Microsoft Moves into RoboticsContinued from page 1
Programming frameworks such as Pyro and network robot control servers such as Player/Stage are already used by Balch and others. But none of them has become a standard. And Microsoft has struggled to capture the market: the company's WinCE software never took off as an embedded operating system for robots. As a result, integration remains a piecemeal, often onerous task. "Integration is the hardest part of the process," says Balch; in fact, for larger robotics projects, he's contracted with companies that specialize in robotics integration, such as Evolution Robotics. Paolo Pirjanian, president and CTO of Evolution Robotics, also attended the RoboBusiness conference this June, and was one of the few voices to express concerns about Microsoft's move into robotics. He says it's not just because his company markets its own ERSP robotics platform, which he says is "similar in spirit to MSRS." "I think it's a positive signal to the industry," Pirjanian says about Microsoft's entry into robotics and about Trower's statement at RoboBusiness that he sees the industry taking off in 5 to 10 years. However, Pirjanian says he's concerned that adopting Microsoft's product as a platform could marginalize an entire segment of robotics, one he feels is crucial for its future. "Our vision [of robotics' future] is embedded solutions onto low-cost hardware," Pirjanian says. "In most robots in the near future, products will have to be cost-optimized," he said. This, he added, would mean lower-cost processors--the type that could not support the overhead required by Windows and MSRS. Pirjanian pointed to the Roomba, which uses only a 16-bit processor, coupled with clever programming, to reach a consumer price point. But small, specialized, and relatively unintelligent robots seem to have no place in the thinking of Microsoft's Trower. He waxes enthusiastic about a day when his desktop computer can control household devices, displacing the autonomy of robots to a centralized source. |
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Democratizing Robot Design
07/12/2007
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Comments
Tom B
09/05/2006
Posts:10
How are they going to handle it when the robot goes to sleep ... or as Microsoft likes to call it "Hibernate" mode. Mac conquerored this by offering an instant wake from sleep mode ... Microsoft on the other hand - you get to wait 15 seconds to 2 minutes dependning on the background processes you have running in order to wake from sleep.
...Just imagine a robot that was supposed to wake the family incase of a fire .... it's internal sensor goes off and you get to wait 2 minutes until it wakes from sleep/hibernate mode before it can go get the family out of bed ... hm. Gotta love the 21st century.
roadieGirl
09/06/2006
Posts:2
Windows CE is a very clean and uncluttered system that has been optimised for industry.
I worked for the Muratec-USA Corporation and actually built 56 Windows based CNC punch presses.
This is an important milestone in robotics. I wish I would have had these tools back in 1998 when I was doing my work!
Braxton
09/07/2006
Posts:4
It is true that these boards will never compete with the 16-bit processor market, but then I don't expect that the Robot market place will be dominated solely by low cost, single purpose, consumer appliances, for the same reason that cell phones are not limited to simply making phone calls, and now include WiFi, media playback, and broadband internet accesss. The proliferation of new features in Robotic devices and the corresponding complexity, will demand some sort of common infrastructure and MSRS is a step in the right direction.
jywilson
09/11/2006
Posts:1