FlexBE App

User interface (editor + runtime control) for the FlexBE behavior engine.

Installation

Clone the following repos into your ROS workspace:

git clone https://github.com/FlexBE/flexbe_behavior_engine.git  # if not already present
git clone https://github.com/FlexBE/flexbe_app.git

Build you workspace:

catkin_make # or catkin build

During the build process, the required nwjs binaries are automatically downloaded and extracted. To download the binaries manually instead, run the script bin/nwjs_install.

Workspace

In order to create and prepare a new repository for behavior development, run the following script in your ROS workspace and pass it the name of your project or identifier:

rosrun flexbe_widget create_repo [your_project_name]

This will initialize a new local git repository with the correct workspace structure which you can then push to a desired remote location. Make sure that you build the workspace afterwards.

Usage

If desired, run the following command to create a shortcut in the application menu:

rosrun flexbe_app shortcut create
rosrun flexbe_app shortcut remove  # if you want to remove it

Use the shortcut or the following command to run the FlexBE App alone, i.e., for only developing behaviors, but not executing them:

rosrun flexbe_app run_app --offline

Omitting the --offline arg will let the App try to connect to ROS. You can manually connect/disconnect the App in the Configuration view.

Use the following launch file to run FlexBE’s operator control station, i.e., everything FlexBE requires on the operator machine for controlling behavior execution:

roslaunch flexbe_app flexbe_ocs.launch
roslaunch flexbe_onboard behavior_onboard.launch  # counterpart expected to run on the robot

Use the following launch file to run both of the above for local behavior execution:

roslaunch flexbe_app flexbe_full.launch

Backwards Compatibility

The FlexBE App in this repository replaces the previous flexbe_chrome_app.

Please note that the way how state and behavior packages are detected has changed and breaks direct compatibility. Follow the instructions below to make the required changes. Behavior packages can also be converted automatically by the new FlexBE App.

State packages

A package is a state package for FlexBE if its package.xml declares the export of flexbe_states:

<package>
...
  <export>
    <flexbe_states />
  </export>
...
</package>

It is then expected to provide Python class definitions as described in Developing Basic States. Example: flexbe_states. Adding the above export statement is the only change to previous versions.

Behavior packages

A behavior package contains the code and manifest files generated by the FlexBE App. Usually, you do not need to modify it manually. Again, a behavior package is identified by an export statement in its package.xml:

<package>
...
  <export>
    <flexbe_behaviors />
  </export>
...
</package>

If no package in the ROS_PACKAGE_PATH contains such an export statement, the FlexBE App will suggest to initialize one of the existing packages as behavior package. Doing so will add the export statement and create the correct structure. If the chosen package already contains behavior manifests, the referenced behaviors can be automatically imported. The old behavior packages and manifests (all manifests outside the manifest folder, e.g., those inside the behaviors folder) can be removed afterwards.

In order to create a completely new behavior package, create an empty ROS package and then use the FlexBE App to initialize it.

A behavior package is expected to provide a manifest folder which contains the manifests for all provided behaviors. The behaviors are located in a Python module named like the package and contained in the src folder.

Changelog for package flexbe_app

2.4.1 (2023-05-22)

• merge PR #74, 76, 77; tweak CI workflow
• Merge pull request #60 from fmessmer/fix/catkin_lint some catkin_lint fixes
• some catkin_lint fixes
• Contributors: David Conner, dcconner, fmessmer

2.4.0 (2023-05-18)

• Merge develop branch
• Updates for Melodic and Noetic releases on github.com/FlexBE

2.3.0 (2020-11-19)

• Merge remote-tracking branch 'origin/feature/python3_support' into develop
• Add support for python3
• Use correct state prefix in autocompletion (fix #65)
• Prevent module caching in Python parser to fix state reloading (see #61)
• Sort input-dependent elements for more deterministic code generation (see #team-vigir/flexbe_behavior_engine#111)
• Contributors: Philipp Schillinger

2.2.4 (2020-03-25)

• Revert nwjs version increment because of Travis failure due to Chromium bug (see https://crbug.com/1025266)
• Increment nwjs version after file chooser fix
• Use HTML file chooser instead of Chrome file API for settings import and export (see #52)
• Improve cache for workspace switching and allow to disable it
• Fix detection of new packages
• Merge branch 'benmaidel-feature/cmd_option_checkbehaviors' into develop
• Always run all behavior check tests and print error message
• Robustify behavior loading for generating behavior check reports
• Close window-related sub-processes also when only closing the window (see team-vigir/flexbe_behavior_engine#105)
• Merge remote-tracking branch 'origin/fix/handle_closed_window' into develop
• add --check-behavior command line option
• Fix support for symbolic references in Python parser
• Robustify Python parser against instantiation failures (see team-vigir/flexbe_behavior_engine#99)
• Close window-related sub-processes also when only closing the window (see team-vigir/flexbe_behavior_engine#105)
• Merge branch 'cheffe112-bugfix-import-config' into develop
• Fix mixed indentation
• reverting nw.js to last known-to-work version From nw.js 0.42.4, the import/export configuration functionality throws an "Invalid calling page. This function can't be called from a background page." error. This has been reported for nw.js already on https://github.com/nwjs/nw.js/issues/7349. Hence, the import/export functionality is currently unusable with nw.js >0.42.3 as integrated in b93078fd6705445bf6183af40598619243800b1e.
• throw error if importing/exporting configuration crashes
• Explicitly spawn window on center position because default changed
• Allow comment after super-call in regex state parser (see team-vigir/flexbe_behavior_engine#98)
• Check for undefined transition label (fix team-vigir/flexbe_behavior_engine#100)
• Merge branch 'cheffe112-bugfix-python-parsing' into develop
• Fix mixed indentation
• bugfix: avoid crash during Python state parsing on empty documentation string The Python state parsing feature introduced in 4f20227ef900ca32e78414c190fb464d964666e5 used to crash when no docstring is provided in a state definition, hence stalling the parsing procedure. This commit returns the default label "[no documentation]" on a missing docstring.
• Contributors: Benjamin Maidel, Philipp Schillinger, Tobias Doernbach

2.2.3 (2020-01-15)

• Increment nwjs version
• Fix documentation format warnings (see #48)
• Contributors: Philipp Schillinger

2.2.2 (2020-01-11)

• Add python-based state parser alternative (see team-vigir/flexbe_behavior_engine#93)
• Implement a quick connect when dropping a state onto a transition
• Add internal dependencies (see #39)
• Enable package cache and track update progress
• Clear outcome request on transition and explicit message
• Robustify package parser against malformed package.xml (see #37)

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