Differences between ROS and Player

Question

Hi guys, I'm just starting to learn robotics and I'm very confused about the conceptual differences between ROS and Player and their uses with simulators like USARSim, Stage and Gazebo. ROS has lots of ready packages that allows controlling a robot. Player runs in a robot and is an interface to sensors and actuators. In this way, they look similar. Why does ROS has a Player package? I mean, can i use ROS directly with USARSim, Stage and Gazebo, without Player? Or can i user Player directly with USARSim, Stage and Gazebo, without ROS? I'd really appreciate if someone could explain that. Thanks in advance, Ricardo

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Originally posted by rimase on ROS Answers with karma: 13 on 2014-05-10

Post score: 1

Answer 1

ROS and Player are both middlewares. Gazebo, Stage, and USARSim are each simulators. I believe you can interact with all three simulators via ROS or Player. And there are bridges between Player and ROS to enable compatibility with hybrid systems which cannot fully convert to one or the other middleware, often due to legacy applications or hardware compatibility. Depending on your applications requirements different combinations are applicable.

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Originally posted by tfoote with karma: 58457 on 2014-05-11

This answer was ACCEPTED on the original site

Post score: 1

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Original comments

Comment by rimase on 2014-05-12:
Got it, thanks!