Credit: Microsoft

Microsoft is working on an "experimental" release of the Robot Operating System (ROS) for Windows. Microsoft's goal with this move is to "bring the intelligent edge to robotics," officials said on September 28, across home, education, commercial and industrial robots.

Microsoft has joined the ROS Industrial Consortium, which is focused on extending ROS to manufacturing for industrial robotic applications. Microsoft is working with Open Robotics and the ROS Industrial Consortium to bring ROS1 to Windows.

Also: How to train a robot with virtual reality (no coding required)

ROS is a set of libraries and tools for building complex robots. (ROS on Linux already exists.) As of September 2018, Core ROS had been ported to Windows already. Microsoft's goal is to allow developers to use Visual Studio plus various AI and cloud services, including Azure Cognitive Services, Windows Machine Learning, Azure IoT cloud, in building robots.

At ROSCon 2018, Microsoft demonstrated a Robotis Turtlebot 3 robot running the ROS release known as "Melodic Morenia."

"The robot runs Windows 10 IoT Enterprise on an Intel Coffee Lake NUC using a new ROS node which leverages hardware accelerated Windows Machine Learning," explained the company on its ros-win page. According to that page, Microsoft also showcased a ROS simulation environment running in Azure, and demonstrated a swarm of robots running in a virtual world connected to an orchestration system and controlled via Azure IoT Hub.

"Microsoft will host the Windows builds for ROS1 and shortly ROS2, as well as provide documentation, development and deployment solutions for Windows," according to the page.

Recently, Microsoft has been relatively quiet about how and when it's planning to participate in the robotics space. But there are various robotics projects and initiatives happening at the company.

Previous and related coverage:

How to install, reinstall, upgrade and activate Windows 10

Here's everything you need to know before you repair, reinstall, or upgrade Windows 10, including details about activation and product keys.

After Windows 10 upgrade, do these seven things immediately

You've just upgraded to the most recent version of Windows 10. Before you get back to work, use this checklist to ensure that your privacy and security settings are correct and that you've cut annoyances to a bare minimum.

How to upgrade from Windows 10 Home to Pro for free

You've got a new PC running Windows 10 Home. You want to upgrade to Windows 10 Pro. Here's how to get that upgrade for free. All you need is a Pro/Ultimate product key from an older version of Windows.

Microsoft deprioritizes its touch-enabled Office Mobile apps for Windows

Microsoft is putting the mobile versions of its Office applications for Windows on the back burner, and is instead prioritizing development for the Win32 and web versions of those applications.

Most Microsoft Surface laptops regain recommendations from Consumer Reports

Consumer Reports is restoring its 'recommended' designation for the Surface Laptop, Pro and Book 2, but is not awarding it to the Surface Go.

Related stories: