[Tyler]

Talking Robots: Tandy Trower
     

Ever since this
Scientific American article we know that Microsoft has big plans for
robotics - seeing the 80s PC industry mirrored in today's robotics
industry.
The latest Talking Robots
episode interviews Tandy
Trower, who has led his small team of 12 to develop the Microsoft Robotics Studio
in less than two years. Launched in 2006,
Microsoft's move into robotics has stayed true to the well-honed MS
strategy of not releasing source code of key components and of patenting
technology. As Tandy will tell you, MS does provide what they call an "open software
promise", which basically amounts to a free license of the software,
making it easy to distribute - a vital step in gaining a large user base.
According to Tandy, the key to success is "accessibility of technology"
- and I tend to agree. With an incredibly diverse field like robotics,
spanning kid's toys to care-takers for the elderly and small-budget
gimmicks to multi-million industrial machines, the user base can and
should, but must be able to drive the development. Tandy hopes to unite
this large and diverse user-base and enable it. He wants to catalyze the
robotic revolution that - let's face it - we all know will happen.
Microsoft as a key player in robotics - long awaited savior or worst
nightmare? Listen to Tandy and
judge for yourself.
   

http://robots.net/article/2415.html