Microsoft launches RoboChamps, a worldwide simulated robotics competition platform built on .NET

On Thursday, Microsoft unveiled RoboChamps and its accompanying website (www.robochamps.com) RoboChamps, a simulated robotics league that is open to academics, hobbyists and developers from around the world, that demonstrates the power of the Microsoft platform to enable a broad range of developers to explore new ways to use .NET for robotics programming.

The core technology of the competition is Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 2008 (and its underlying technologies of CCR/DSS), but RoboChamps sits atop a platform that consists of the majority of technologies Microsoft is evangelizing in FY08 - Silverlight 2.0, ASP.NET 3.5, WCF (REST and MTOM services), Linq, LiveID, Silverlight Streaming, .NET Framework 3.5, VS 2008, Vista Sidebar Gadgets, Expression Blend, IIS and Expression Encoder. The platform is also a S+S play, as the RoboChamps.com site generates API keys which allow participants to tie their code into RoboChamps provided services The site also provides community with ‘robocards- rich SL cards that are exposed to be readily consumable on blogs, websites or third-party networks like Facebook. Advertising also plays a big role with sponsorship, ‘in world’ ads with Massive, and I’m targeting Silverlight Streaming for the video podcast.

RoboChamps.com has received over 600,000 hits in the first 24 hours following launch.

Traffic is being driven by articles written about the preview at RoboBusiness, some pre-recorded video and audio podcasts prepared for launch, and some post-launch media attention. In addition to DPE’s EvNet properties, we are also on the front page of both the Silverlight and Expression official sites.

 

More information:

Website: www.RoboChamps.com

Silverlight Homepage: <www.silverlight.net>

Expression Homepage: expression.microsoft.com

Channel 9 video: https://channel9.msdn.com/Showpost.aspx?postid=399952

Channel 8 video: <channel8.msdn.com/Posts/Build-a-Robot-Make-it-dance-through-the-Maze-win-BIG-PRIZES-Its-ROBOCHAMP-TIME/>

PC Magazine: <www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2287589,00.asp>

ArsTechnica: <arstechnica.com/journals/microsoft.ars/2008/04/13/first-preview-of-microsoft-robotics-developer-studio-2008>

Mary Jo Foley: <blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=1325>

CNET: <www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9914959-7.html?tag=blog.1>

Dr. Dobbs Journal: <www.ddj.com/embedded/207401875>

.NET Rocks: <perseus.franklins.net/dotnetrocks_0336_marc_mercuri.wma>

VUNET.COM  (Includes syndication on ITWeek UK, Personal Computer World, Computing UK,, and What PC?): <www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2215206/microsoft-pushes-robot-sports>

Major Nelson: <majornelson.com/archive/2008/04/24/are-you-in-to-robotics.aspx>

Gear Diary: <www.geardiary.com/2008/04/24/microsoft-unveils-robochamps/>

Technorati - 89 distinct blog postings on RoboChamps: <www.technorati.com/search/robochamps?authority=n&language=en>