= Player/Stage =
 
Look through the [http://playerstage.sourceforge.net/ Player website] first and understand the basic device communications, [http://playerstage.sourceforge.net/index.php?src=stage Stage] is just a simulator to visualize Player

== Player Custom Driver == 
Many companies have written a [http://playerstage.sourceforge.net/doc/Player-2.0.0/player/supported_hardware.html driver] to interface the robot hardware to Player  , RAS could potentially add this capability with some sweeping changes to structure

 * Benefits 
   1. Well Tested Messaging and Configuration File management system
   2. Drivers built for a wide variety of sensors (i.e. GPS, IMU , laser and so forth)
      * This needs to be tested for at least our IMU and GPS before due to previous experience with conflicts
   3. We could easily port our control code to different hardware platforms, 

 * Disadvantages 
   1. Confusing and complicated base code 
   2. The project is constrained mainly for linux (this might actually be a benefit) 
   3. Doing simple tasks can take more time because of the overhead, 


== Running PlayerStage on RasDev ==
 * RasDev is the development computer on the plasma screen, 
 * To run PlayerStage, if getting error , move libdc1394_control.so to libdc1394.so.20 , 
 * To run Stage, run player /usr/local/share/stage/worlds/simple.cfg 
   * Run Player, run C++ code on /usr/local/share/player/examples/libplayerc++/<input file> 



== Good Reference Material ==
 Player Stage has withstood the test of time with many updates over the years, using their structure layout as a reference is generally a good idea, 
  * [http://playerstage.sourceforge.net/doc/Player-cvs/player/group__tutorial__datalog.html Data Logging Format ]   
  * [http://playerstage.sourceforge.net/doc/Player-cvs/player/group__tutorial__crosscompiling.html Cross Compiling for Gumstix ! ]