Create Robots With Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 2008 R3

The Microsoft^® Robotics Developer Studio 2008 R3 (Microsoft RDS) is a Windows^®-based environment for academic, hobbyist, and commercial developers to easily create robotics applications across a wide variety of hardware. All previous editions of Microsoft RDS 2008 R2 (Express, Standard and Academic) have been combined into one new version, RDS 2008 R3 and can be downloaded at no charge.
The Microsoft CCR and DSS Toolkit 2008 R2 is no longer available as a standalone product and is now included for no charge with RDS 2008 R3.
RDS 2008 R3 includes a lightweight asynchronous services-oriented runtime, a set of visual authoring and simulation tools, as well as templates, tutorials, and sample code to help you get started.
Microsoft® Robotics Developer Studio 2008 R3 enables hobbyists and professional or non-professional developers to create robotics applications targeting a wide range of scenarios. The R3 release is a minor update that has the functionality of the previous Standard Edition, but is available at no cost to all users. As of the R3 release there are no separate Editions and only a single download.

Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio can support a broad set of robotics platforms by either running directly on the platform (if it has an embedded PC running Windows) or controlling it from a Windows PC through a communication channel such as Wi-Fi or Bluetooth®.

In addition to providing support for Microsoft Visual Studio 2010, Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 2008 R3 provides a Visual Programming Language (VPL) which allows developers to create applications simply by dragging and dropping components onto a canvas and wiring them together.

The powerful Visual Simulation Environment (VSE) provides a high-fidelity simulation environment powered by NVIDIA™ PhysX™ engine for running game-quality 3D simulations with real-world physics interactions.

To help developers getting started, the Robotics Developer Studio contains extensive documentation and a large set of samples and tutorials that illustrate how to write applications ranging from simple "Hello Robot" to complex applications that simultaneously run on multiple robots.

• Supported Operating Systems:Windows 7;Windows Vista;Windows XP

Important: Make sure you have the latest service pack and critical updates for the version of Windows that you are running. To find recent security updates, visit Windows Update.

1. Install Visual Studio 2008 or 2010 with C# if you plan to write new services for RDS
2. Click the Download button on this page to start the download
3. Do one of the following:
   • To start the installation immediately, click Run.
   • To save the download to your computer for installation at a later time, click Save. (Recommended)
   • To cancel the installation, click Cancel.
4. Answer the prompts. Note that the CCR and DSS Runtime will be installed first. If you want to remove RDS later, you must also remove the CCR and DSS Runtime afterwards.
5. When the installation is complete, look in the Start Menu under Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 2008 R3 and run Build All Samples. This is a separate manual step that takes several minutes.

Download Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 2008 R3

http://www.microsoft.com/robotics/

'Robotic legs' help stroke patients to walk again

Brain injuries from accidents, or strokes, leave many people unable to walk.

Now a Japanese company has developed what may be a way forward.
It is a robotic wrap around belt and legs, like a mechanical pair of trousers, that can be attached to a patient to help them stand up and take steps.
Even one of the worst health crises of her long life does not stop Nobuko Nishi smiling.
The 77-year-old beams at the doctors and nurses as she uses her right leg to scoot her wheelchair down a corridor in a hospital outside Tokyo.
A month ago she had a stroke and it has left her left side severely weakened.
Her left arm is in a sling, her left leg propped up on a footrest.
Mrs Nishi has been chosen to try out a new device developed to help people like her walk again. It is a pair of robotic legs.
A physiotherapist helps strap her in. From a hip joint there are struts running down the outside of her thighs, to another joint level with her knees.
The metal and plastic rods also run down her calves to special shoes she can put her feet in.
The two limbs are joined together by a wide belt that goes round the back of Mrs Nishi's hips.
Ageing society The rehabilitation room is full of other elderly patients who have had strokes.
Japan is, after all, one of the most rapidly ageing societies in the world.
Some are being massaged to ease tightened muscles. Others are learning to walk again, gingerly clinging on to parallel bars.

