I’ve been programming on engineering related projects for over 20 years. I’ve specialized in Computer Aided Design applications for MicroStation systems primarily, but have the occasional database and web based projects too.
I’ve been getting up to speed using Microsoft Robotics Studio (MSRS) lately. Microsoft released version 1.5 at the first part of July. The products initial release was a little over a year ago.
Programming with MSRS involves two distinct learning curves. Working with the Visual Programming Language (VPL) is definitely the easier method that involves orchestrating services applicable to the program you’re creating and stringing together graphical drag and drop instructions.
With the new MSRS 1.5 an option of saving VPL coding to C# source code was added. Working with generated source code and developing new services involves a steeper learning curve. Knowledge of programming in the .NET Framework is needed. The Concurrency and Coordination Runtime (CCR) is used to handle asynchronous input and output with the robot’s sensors, actuators, and motors. Real-time Monitoring of the robot’s ports is provided through Decentralized Software Services (DSS). Knowledge of new C# 2.0 features like Generics, Enumerators, and recognizing programming patterns is helpful. Programming with C# is not the only option, you can use other .NET languages. The MSRS Developer Center provides tutorials on these topics.
MSRS is not limited to robotics only. Part of my interest with MSRS is to integrate CAD design models with real-world sensing and control techniques.