Microsoft Bringing Robot OS to Windows -- Redmondmag.com

Microsoft Bringing Robot OS to Windows

By Kurt Mackie
10/01/2018

Microsoft is working to bring the Linux-based Robot Operating System (ROS) to Windows.

To that end, it joined the open source ROS Industrial Consortium and is working with the Open Robotics organization with a focus on industrial robotics systems, Microsoft announced on Friday. Microsoft also released ROS1, an experimental version of the Windows OS, as announced at the ROSCon 2018 event last week. Windows ROS1 is based on the Windows 10 IoT Enterprise edition.

Microsoft is promising to support Windows ROS with Visual Studio integrated development environment tooling. It's also adding connections to various Azure services, including Cognitive Services, Machine Learning and IoT. In particular, it's integrating ROS with Azure IoT Hub, which is used for the remote management of systems.

Here's how Microsoft's announcement described that effort:

Microsoft is also showcasing a ROS simulation environment running in Azure. It demonstrates a swarm of robots running in a virtual world connected to an orchestration system and controlled via Azure IoT Hub.

At ROSCon 2018, Microsoft demonstrated a Robotis TurtleBot 3 running the ROS Melodic Morenia version, which is based on Windows 10 IoT Enterprise. It's a small demo robot on wheels that used Intel's Next Unit of Computing small form factor PC with an Intel Coffee Lake processor.

Melodic Morenia is the 12th ROC release, but it's previously been based on Linux OSes, such as Ubuntu Artful and Bionic, as well as Debian Stretch.

Microsoft is planning to "host the Windows build for ROS1 and shortly ROS2," along with documentation, according to the announcement, although the timing wasn't described. Windows ROS is a Microsoft Azure DevOps project.

About the Author

Kurt Mackie is senior news producer for 1105 Media's Converge360 group.

Featured

Using Configuration Files to Control PowerShell Scripts, Part 2: Building Blocks

Learn how to use PowerShell's GUI capabilities to dynamically create configuration files that enhance script flexibility and usability.
U.S. House Leaders Unveil Bipartisan Strategy for AI Governance and Innovation

On Tuesday, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson and Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries received the final report from the bipartisan House Task Force on Artificial Intelligence, which outlines essential principles and recommendations to bolster American leadership in AI.
Using Configuration Files to Control PowerShell Scripts, Part 1: The Basics

Learn how to use JSON configuration files to make PowerShell scripts more dynamic, flexible and user-friendly.
Exchange Online Receiving Enhanced Message Trace

Microsoft has announced the public preview of its enhanced Message Trace feature in the Exchange admin center (EAC) for Exchange Online.
Major Microsoft Multifactor Authentication Vulnerability Revealed

A vulnerability in Microsoft’s multifactor authentication (MFA) system has been uncovered by cybersecurity firm Oasis Security, allowing attackers to bypass security measures and access sensitive data across services including Outlook, OneDrive, Teams and Azure.