Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 4

The RDS 4 release is available free of charge for both commercial and non-commerial use. The license allows redistribution on Windows.

This release incorporates the Kinect Services for RDS which rely on the Kinect for Windows SDK V1. It also defines a new hardware Reference Platform.

Some prerequisites such as DirectX, PhysX, etc. are included in the package, but Internet access might be needed during installation depending on what software you already have installed.

RDS requires .NET 4.0. You should install Visual Studio 2010 before you install RDS as well as the Kinect for Windows SDK V1.

RDS is also available to all MSDN Professional and MSDN Premium subscribers, which includes BizSpark customers. However, the package on MSDN is the same as the one on the Microsoft Downloads site so there is no benefit in downloading from MSDN.

Academic institutions can obtain RDS through the MSDN Academic Alliance (MSDNAA) and provide it to their students. Please note: The local system administrator must download from MSDNAA and make the software available to students.

It is also available to students directly through ELMS (the online MSDNAA download service) and through DreamSpark if the institution is enrolled. Both secondary and tertiary institutions can enroll in DreamSpark. Again though, it is the same package as the one available on the Microsoft Downloads site.

 

Software Quality Metrics

RDS 4 includes Software Quality Metrics. SQM sends information to Microsoft via the Internet regarding usage of some RDS components to assist with future product planning and development. You must explicitly opt in during installation, or later via the Update and Feedback Options in the Start Menu. If you opt out, no information is sent.

For information about privacy of information sent to Microsoft, please see the Privacy Statement

 

Documentation Downloads

The RDS documentation is available online in the MSDN Library. The User Guide (Help File) and Class Reference are also included in the package when you install the software.

For the convenience of people who might like to look at the Help File without installing the software, it is available for separate download. You do not need to download this file if you install RDS.

Documentation downloads (as ZIP files):

NOTE: After downloading these files you might have to Unblock them so that you can see the contents of the compressed help files. To do this, right-click on the ZIP file in Windows Explorer, select Properties, and click on the Unblock button. Then you can then proceed to unzip the Help file.