Announcements

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  RDS 4 & Kinect for Windows SDK 1.5 + Windows 8 Release Preview + Visual Studio 2012

  Gershon Parent Monday, June 04, 2012 8:50 PM

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  RDS 4 & Kinect for Windows SDK 1.5 + Windows 8 Release Preview + Visual Studio 2012

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  Three new technologies that impact RDS4 have been released recently:

  1. Kinect for Windows SDK version 1.5
  2. Windows 8 Release Preview
  3. Visual Studio 2012 RC

  All of these have been tested with RDS 4 and there are a few issues to be aware of when using them with RDS 4.

  Kinect for Windows SDK version 1.5

  Version 1.5 is 100% compatible with RDS 4 on Windows 7 with Visual Studio 2010.  The built-in services as well as the user-built samples will continue to work as they have before.  The new features such as Near Mode, Seated Mode, and Facial Tracking will not automatically be exposed, but the sample code for the RDS4 Kinect service is provided and can be used as an example of how to add the new features.  If someone out there in the RDS community creates an updated service that exposes new features, we invite you to share it with the RDS community by posting a link in the RDS Community Forum http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/roboticscommunity/threads.

  Windows 8 Release Preview

  RDS 4 has been tested on Windows 8 Release Preview and while all the services can be built and run for  Windows 8, there are a couple issues to be aware of:

  • When building some of the samples, you may see a the following warning: “warning MSB3270: There was a mismatch between the processor architecture of the project being built…”.  This is an innocuous warning.  You can eliminate the warning for any service by editing the project file and explicitly setting the target architecture.
  • The setup and building of some samples may report errors indicating that Silverlight 4 Toolkit is required.  The Silverlight 4 Toolkit will not install on Windows 8.  The workaround is to install the Silverlight 5 Toolkit from here: http://silverlight.codeplex.com/releases/view/78435

  Visual Studio 2012 Release Candidate

  The Express version of Visual Studio 2012 will only open Windows 8 Metro Style app projects.  You can build the RDS samples from the command-line using the DSS Command Prompt, but you will not be able to open the projects.

  • The Release Candidate of Visual Studio 2012 Ultimate is a free download.  It will eventually expire, but it is the best choice to try Visual Studio 2012 with RDS 4 at this time.  Complete Beta Readme can be found here: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=237568
  • Installing VS 2012 upgrades the .NET runtime to 4.5.  The pre-built Kinect RDS4 service samples will no longer run because they specifically targeted .NET 4.0, however the source code for the Kinect samples is included and they can be built with VS 2012 RC and these user-built versions will work.
    • Samples built by the user are referred to as “User” version of the services and if they have partner requirements on other samples they will expect the “User” versions of partners as well.
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  Announcing Robotics Developer Studio 4

  Thursday, March 08, 2012 8:28 AM
   

  Announcing Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 4

  Today (8^th March) we’re announcing the general availability of Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 4 (RDS 4). The package can be downloaded for free. It was just over five months ago that we announced the availability of RDS 4 Beta and since then, the Microsoft Robotics team has been hard at work putting the final touches on RDS 4 to give developers access to the software they need to build robotics applications.

  Since the Beta, our number one focus has been on improving the overall quality and stability of RDS 4. We’ve fixed a number of important issues in the product as well as made improvements to existing samples. Additionally, we updated RDS 4 to work with the release version of the Kinect for Windows SDK.

  It is our goal to deliver a great product that meets the needs of the developer and hobbyist communities. We are already seeing RDS 4 being utilized to develop some interesting applications. Speaking of which, last fall, we announced the Robotics @ Home competition, and are thrilled with the submissions we’ve received. Today, we’re excited to reveal the competition’s 10 finalists. Visit the Robotics @ Home Finalists page to read more about the finalists, including how they think robotics will change the world and what they would do with the prize winnings. We look forward to announcing the grand prize winner in May of this year.

  We have tested RDS 4 on Windows 8 Consumer Preview with Visual Studio 11 Beta. However, these are beta products so RDS 4 is not officially supported for use with them, but we know it works.

  Also, our team has been using RDS 4 for a while now and we’ve come up with a few cool and unique applications. Check out the video of the Follow Me robot, created by our team.

  From all of us on the Microsoft Robotics team, we’d like to thank you for your continued support and your feedback on RDS 4, which helped get us to where we are today. As always, you can use the Robotics Forums to send us any additional questions and suggestions.

  NOTE: Please install Visual Studio 2010 and the Kinect for Windows SDK V1 before you install RDS 4.