At the RoboBusiness Conference and Exposition in Pittsburgh, Microsoft Corp. released the first community technology preview (CTP) of Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 2008, the new version of its robotics programming platform.

The new Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 2008 includes an increased runtime performance, improved distributed computational capabilities and tool improvements.

Microsoft released the first Robotics Studio in 2006. Microsoft also announced that Aldebaran Robotics has joined the Microsoft Robotics Supporting Partner Program. Microsoft is working with Aldebaran to bring services and simulation capabilities for the Nao robot to the Microsoft robotics platform. We reported about French Aldebaran's Nao robot in the past.

Microsoft Robotics Studio and Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 2008 are available as a free download for use in noncommercial applications.
More details are available on the Microsoft Robotics Site.

Microsoft also announced that RoboChamps, a virtual robotics competition built atop Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 2008, will be launched on April 21st at this site.
RoboChamps was developed in conjunction with members of the partner community, including SimplySim, whose simulation environments are used in the competition.