Many turn to look as Mrs Nishi grasps the back of a chair, and with a whirr of motors rises to her feet.
"Before I could walk without any difficulty, but because of my stroke I've had to start again from the scratch," she says.
"It's very difficult to get on my feet. I am delighted that with the help of Roboto-san - Mr Robot - I can actually move again."
After just a few minutes Mrs Nishi feels up to trying the stairs. She is a little unsteady, but manages to get up and down without any mishaps.
The Hybrid Assistive Limb has been developed by a company called Cyberdyne, and is now being tried out in hospitals in Japan.
Sensor pads on the skin pick up the body's electrical signals. When the patient moves her leg, the machine moves in unison.
It is rather like having an extra set of muscles to help out.
A full body suit is also available, which the company suggests could be used by staff who need to move patients in nursing homes, in factories where heavy lifting is needed or disaster zones.
Mrs Nishi's doctor, Shinichiro Maeshima, says the robotic legs help motivate patients and staff during rehabilitation.
And he hopes the technology could one day offer the hope that people who have been paralysed will be able to walk again.
"It is very important to mix up medicine and technology," he says. "Our target is that the patient becomes happy and lives comfortably."
Guide dog alternative Other firms in Japan are also trying to apply robotics to the needs of the ageing population.
In Osaka a company called Vstone has developed a machine they hope could one day usurp the role of guide dogs.
About the size of a child it can talk, move its arms and head, and travel about on wheels. With cameras in the place of eyes it can see where it is going and recognise faces.
"He can speak with humans," says Naoki Shibatani as the robot runs through its routine. "He would work at a hospital or nursing home, or a shopping avenue.
"His job is a guide and we want this robot to lead a blind person."
With a nod to the Japanese enthusiasm for things to be kawaii, or cute, the robot has been designed to be endearing.
When setting off it politely asks the user, "Shall we go for a walk", and offers a hand to hold.
It is a vision of the future in which robots do not just help people to walk, but are companions in life.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-11885766 

SpaceX Dragon Spaceplane

SpaceX has just successfully launched a spacecraft in the world's first privately owned, with the launch of Dragon spacecraft is powered by a rocket Falcon 9.
SpaceX itself was founded in 2002 by South African internet entrepreneur, Elon Musk. Reportedly, since SpaceX stand, the company had spent about $ 600 million for the development of Dragon spacecraft and Falcon rockets.
SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket made by a high about 55 meters (180 feet) and width of 3.6 meters (12 feet).
Meanwhile, the Dragon spacecraft consists of the capsule and place the goods (trunk), the total length of about 6 meters (20 feet) and maximum width of the cabin interior about 3 meters (10 feet).

At the top there is the Dragon capsule cover (nose cap), which will be released after Dragon left the earth's atmosphere.
Dragon capsule is designed to be able to load the cargo and crew numbered up to seven astronauts.
Section 7 capsule can have a volume of cubic meters. Its exterior is equipped with the Thruster to maneuver.
While part of the goods (trunk) which is located below the capsule, can carry additional cargo cubic with a volume of up to 14 cubic meters. On the outside of the trunk, there are two solar panels that will supply energy for this spacecraft.
according to Space.com, this space capsule named Dragon according to the title of a song 'Puff the Magic Dragon' sung by the music group Peter, Paul and Mary.
Because, at that time many critics who assess the SpaceX project is something that is not possible. The rocket made by SpaceX, Falcon named according to the spacecraft's fictional character of Hans Solo in the movie "Star Wars".
NASA will use the Dragon spacecraft to transport their cargo load to the International Space Station. SpaceX has scheduled flights to fly at least 12 missions to supply the needs of NASA to the space station until the year 2016.

History of Robot

• ~270BC an ancient Greek engineer named Ctesibus made organs and water clocks with movable figures.
• 1818 - Mary Shelley wrote "Frankenstein" which was about a frightening artificial lifeform created by Dr. Frankenstein.
• 1921 - The term "robot" was first used in a play called "R.U.R." or "Rossum's Universal Robots" by the Czech writer Karel Capek. The plot was simple: man makes robot then robot kills man!
• 1941 - Science fiction writer Isaac Asimov first used the word "robotics" to describe the technology of robots and predicted the rise of a powerful robot industry.
• 1942 - Asimov wrote "Runaround", a story about robots which contained the "Three Laws of Robotics":
  • A robot may not injure a human, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
  • A robot must obey the orders it by human beings except where such orders would conflic with the First Law.
  • A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict withe the First or Second Law.
• 1948 - "Cybernetics", an influence on artificial intelligence research was published by Norbert Wiener
• 1956 - George Devol and Joseph Engelberger formed the world's first robot company.
• 1959 - Computer-assisted manufacturingg was demonstrated at the Servomechanisms Lab at MIT.
• 1961 - The first industrial robot was online in a General Motors automobile factory in New Jersey. It was called UNIMATE.
• 1963 - The first artificial robotic arm to be controlled by a computer was designed. The Rancho Arm was designed as a tool for the handicapped and it's six joints gave it the flexibility of a human arm.
• 1965 - DENDRAL was the first expert system or program designed to execute the accumulated knowledge of subject experts.
• 1968 - The octopus-like Tentacle Arm was developed by Marvin Minsky.
• 1969 - The Stanford Arm was the first electrically powered, computer-controlled robot arm.
• 1970 - Shakey was introduced as the first mobile robot controlled by artificial intellence. It was produced by SRI International.
• 1974 - A robotic arm (the Silver Arm) that performed small-parts assembly using feedback from touch and pressure sensors was designed.
• 1979 - The Standford Cart crossed a chair-filled room without human assistance. The cart had a tv camera mounted on a rail which took pictures from multiple angles and relayed them to a computer. The computer analyzed the distance between the cart and the obstacles.