@Luis I respect you man, you're a brilliant programmer... Hopefully you didn't post this as a dig to ez robot.... But seriously? Microsoft and Arduino still have 5 years to catch up to ez robot... Dj is wearing a t-shirt that says been there done that... Tell you what l, when the dust settles you post your best Microsoft /arduino robot. I pledge d.Cochran's soon to be released inMoov and we'll see..... Sorry, but I am a bit annoyed by this post. ..

I read the article this morning and while it may be exciting for some, it wasn't really for me. I don't mention it often but some of you may know that I come from a Arduino/Maker culture background. I was entrenched in it for 5 years and it's where I started my Hobby electronics/robotics career. While I do have plenty of respect for the Arduino community and team, unfortunately Arduino has vastly under-delivered on many exciting prospects and partnerships over the past couple years. They have had hugely publicized projects that have fizzled out quickly and hadn't gained much traction at all.

Examples:

Arduino + Android = Arduino APK Arduino + Atmel = Due Arduino + Texas Instruments = Tre Arduino + Intel = Galileo

Arduino has been firing in all directions lately and have spread themselves so thin that I don't hold much hope for this new announcement unfortunately. It seems that they have been working toward spreading out their community and I think it may be working against them as nothing seems to stick.

I am much more excited about Windows 10 on the Raspberry Pi. I already have 2 Pi's doing things I couldn't have imagined that small a computer could do just a few years ago, and I am much more comfortable in Windows than Linux. I haven't even started looking at the gpio yet, but the idea of computerizing objects (other than Robots, where EZ-B is still superior) is really interesting to me.

Alan

Yes me too Alan! I reeaallllly want to see ARC running on the RPi 2 with Windows 10

wow. Ok first did not post as a dig. I use ezb controllers so stand down dude! I just use them in conjunction with ezb and other micro controller and use them in tandem. It is the full of hate reply you send that keep me off the board.

I'm sorry if your offended we are talking robots and microprocessors here. You to get angry because someone is including something else into the mix is just closed minded and ignorant.

Richard R

I left before due to just short sightedness on your part.

Hey @Luis I don't think @Richard is mad or anything, like he mentioned he was slightly annoyed.

I think there wasn't any context to your original post so I think most of us were unsure how to take it.

Re: Windows 10 on Pi, the preview was just released. I haven't downloaded yet, but my understanding is that it will be morw like Windows Phone than full blown windows, so will probably take a special build of ARC, but still. And the way processors are shrinking and growing in power, I am sure the next iteration of the Pi will be at least as powerful as my Acer W3 which runs ARC with ease.

Alan

My post was made to a community of folks that have interest in robotic. I have 5 children my self and love anything that will bring this type of electronics and education to the masses. DJ would not be here today had he not experimented and learned the basics. DJ has an awesome platform here and I use it. And I use it with other platforms because diversity builds the future. I do not believe everyone here is a EZRobot Zellot as Richard is and I feel more folks are interested in learning and growing. I believe what Microsoft has done will produce something you may have failed to see. It will product a new generation of DJ SURES! To have the approach that this is the end all beat all and no one else should try is fine. If you are a EZBobot Zellot , But if you are a into Robot , Robot in general then you would understand how I felt this would be of interest to this community.

I do not wish to engages in you build this robot and test it against that robot , you failed to realize the end product is not robots , Its the learner , the trial and error, its the road , not the destination.

Take it for what its worth.

(note to DJ) DJ think your brilliant and your boards rock , I use them in each project. I didn't what you think I felt any less as Richard has implied.

Very well put Luis!

Well Luis, Your post interested me very much. I love learning all the angles of things I'm interested in (if I can take the time to settle down with it). It gives me a broader idea of what I'm doing and can do. Knowledge is power and the start of genius. I think it's amazing how we can take different platforms and processes to make them work together as one. I love chaining things together or gutting something just to place something else into it to make it work better. Heck, my B9 arm has several different controllers running their own programs and gutted servos with ultrasonic switching boards re-installed to get it to work the way I envision it.

Keep this stuff coming! Your discovery's and insight are always welcome in my book.

