[ANNOUNCE] Orocos 0.16.0

We announce the release of Orocos 0.16.0, the Realtime
Framework for Robot and Machine Control.

Thanks to an enthousiastic community, this release has
improved the functionality of Orocos significantly.
The Control Kernel Architecture has been revised to
allow easier application development and a number of
ready-to-use control components is available
and documented.

Start your installation with : 
wget http://www.orocos.org/orocos-install.tcl
sh orocos-install.tcl

(be sure to check installation dependencies on 
 http://www.orocos.org/download.php )

In the meantime, you can read our updated all-in-one manual here :
http://www.orocos.org/documentation.php
and select the type you prefer (html, pdf, ps)

New Features compared to 0.14 are :

Overall Improvements :
 * Reduced compilation time and memory footprint
   of applications
 * Availability of the All-in-One Orocos Manual
 * Testing and bugfixes
 * Better support for RedHat/Fedora systems
 * Orocos compiles also with GCC 3.4

Orocos Program Scripting :
 * Introduced if, while, for statements
 * Much more informative syntax error reporting
 * Added the Double6D type with index operator []

Orocos Control Kernel :
 * Simplified Control Architecture
 * Streamlined Documentation
 * Ready to use multi-channel Control Components
   for PID control, Axis positioning, Signal
   generation and hardware access.
 * Example for multi-axis control

Orocos Devices :
 * Matured Axis Implementation

User Interfacing :
 * Console Component with automatic
   command browsing and completion

Changes
-------

This release introduces some incompatibilities with
prior versions.

1a. The StandardControlKernel has changed that it only
   takes the Extension as a template parameter and
1b. Components have changed that they inherit directly
   from the Default-Component Base Classes without
   using a template and use nameserving for DataObject
   resolving. See the control-kernel manual.
2. In scripting, a program script
   needs an extra *myname* identifier like a function,
   also the syntax has been extended. See the
   program-parser manual.
3. The Axis implementation has changed. See
   kernel_samples/axis_control and documentation
   for a new example.
4. Component selection is again allowed before
   the kernel is started, and an bool isSelected()
   method is provided in the base class.
5. The Channel_P_Controller has been renamed to P_Controller
   and PID_Controller has been added. Also, all 'channel'
   DataObjects have the name "ChannelValues" (also inputs).
6  In scripting, the 'kernel' and 'engine' components
   have been renamed to 'Kernel' and 'Execution'.

In general, if something changed, this change has
been documented in the manual.

The Orocos Team
-- 
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Peter Soetens, Research Assistent                  http://www.orocos.org
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
Division Production Engineering,                      tel. +32 16 322773
Machine Design and Automation                         fax. +32 16 322987
Celestijnenlaan 300B                   [email protected]
B-3001 Leuven Belgium                 http://www.mech.kuleuven.ac.be/pma
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