And all the robots merely Players

When robot researchers talk about robot middlewares, inevitably Player will enter the discussion. This piece of software and its related tools have become one of the most popular software tools in robotics research. Its range of hardware support and the flexibility it offers users, as well as its ease of use and shallow learning curve, have ensured its success. It is now over a decade since Player was conceived, and yet its popularity continues. In this article, we take a retrospective look at Player. We discuss its origins, the history of its development, and consider why it became so popular.