Visit to Microsoft Research Cambridge

As i have mentioned before i managed to get an invite to the official opening of the new Microsoft Research building in Cambridge.

O my…i want to work there!

Gadgeteer is definitely alive and kicking at MS and there are some cool new features just around the corner. During the launch i got to meet some very cool people including Steven Johnson from Southhampton Uni who is doing the Bee hackathon this coming weekend, Paul Foster from MS who had a couple of really neat ROV’s.

There were some very cool displays with Kinects and wrist sensors…

After the champagne and finger food had run out i when up to the 4 floor and talked Gadgeteer with the team, Steve Hodges, James Scott, Nicolas Villar, Jan Kucera and a couple of others. Very interesting conversation to say the least :slight_smile:

All in all a wick day out.

And i get free cake and a nice glass paper weight :slight_smile:

To say i have a big smile on my face is a mild understatement…

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Did you get the job offer? :smiley:

@ Justin - did I see one of your vu modules in one of the pictures?

Image #4 looks like a plate full of Justin’s modules. :smiley:

What is that tube thing in image #7?

@ Architect - lets just say it won’t be my only trip to Cambridge :slight_smile:

indeed it is :wink:

@ ianlee74 - under water rov, its very cool, changes buoyancy

Cool,It looks like your Octopus board is there as well.

Awesome! Well done man

yeah, think there will be a few making it to Cambridge…
the rov in the tube is a neat experiment, uses a spider to run a linear actuator pulling/pushing a syringe to change buoyancy

And a few of the tinyclr members were introduced by me to the Gadgeteer team by name for their exploits…

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You are the TinyCLR Ambassador at the MS NETMF lab!

they are keen for community feedback so i am more than happy to be a conduit

Happy to hear you had some fun and heard and saw lots of cool stuff, who says Microsoft doesn’t innovate, that whole building is chalked full of innovation and some of it we might even see someday :wink: and that is just one of many research buildings at Microsoft.

I know this won’t be your last visit as you have built some very cool stuff and that quadcopter idea is just way to cool not to happen given Gadgeteer is very much alive and rocking at Microsoft.

Wish I was there as I’m just green with envy that you got to meet so many folks and saw some really cool projects.

Can we still say TinyCLR? Sadly, it would seem those days have come to an end :frowning:

That tiny ROV is well cool.

I am just in the final stages of completing the control system for a 100HP hydraulic ROV and have been looking to incorporate the 4.3" touch panels for partial control of the system for the next phase of the project. It would remove all the mechanical buttons we used to have to build for the control. It also allows us to make the buttons “sticky” as well as normal push and hold for on.

The little motors look interesting and look to be water proof. Wonder what the depth rating is? :slight_smile:

This is great

Sounds like an interesting project - can you post any details?

Motors are £5 jobbies placed in 35mm film canisters with putty packed around :slight_smile:
Main box with Gadgeteer board is rated to 100 feet.
In the below video is shows the linear actuator driving the water out for the pod to rise - it’s only 15ml of water to change its buoyancy from positive to negative - Paul takes it around the schools to spark the interest in the kids and now they want to make torpedoes… :smiley: