MSDN Magazine - June 2008 - (Page 64)

R o b ot i c s Simulating The World With Microsoft Robotics Studio sara Morgan Don’t let the name fool you. Microsoft® Robotics Studio (MSRS) is more than just a way to play with robots. Released almost two years ago by Microsoft Research and virtually ignored by everyday business application developers, MSRS allows you to build service-based applications for a wide range of hardware devices. The toolkit includes a runtime that should be instantly familiar to Windows® Communication Framework (WCF) developers. Additionally, it features a Visual Programming Language (VPL) tool and Visual Simulation Environment (VSE). MSRS offers a service-oriented runtime, along with the tools needed to design and deploy robotics-based applications. It includes visual authoring tools, tutorials, and documentation dethis article discusses: • building the robot animation • building the environment • Driving a robot or simulation • creating entities technologies discussed: c#, Robotics studio code download available at: msdn2.microsoft.com/magazine/cc135911 64 msdn magazine signed to jump-start developers new to the world of robotics. Commercial developers must purchase the toolkit for a small fee, but hobbyists and academic researchers are able to download and use it free of charge. The MSRS runtime is composed of two lower-level runtimes that sit atop the CLR 2.0. These two runtimes are the Decentralized Software Services (DSS) and the Coordination and Concurrency Runtime (CCR). DSS is a lightweight, service-oriented runtime that is based on the Representation State Transfer (REST) principles, which are used to power the Web. CCR is a Microsoft .NET Framework library that supports asynchronous processing. This is extremely important for robotics applications, as data is constantly being sent and received from numerous sensors and actuators. Along with the runtime, the MSRS toolkit includes a VPL tool that allows you to build robotics applications by simply dragging and dropping elements onto a design surface. MSRS also includes a VSE which allows you to experiment with complex simulations involving multiple robots and obstacles. This is the portion of MSRS that I will focus on in this article. I’ll cover the visual simulation environment and walk through the steps necessary for creating a simulation using a new robotic entity. The good news is that you do not need your own physical robot to work with the code discussed in this article. That’s what makes simulations so attractive—they provide an opportunity to learn without an investment in expensive hardware and equipment. msdn2.microsoft.com/magazine/cc135911

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of MSDN Magazine - June 2008

MSDN Magazine - June 2008 Contents Toolbox CLR Inside Out Cutting Edge Patterns In Practice SAAS Concurrency Robotics Form Filler GUI Library Service Station Foundations Windows With C++ Concurrent Affairs Going Places { End Bracket }

MSDN Magazine - June 2008

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