Thursday, June 22, 2006
Bill Gates Does the Robot
Us Zunchers in the Dev Pit (soon to be the Dev Office Array, hah) love to geek-out on anything cool going on in the wild world of tech-knowledgy, so the idea of dabbling in robotics raises more than one eyebrow in this pleasant little cube farm we call home 2.0.
This week, Microsoft announced Microsoft Robotics Studio, a new software suite designed to help simplify the process of interfacing with robotics hardware. The current system will integrate with the upcoming Lego Mindstorms NXT robotics hardware kit, and is geared towards early adopters in Industry as well as collegiate and hobbyist users. It’s also going to expand to support many other robots from other manufacturers.
The application integrates everything you need – a visual programming tool, debug support, modular interface support (for windows/web based controls), *and* a 3D physics engine for doing real-world simulations so you don’t destroy your hardware when you try something.
We are unsure yet on whether the robot will require product activation in order to function. :-)
This week, Microsoft announced Microsoft Robotics Studio, a new software suite designed to help simplify the process of interfacing with robotics hardware. The current system will integrate with the upcoming Lego Mindstorms NXT robotics hardware kit, and is geared towards early adopters in Industry as well as collegiate and hobbyist users. It’s also going to expand to support many other robots from other manufacturers.
The application integrates everything you need – a visual programming tool, debug support, modular interface support (for windows/web based controls), *and* a 3D physics engine for doing real-world simulations so you don’t destroy your hardware when you try something.
We are unsure yet on whether the robot will require product activation in order to function. :-)