Foreword

I am pleased to have the opportunity to introduce this book and Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio to its audience. I hope that the combination helps foster the creation of interesting applications for robots because it is clear that the key to the success of this emerging new industry is software that delivers value.

Anyone who has been around for a while recognizes that the current robotics industry has many similarities to the early PC industry. Both are characterized by both the tremendous passion and anticipation of the early pioneers and questions about the value of the technology. With the advent of word processing, spreadsheets, and thousands of other applications, no one asks me any longer why I own a PC. In fact, most of them also own PCs. Similarly, the personal robotics market that is just emerging has the same or even greater potential if the creativity of its community can be unlocked.

It is the vision and energy of the existing robotics community that directly contributed to Microsoft investing in the creation of Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio. While many employees at Microsoft have had a personal interest in robotics, it was not until the leadership from diverse parts of the robotics community invited Microsoft to participate that the company decided to get started. Until that time, robotics developers were considered part of an audience consisting of casual, academic, and professional developers who might use Visual Studio and our embedded operating ...

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