Today, at the RoboBusiness Conference and Exposition in Pittsburgh, Microsoft Corp. released the first community technology preview (CTP) of Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 2008, the new version of its robotics programming platform. Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 2008 contains improvements in its runtime performance, distributed computational capabilities and tools.

Scheduled for release later this year, the first preview of the product is now available for evaluation and testing by developers, customers and partners. Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 2008 is a Windows-based environment that can be used by academic, hobbyist and commercial developers for the creation of a variety of robotic programs and testing scenarios.

Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 2008 includes the following new elements:

• Increased runtime performance. Performance improvements of 150 percent to 300 percent in message throughput between services within a node and between DSS nodes. Services now load 200 percent faster.
• Improved distributed computational capabilities. Support for distributed language integrated queries (LINQ), which reduces network utilization and simplifies service authoring. LINQ support enables advanced filtering and inline processing of sensor data at the source.
• Improvements to tools. The ability to visually define computational domains within the Microsoft Visual Programming Language (VPL) tool, providing for easier accessibility to managing distributed execution. The Visual Simulation Environment (VSE) tool adds the ability to record and play back simulations, which allows for easier sharing of running simulation experiences. In addition, VSE adds a new floorplan editor to simplify the definition of complicated structures and interiors.