First, let me say Welcome back Luis. I have missed your contributions to this forum. I am using at least 2 arduino mini pro's in my project because of the things you have shown are possible on this forum. One will drive the neopixel and one will drive the car parking sensors. Taking this load off of the EZ-B is very interesting to me.

I dont have any interest in comparing robot x to robot y but will always share what I have done with the community to try to help everyone learn more about robotics and see how I did something. Its all good to me and welcome other peoples insight into how they are doing things. Without that none of us would be where we are or would be able to achieve what we want to achieve.

I am interested in new technology and am always looking at what is next on the horizon. I personally believe that the future of the processor is that it will be multitiered. For example, there will be a slower low powered processor for handling things that dont require a lot of heavy lifting. There will then be another processor that would be like todays computer processors, and then there will be a GPU type processor for handling bursts of data when needed. HP has experimented with this type of architecture with moonshot. I have had the opportunity to discuss this technology with HP engineers and it is something they have been working on for years. I mention this because technology fascinates me.

There is definitely a place for arduino style processors in robotics. I think that low level control of devices is a perfect fit for these. I also agree that arduino has spread itself too thin and should focus on getting one promise kept before moving onto another promise of great things. The main issue that I see is that the word arduino is seen by many as being the end all of all robotic technology. It is seen by others as being a huge flop for robot technology. If used in the right way, arduinos, especially the mini pro, can be used as pic's are now. This is to handle circular logic for a set of sensors or devices. That is a good thing and allows the other main controllers to be used for more general tasks. The cost of them is right as I bought 5 of the mini pros for $15 usd. It is definitely another tool in the belt of the robot builder.

I think Microsoft is looking for a way to be relevant in robot technologies. The industry is growing and will continue to grow. They are also getting beat up by programming languages that are cross platform. This is why they are working to release .Net for linux OS's. Most robot builders would rather buy a couple of motors than buy another operating system or another update to a the developers studio. This is where Microsoft is getting beat hands down. Java is free and so is Linux. It makes it very attractive for people to learn Java on Linux platforms when the tools to do so are free. Arduino and RPI are both also mainly used in the Linux world for this reason. The people on the cutting edge normally are not wealthy investors but those who love to learn and still have to hold a job in order to be able to have the money to learn. If MS would even decrease the cost of their OS, and offer good development environments at a much lower cost while making them OS independent, they would probably go a long way toward remaining relevant not only in computers but gain relevance in robotics. I just am not sure that their business model allows for this without drastic cutbacks.

Anyway, thanks for the post. I hope Luis sticks around or at least passes me his email address. I need someone to ask questions about arduino code to from time to time. My email is in my profile and I hope you will send me your contact information. I have looked for it and couldn't find it.

While saying all of this, I do understand where Richard R was coming from but I think that it is so easy to misinterpret someone's intentions on a forum in text. It is so difficult to convey everything that is going on in ones mind and it is easy to assume that others understand where we are coming from. I know that I have been guilty of it in the past. My responses have gotten long winded because of this for the most part because I try not to leave doubt in someones mind. By my nature I am a very short response person as some of you who email me can attest to.

Anyway, back to building amazing robots in our spare time.

Luis Man I really enjoy your additional insights and other micro platform designs and integration into the EZB process.

Earlier today I was informed by the ISP I use for my two websites (1and1) that I needed to upgrade my sites or that I would be dropped to the bottom of the Google search engine. It would seem that with most Googlers using a phone instead of a laptop or desk top computer I'm being forced to redesign my site for the tiny screen. It would appear that Windows 10 will be for the phone user and not the computer user. Rats

@Luis My apologies for the over reaction.... You didn't deserve me taking out a crappy day I had yesterday on you.... You're right this is a robot forum and you should be entitled to post as such.... And David is right we miss your contributions on here. You have helped many people including myself...

Good to hear from you Luis. You taught me to sync via Serial the ezb and Arduino. Any insights you have get my attention.

Luis, you should hang here when you can. I am always looking to see what you post.

I read the article for makers space before I saw it here. It seems to play more for someone who is completely new and happens to have a windows phone that is compatible. In no way is it new or even intuitive. I was thinking to myself "way to underwear your whole potential customer base" lol