'Robotrealm'

[Barnaby]

Hi everyone!

I've heard of Microsoft Robot Realm, apparently it's quite a good program, but I searched it and I can hardly find anything about it!  What does it do, and where can I get it?  Is it free? (I hope so )

Thanks for your help,
Barnaby

[Steve Joblin]

Microsoft has a product called Microsoft Robotics Studio (referred to as MSRS)... you can find out about it here:  http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/robotics/default.aspx

RoboRealm is free downloadable software for vision processing... you can find out about it here:  www.roborealm.com

Take a look at the two links, then post any specific questions you may have.

[airman00]

anybody recommend MSRS?

[Barnaby]

Thanks a lot- I'll have a look at the 'Microsoft robotics studio', it looks good.  Is it for programming pics easily?  The website isn't particularly informative.  Robotrealm-Vision control.  A bit advanced for me at the moment, I've only just started.
Thanks,
Barnaby

[airman00]

in what language are you programming PICs in?

[Admin]

You may find this computer vision tutorial useful to conceptually understand what RoboRealm does:
http://www.societyofrobots.com/programming_computer_vision_tutorial.shtml


As for MSRS, I don't see how it's useful for homebrew robots at all - its meant for only programming of commercially available robots/kits . . . It crashed multiple times on me when I tried to install it, so I just gave up and never tried it out . . . But hey its microsoft so no surprise there

[airman00]

Do you know of a program that would be good for simulation of homebrew robots?

[Admin]

Depends a lot on what you want to simulate and why. Do you just want vision simulation?

Supposedly gazebo/player is good but it was far from user friendly when I tried to get it to work.

I ended up writing my own dos based simulation for my iRobot Create (my source is included) simply because it was easier/faster than testing the navigation/mapping code on a real robot.

[DomoArigato]

I'm working on a 2d robot simulator written in Java.  The goal is to provide a very simple way to simulate homebrew robots based off a 2d paradigm.  I'm using java2d for the physics and hoping to get a significant portion of it done this Christmas break.  If anyone is interested in working on it with me I would be grateful for the help.  The goal of the project is this:  I want to be able to develop an algorithm, get it working in a simple simulation environment, then once I get the algorithm working, implement it in the real world.  I don't expect it to be a perfect simulation, but it will be simple and straightforward for someone familiar with java or c++.

[Admin]

I don't expect it to be a perfect simulation, but it will be simple and straightforward for someone familiar with java or c++.

Any chance can you throw it all into a GUI?

I really really need a physics simulator for my robots, such as for stair climbing and bipeds . . . but I'd rather a plug and play vs writing code method to do it . . .

[paulstreats]

i did the same thing,  made a 2d simulator in java. Its basically just a top view of a diff drive bot, it doesnt do any physics or mechanical calculations or testing. Ive made a few sensor type bits for it. Its main use is for testing my software and trying to develop an effective ai.

[Admin]

you know . . . what would be even nicer is a simulator you can put on a webpage, maybe using shockwave or java . . . hint hint

[DomoArigato]

Paul, thats exactly what I'm trying to do, maybe we could collaborate.  Admin, it can easily be put into an applet, but simulating a walker robot would be pretty hard to do plug and play style.  I dunno, I've never tried anything like that before.

[paulstreats]

you know . . . what would be even nicer is a simulator you can put on a webpage, maybe using shockwave or java . . . hint hint

Ill have to think how to implement this. Right now i just add my new code into main program and recompile it. To make it useful for everybody, it would need to be precompiled with someway to script to it live. It would be probably just as easy to make it understand a kind of psuedo code.

I think ill work on this after my current user tutorial for everybody to use..

Domo - I would be happy to work with you on a project such as this. I have a few ideas right now on how to make it a competetive simulator in the wide world of 2d robotics

[paulstreats]

On another thought, rather than just use my set robot in a simulator, there is no reason why there cant be a robot builder part to it with standard parts, dimensions and actions. If these are put in correctly there is easily room to add a 3d view as well as just a 2d view. Meaning that it could also become a cad package.
Im quite excited about this idea again now because if its implemented correctly at the start it can become a much larger thing than just a standard simulator

[airman00]

i did the same thing,  made a 2d simulator in java. Its basically just a top view of a diff drive bot, it doesnt do any physics or mechanical calculations or testing. Ive made a few sensor type bits for it. Its main use is for testing my software and trying to develop an effective ai.

have you posted this simulator yet?


I found this thread from one of my searches  btw , and decided to resurrect it

[paulstreats]

I kind of got put off the idea / sidetracked a few months ago. Trying to make something like this can be custom made easily for my own needs but trying to make something for everybody to use would be very difficult.

 I might make a limited simple applet though (probably with a simple robot like the $0 robot) and increase functionality through user comments. Its quite a daunting task for 1 person when you really look at the details of how it would work.

 Flag me up again in a month or so if you havent heard any progress from me.  (I'll probably start a new thread about it)

[ankit_ipu_niec]

Download Roborealm for free from here

http://www.roborealm.com/registration/index.php