new version will be called 'Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 2008'. So they have moved away from the V1... V1.5... to 2008 to be consistent with the Visual Studio product family.

Incidentally, the new version is compatible with the new version of Visual Studio 2008 family - which is needed for it to run. It also works with the free version of Visual Studio 2008 (express edition)

The free download is available here.

There are a lot more new samples as well - the one that caught my eyes are:

- The XBox Controller Viewer sample shows support for use of interactive Silverlight-based UI
- Some really cool simulation samples

If you are Visual Studio developer, you would appreciate the new Visual Studio Project Wizards - rewritten to make it much simpler to create new service projects
directly from Visual Studio 2005 and 2008. The product also boasts faster compile time and the new DSS Log Analyzer (new debugging and monitoring tool that can visualize and analyze message exchanges between services sent between NXT and other nodes.

Why not give it a try? I must warn you it is a bit overwhelming at start if you are not used to the Microsoft developer tools - but given the popularity of the MS developer platform, it is definitely worth a try.

Tim

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The ROBOTMAK3RS continued their celebration of the 25th Anniversary of MINDSTORMS through these Fall and Winter remix projects. Each ROBOTMAK3R was tasked with selecting one LEGO set of their choice and combining it with a MINDSTORMS set. Below are the five amazing models they came up with. Braill3 by Jerry Nicholls Braill3 is an EV3-based LEGO Braille bricks reader. This robot uses its fingertip, made from three touch switches, to read messages written using the LEGO Braille bricks and will speak out what it detected. If it sees a simple maths problem it will attempt to solve it and give the answer as well. To learn more about the process of creating this machine, read Jerry's blog . Braill3 can be viewed here . Set Review: The Braille Bricks set is well thought out. The ratios of the letters is suitable for general use and the addition of some punctuation and arithmetic operators is excellent. There is a card showing what bricks there are and their quantities, but no form of sort...

Celebrating MINDSTORMS with a Remix - Part 2

The ROBOTMAK3RS continued their celebration of the 25th Anniversary of MINDSTORMS through these summer and fall remix projects. Each ROBOTMAK3R was tasked with selecting one LEGO set of their choice and combining it with a MINDSTORMS set. Below are the five amazing models they came up with. Remote controlled material handle r by Jozua van Ravenhorst (aka Mr Jo) This remix combines the LEGO Technic Material Handler (42144) with MINDSTORMS EV3 (31313) It uses the power of pneumatic cylinders to move objects around. By using a bluetooth remote control, very precise movements can be made with this model. Touch sensors in the base chassis prevent the turret twisting the cables that go through the turntable to much. The program has several protections to prevent over pressurizing the system for each of the 3 individual pumps and valves that control the 2 booms and claws. The real version of this machine is mostly used in waste material sites to bring the material to machines that sort and...

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In celebration of the 25th Anniversary of MINDSTORMS, we take a trip through history. Please also visit ROBOTMAK3RS Community every week as we highlight different projects all through 2023 in celebration of the anniversary. Some of the early history is based on the content shared by Coder Shah in our MINDSTORMS EV3 Community Group . Some of the text and links may have been edited from his original posts for consistency and clarity. 1984 - Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen watched a TV program called "Talking Turtle," where MIT professor Seymour Papert demonstrated how children could control robot "turtles" using LOGO, a programming language he developed. 1988 - The collaboration between MIT and LEGO resulted in LEGO TC Logo in 1988, which allowed students to control LEGO models using computer commands. The video shows Papert demonstrating TC Logo. 1990 - LEGO TC Logo was hampered since the robots you built had to be tethered to a personal computer. LEGO and MIT...

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