Danger, Will Robinson! Microsoft offers DIY robotics tools

Adam Turner
Thursday, 14 December 2006 18:41

Opinion and Analysis

The one thing missing from my lounge room is a robot henchman to do my bidding - but do I really want a metallic manservant powered by Microsoft?

Microsoft has released a commercial version of Robotics Studio, programming tools intended to make it easier to write robot applications. The software is free for hobbyists and academic use, with commercial licenses starting at $US399.

Asimov never saw this coming. Had Bill Gates written the Laws of Robotics he surely would have added a fourth; "When unsure, a robot must crash and await further instructions".

Microsoft's Robotics Studio is compatible with Lego's Mindstorms robot kit, but I'm dreaming of something a little more ambitious. Still, do I really want a robot that freezes whenever I ask it to walk and chew gum at the same time?

I don't remember Geordi La Forge asking Captain Picard "Have you tried switching it off and on again?" over the communicator after Data blue-screened on an away mission. I don't remember Gort randomly rebooting because The Day the Earth Stood Still happened to be the first day of daylight savings.

So I think I'll pass on a Microsoft-powered robot - at least until they release Service Pack 1.