Microsoft Robotics Studio

The Microsoft Robotics Studio is a Windows-based environment for academic, hobbyist and commercial developers to easily create robotics applications across a wide variety of hardware.

Key features and benefits of the Microsoft Robotics Studio environment include:

• End-to-End Robotics Development Platform. Microsoft Robotics Studio includes a visual programming tool, making it easy to create and debug robot applications. Robotics Studio enables developers to generate modular services for hardware and software, allowing users to interact with robots through Web-based or Windows-based interfaces. Developers can also simulate robotic applications using realistic 3D models; Microsoft has licensed the PhysX engine from AGEIA, a pioneer in hardware-accelerated physics, enabling real-world physics simulations with robot models. The PhysX simulations can also be accelerated using AGEIA hardware.
• Lightweight services-oriented runtime. Microsoft Robotics Studio provides a lightweight services-oriented runtime. Using a .NET-based concurrency library, it makes asynchronous application development simple. The services, message-based architecture makes it simple to access the state of a robot’s sensors and actuators with a web browser, and its composable model enables building high-level functions using simple components and providing for reusability of code modules as well better reliability and replaceability.
• Scalable and extensible platform. Microsoft Robotics Studio programming model can be applied for a variety of robot hardware platforms, enabling users to transfer their learning skills across platforms. Third-parties can also extend the functionality of the platform by providing additional libraries and services. Both remote (PC-based) and robot-based (autonomous) execution scenarios can be developed using a selection of programming languages, including those included in Microsoft Visual Studio and Microsoft Visual Studio Express languages (C# and VB.NET), as well as Jscript and Microsoft Iron Python as well as third-party languages that conform to its services-based architecture.