SENSETA ANNOUNCES SUPPORT FOR THE MICROSOFT ROBOTICS STUDIO

DECEMBER 12, 2006 - PALO ALTO, Calif., Senseta announces the immediate availability of the Microsoft Robotics Studio 1.0 on the MAX 5R platform. Developers can take advantage of a rugged and flexible electromechanical platform in conjunction with Microsoft products to rapidly create and deploy robotic applications.

"Our MAX platform offers the flexibility to build creative robotic applications," said Khalid Al-Ali, CEO of Senseta. "We are pleased to be working with the Microsoft Robotics Studio to further enhance our platform for developers."

About Senseta's MAX 5R Platform
Senseta's MAX is a compact low-cost 4-wheel drive, 4-wheel steer, high-clearance agile durable chassis, outfitted with sensors and electronics that make it ideally suited for supporting research relevant to intelligent teleoperation and as a low-cost autonomous robotic test bed and appliance. The suspension has adequate travel to allow for sufficient dexterity to run on rugged outdoor terrain. MAX is a highly compact yet incredibly versatile COTS rover that is field-serviceable and easily repairable. The chassis is designed so that it is modular and reconfigurable with a wide variety of sensors and actuators to suite the user’s needs, making it ideally suited for robotics research and development.

"[Larsen & Toubro] being a global engineering and manufacturing conglomerate with deep skills in Embedded systems and Information Technology, has an obvious interest in Robotics. With our partnership with Microsoft on software front combined with Robotics platform `MAX' from Senseta and guidance from CMU, L&T will strive to create a service Robot for the future," said Kavindra Sharma, CTO, L&T Infotech.

For more information about Senseta and MAX, please contact: sales@senseta.com

About Microsoft Robotics Studio
Key features and benefits of the Microsoft Robotics Studio environment include these:

• End-to-end robotics development platform. Microsoft Robotics Studio includes a visual programming tool, making it easy to create and debug robot applications. Robotics Studio enables developers to generate modular services for hardware and software, allowing users to interact with robots through Web-based or Windows-based interfaces. Developers can also simulate robotic applications using realistic 3-D models; Microsoft has licensed the PhysX™ engine from AGEIA™, a pioneer in hardware-accelerated physics, enabling real-world physics simulations with robot models. The PhysX simulations can also be accelerated using AGEIA hardware.
• Lightweight services-oriented runtime. Microsoft Robotics Studio provides a lightweight services-oriented runtime. Using a .NET-based concurrency library, it makes asynchronous application development simple. The services-oriented, message-based architecture makes it simple to access the state of a robot’s sensors and actuators with a Web browser, and its composable model enables the building of high-level functions using simple components and providing for reusability of code modules as well as better reliability and replaceability.
• Scalable, extensible platform. The Microsoft Robotics Studio programming model can be applied for a variety of robot hardware platforms, enabling users to transfer their learning skills across platforms. Third parties can also extend the functionality of the platform by providing additional libraries and services. Both remote (PC-based) and autonomous (robot-based) execution scenarios can be developed using a selection of programming languages, including those in Microsoft Visual Studio® and Microsoft Visual Studio Express languages (Visual C#® and Visual Basic® .NET), JScript® and Microsoft IronPython 1.0 Beta 1, and third-party languages that conform to its services-based architecture.

About Senseta
Senseta is a leader in building the next wave of computing with mobile robotics. Our products innovate on several levels: size, capabilities, functionality and cost. Our mix of academia, government and industry experience has given us insight into a myriad of applications that will bring true mobile robots to the masses. Our team is a pedigree of world-class, award winning Carnegie Mellon University and NASA scientists. By leveraging a highly adaptable, mobile platform and a distributed, real-time plug and play architecture, we aim to build reliable, real-world robots that can make a positive and lasting impact on your life.