Successful distributed sensing and control require data to flow effectively between sensors, processors and actuators on single robots, in groups and across the Internet. We propose a mechanism for achieving this flow that we have found to be powerful and easy to use; we call it Player. Player combines an efficient message protocol with a simple device model. It is implemented as a multithreaded TCP socket server that provides transparent network access to a collection of sensors and actuators, often comprising a robot. The socket abstraction enables platform- and language-independent control of these devices, allowing the system designer to use the best tool for the task at hand Player is freely available from http://robotics.usc.edu/player.
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