Most robotics applications involve a robot that collects data from one or more sensors and then responds accordingly. For example, you could create an application that operates a robot with a sound sensor. Some sound sensors can detect different decibel levels, which is just a measurement of sound pressure. The higher the decibel level, the louder or closer the source of the sound. You could create an MSRS program that causes a robot to move or perform some action every time someone claps his or her hands or shouts a command. The robot would not actually understand the command because the sound sensor only detects a level of sound. But, if the sound fell within a certain decibel range, you could assume it was an intentional command and have the robot respond.

MSRS programs can be as simple or complex as they need to be. In fact, they do not always have to involve robotics hardware. You can create a service that simply processes input and produces some output. In the next chapter, you will see an example of a service that performs like the classic Hello World example. In this service, the input is the phrase "Hello World." The service will simply return the phrase within an XML message that will be displayed in a Web browser.

How complex the robotics application becomes will depend on how much time and effort the programmer wants to devote to the project. Programmers already familiar with creating .NET programs can install MSRS and immediately create a program by following the documentation for Service Tutorial 1. (This documentation can be found online at http://msdn2.microsoft.com/library/bb483064.) Within an hour they could have their first robotics application up and running. The application would not include an actual robot because the Service Tutorials do not involve any robotics hardware.

The amount of time required to write a robotics application depends on several things, such as the complexity of the robot you have selected, the number of robots you are using, and the functionality required of the robot. For example, if you want to program one robot that simply moves forward when it receives a command, this will take significantly less time than programming a group of robots to play soccer.