Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio (MRDS) offers an exciting new wayto program robots in the Windows environment. With key portions of the MRDS code available in source form, it is readily extensible and offers numerous opportunities for programmers and hobbyists. This comprehensive book illustrates creative ways to use the tools and libraries in MRDS so you can start building innovative new robotics applications.

The book begins with a brief overview of MRDS and then launches into MRDS concepts and takes a look at fundamental code patterns that can be used in MRDS programming. You'll work through examples—all in C#—of common tasks, including an examination of the physics features of the MRDS simulator. As the chapters progress, so does the level of difficulty and you'll gradually evolve from navigating a simple robot around a simulated course to controlling simulated and actual robotic arms, and finally, to an autonomous robot that runs with an embedded PC or PDA.  

What you will learn from this book

• How to program in the multi-threaded environment provided by the concurrency and coordination runtime
• Suggestions for starting and stopping services, configuring services, and packaging your services for deployment
• Techniques for building new services from scratch and then testing them
• How to build your own simulated environments and robots using the Visual Simulation Environment
• What robots are supported under MRDS and how to select one for purchase

 

Who this book is for

This book is for programmers who are interested in becoming proficient in the rapidly growing field of robotics. All examples featured in the book are in C#, which is the preferred language for MRDS.

Beginning Kinect Programming with the Microsoft Kinect SDK gets you up and running developing Kinect applications for your PC using Microsoft tools and the official SDK. You will have a working Kinect program by the end of the first chapter! The following chapters will open up the secrets of three-dimensional vision, skeleton tracking, audio through the Kinect, and more. Examples illustrate the concepts in the form of simple games that react to your body movements. The result is a fun read that helps you learn one of the hottest technologies out there today.

Beginning Kinect Programming with the Microsoft Kinect SDK also provides building blocks and ideas for mashing up the Kinect with other technologies to create art, interactive games, 3D models and enhanced office automation. You'll learn the fundamental code basic to almost all Kinect applications. You'll learn to integrate that code with other tools and manipulate data to create amazing Kinect applications. Beginning Kinect Programming with the Microsoft Kinect SDK is your gateway into the exciting world of three-dimensional, real-time computer interaction.

• Helps you create a proper development environment for Kinect applications.
• Covers the basics of three-dimensional vision, skeleton tracking, gesture recognition, and audio
• Provides fun examples that keep you engaged and learning

What you’ll learn

• Create a proper development environment
• Work with data streams from the Kinect sensor
• Use skeleton-tracking for interactive applications
• Build speech-aware applications
• Develop simple, Kinect-based games for the PC
• Learn the underlying math involved in three-dimensional programming

Who this book is for

Beginning Kinect Programming with the Microsoft Kinect SDK is for Microsoft developers who want to learn to program for the newest and coolest Microsoft input device. The book assumes familiarity, but not expertise, with WPF and C#. Developers will be able to use their current knowledge and experience with the Microsoft stack to build new types of applications that have never been possible before. Most of all, this book is for developers who want to go beyond simply creating data-entry applications and recapture the fun of creating software.

Table of Contents

1. Getting Started with Kinect
2. Application Fundamentals
3. Depth Image Processing
4. Kinect Skeletons
5. Advanced Skeleton Tracking
6. Kinect Gestures
7. Speech
8. Beyond the Basics

Get the practical reference to programming robotic applications by using the Microsoft Robotics Studio. Ideal for programmers familiar with Windows® based development using Microsoft Visual Studio® and the Microsoft .NET Framework, this guide expertly illustrates how to use the Robotics Studio. You ll discover how to use the services provided in the Robotics Studio to handle navigation and remote control, speech, video, and intelligent behavior in a robotic device. It includes coverage of the included Visual Programming Language, plus code examples in Microsoft Visual C#®.

Key Book Benefits:

Delivers practical guidance about how services relate to programming robots

Provides references to simulations, navigation and remote control, speech and video, and much more

Features sample code in Visual Programming Language and Visual C#