“Quick Start” FlexBE Demos

The following tutorials are designed to give you a hands-on introduction to the core features and functionalities of FlexBE.

This tutorial provides a self contained introduction to FlexBE with a “Quick Start” based on the simple 2D ROS Turtlesim simulator.

The linked repository below provides all of the flexbe_turtlesim_demo-specific states and behaviors to provide a simple demonstration of FlexBE’s capabilities using a minimal number of the ROS packages.

Installation

In addition to the standard FlexBE packages, clone this repo into your ROS workspace:

git clone https://github.com/flexbe/flexbe_turtlesim_demo.git

Make sure that the branches are consistent (e.g. git checkout ros2-devel) with the FlexBE WebUI and Behavior Engine installations.

Install any required dependencies. Make sure you build your workspace afterwards:

rosdep update
rosdep install --from-paths src --ignore-src
colcon build

Turtlesim Quick Start Demonstration

Please see the flexbe_turtlesim_demo repo for the latest up-to-date tutorial.

Example 1 Demo

Example 1 described in flexbe_turtlesim_demo provides the simplest “Hello World” in FlexBE. This demonstration allows you to load and execute the simplest example, which we describe in detail in Creating A New Behavior basic tutorial. In this example distributed with the flexbe_turtlesim_demo, the focus is on loading existing behaviors.

Example 2 Demo

Example 2, outlined in flexbe_turtlesim_demo, builds upon the foundational concepts introduced in Example 1. This demonstration guides you through a simple state machine consisting of three states. As detailed in the Using the Statemachine Editor tutorial, Example 2 dives into the implementation of your own states.

Example 3 Demo

Example 3 described in flexbe_turtlesim_demo demonstrates a ConcurrencyContainer in FlexBE for concurrent state execution. It showcases both OR and AND style behaviors, allowing users to adjust wait times and observe state interactions. For further exploration, proceed to Example 4 to delve into nested state machines using a StateMachine container.

Example 4 Demo

Example 4 described in flexbe_turtlesim_demo demonstrates a three-layer Hierarchical Finite State Machine (HFSM) in FlexBE, extending the behavior of Example 3 within a Behavior container. Explore this example to get a better understanding of hierarchical state machine design in FlexBE.

Click ‘Next’ to get started with some basic tutorials.