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Microsoft speeds up throughput in Robotics platform


By David Worthington
November 19, 2008 — 
The Bionic Woman wasn’t created using Windows, but there’d be nothing stopping someone from trying today. Microsoft’s latest robotics programming platform offers new simulation capabilities and faster throughput between services to help build the next generation of robots.

Microsoft delivered Robotics Developer Studio 2008 yesterday. The platform provides increased runtime performance, uses less network overhead and offers new tooling for configuring distributed applications and reviewing simulation experiences.

Runtime performance improvements in RDS 2008 provide 1.5 to 3 times faster message throughput between services, and services load twice as fast, according to the company. Developers may also define more-specific messages, thereby reducing network utilization and processor workload.

Microsoft achieved the performance increases by reducing memory allocation in the message path between services, removing contention points that would limit the potential for parallel execution, and simplifying service loading and instantiation, explained Tandy Trower, general manager of Microsoft Robotics.

The development studio contains the Concurrency and Coordination Runtime (CCR) and a distributed runtime called Decentralized Software Services (DSS).

Put simply, CCR coordinates components and transactions. Its companion DSS scales out across networks, or down in the case of robots, pushing service-oriented architecture to tiny devices, Trower, said in an interview last summer. The robotics group is transferring the runtimes to Microsoft’s developer division to become part of .NET.

Developers can run RDS 2008 in Visual Studio 2005 or 2008. The Visual Programming Language tool, used to create services, now has a method for defining and configuring distributed applications. It defines a node for each compute device in a distributed application, and each appears as a separate visual panel within the tool window that services can be added to, said Trower.

“These tools then generate individual manifests for each node. Manifests are special configuration files that define what services need to operate together. The tools also automatically fix up URIs [Uniform Resource Identifier] for partner services, depending on which node you dragged them [to],” he explained.

When a design is mature enough to be considered for production, developers can now use the studio’s Visual Simulation Environment to record and replay simulation experiences. VSE also provides a new floor-plan editor for recreating interior structures, as well as additional sample outdoors simulation environments. Additionally, it can import content from SolidWorks 3D CAD software and Microsoft’s own trueSpace 3D modeling software.

RDS 2008 retails for US$500 and will be available under Microsoft’s volume licensing program in February.

An express edition that targets hobbyists and students can be downloaded free of cost.


Related Search Term(s): robotics, Visual Studio, Microsoft


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