Before you can compete in RoboChamps’ Challenges, you’ll need to install the related development tools, Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 2008 and either Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 or Visual C# Express 2008.

If you do not have these development tools today, you can download them using the links found below. Microsoft Robotics Studio and Visual C# Express can be downloaded for use in the competition at no charge.

A free trial of Visual Studio 2008 is also available, and if you are a student, you may have the opportunity to download the full version of Visual Studio 2008 at no charge, via the DreamSpark program.

Details for each of these tools can be found below.
Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 and Microsoft Visual C# Express 2008
RoboChamps code is written in .NET, and either Visual Studio 2008 or Visual C# Express 2008 are recommended. If you do not have either of these tools, you will find links to a trial version of Visual Studio 2008 as well as a link to Visual C# Express 2008 below.

Note: If you are a student, you’re eligible for access to the full version of Visual Studio 2008 at no charge, via DreamSpark.
[ click here to go to the Visual Studio Express download page ]
[ click here to go to the Visual Studio 2008 trial download page ]
[ click here to go to the DreamSpark download page ]
Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 2008
To compete in RoboChamps, you’ll need to install Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 2008 CTP1. Robotics Developer Studio will provide you with the tools, libraries, services, samples and the simulation environment used in the Challenges.

Note: The Simualtion Engine has a dependency on the XNA framework, which is not currently supported on 64-bit Windows.
[ click here to go to the Microsoft Robotics Studio 2008 July CTP download page ]