robotics and .net

1

Robotics And .Net

Philip WheatSingularity Innovations

2

The State of Robotics• After being a “up and coming” technology for

almost 50 years, Robotics is now coming into the mainstream

• While Self Driving Cars, Roombas, and Drones take front stage – factors such as 3D printers are helping push the boundaries

• Internet of Things push will continue to create more forms and usages of Robotics

3

The State of .Net• .Net can be found from the top of the computing

world to the bottom• As a managed environment though, .Net still

provides some challenges• Microsoft Robotics Studio seems to be on hiatus• Managed languages on the rise in lots of places• Javascript is now a key language again

4

So what gives?• Lots of .Net experience in the world• Managed Languages still help rapid development• Javascript performance is up, but requires good

hardware to accelerate• Robotics still has a lot of incompatible approaches• .Net has lots of depth for approaching most

problems.• Stack needs to be mixed – you need the correct

software environment at the correct level

5

Examples of Uses• Mission Planner for ArduCopter/Plane

6

Examples of Uses• Guesture controlled Skateboards

7

Examples of Uses• Robotic Shopping cart

8

Parts of your Robotic System• Robots have 3 basic parts– Inputs (your sensors)– Processor (your control process)– Outputs (your action systems)

• Turtles aren’t just for beginning programming (ie, each of these systems can be made up of the same 3 systems.)

• Know the boundaries and focus on those

9

Inputs (sensors)• Sensors can be a .Net target or not – primarily

depending on complexity• Many sensors are either tightly integrated to their

processors or may even require no processors• Larger scale sensors such as vision systems are a

target for

10

Processor• Put high level control here• Balance resources with need• .Net allows lots of flexibility in resources

11

Outputs• Direct control is useful• Systems with output should have heartbeats• Balance resources with responsiveness