ROBOTICS SOFTWARE APPROACHES DEVELOPMENT FROM
ALTERNATIVE ANGLE
Cogmation robotSuiteTMmakes Robot Code Creation
Accessible to a Wider Audience
Winnipeg, MB, Canada March 27, 2008 -- Cogmation Robotics announced the
commercial release of robotSuite, a group of integrated applications designed to make
robotic software creation easier. Disappointed with the current state of software
development in the robotics field, robotSuitegrew out of a desire to take the rocket
science out of robotics and bring real world applications to non technical consumers,
gamers, as well as serious developers.
"I find existing software packages difficult to use and time-consuming to configure,"
says Product Development Manager Sara Epp. "I can't imagine how frustrating and
restricting this must be for someone at the hobbyist level." Drawing comparisons to
the early days of personal computers, the company is striving to remove the bulk of
tedious low level device setup, and enable users to focus on more creative and
interesting high-level approaches.
"I would think a user would rather spend a couple of hours perfecting a complex
wall-follower application and test it out in a maze, than spend that time writing
hundreds of lines of code just to get the robot to move forward," says Shawn
Schaerer, Director of Research and Development.
Comprised of seamlessly integrated applications, robotSuite allows code to be quickly
created in an intuitive environment, tested in a simulated environment, and then
executed on a physical robot. robotFoundryTM is a graphical coding environment using
flow-based programming, allowing the creation of functional robot code in minutes.
The graphical IDE is complemented by a 3D simulator, robotSimTM, which takes
advantage of Ageia PhysXTM to provide not only aesthetically appealing graphics, but
realistic physics simulation as well.
Currently several consumer level robots are included in the package, including the
enthusiast-favourite iRobot® Create®.
"This just may be the holy grail of the robotics industry," says Systronix® CEO Bruce
Boyes, who recently finalized agreements to incorporate education-oriented
TrackBotTM into the suite. Negotiations are currently underway with other hardware
manufacturers, and the company is forecasting a rapid expansion of supported
devices. More information and product downloads can be found on the company's
website, www.cogmation.com.
For more information, please contact us.
