We provide tutorials to learn applying and using the SmartMDSD Toolchain. We recommend to go through the material in the listed order. In case you get into trouble, see Contact and Support. Some of the tutorials are also available as video tutorial in a YouTube Playlist

In addition, note our list of HowTo's that provide very precise and short descriptions of a specific task in the SmartMDSD Toolchain.

If you only want to try things out but do not want to touch your system, please use the Virtual Machine setup. Even though you can follow all tutorials with the virtual machine, we recommend to setup an own enviroment for tutorial levels „advanced“ and „experienced“.

This lesson guides you through the SmartMDSD Toolchain and software development environment to get an overview and comfortable entry. The effort to follow these tutorials is fairly low since we provide a virtual machine image (virtual machine appliance) with everything set-up and ready-to-go.

• Getting Started with the Virtual Machine and the SmartMDSD Toolchain
  How to download the virtual machine, how set it into operation, and where to look around.

• Simple System: Laser Obstacle Avoid
  Explore and run a simple obstacle avoidance robot in simulation.

• A More Complex System using the Flexible Navigation Stack
  Explore and run a more complex system in simulation: the flexible navigation stack that that is in use with real-world service robots.

• Developing Your First Software Component
  How to develop a simple Laser Obstacle Avoidance component.
  Also available as video tutorial.

• Developing Your First System: Composing Software Components
  Compose a simple laser obstacle avoid system with the Pioneer P3dx robot and the Player/Stage simulator.
  Also available as video tutorial.

This lesson describes how to deploy software components to real-world robots. In the examples, we use a Pioneer P3DX robot.

• Deploying the Flexible Navigation Stack (coming soon)
  We use the previously developed system (Pioneer P3DX navigation) to deploy it on a real robot.

• Creating your Own Real-World Deployment(coming soon)
  We extend the system that was developed in Developing Your First System: Composing Software Components to make it work on real robot. We focus on the differences between deployment for simulator and deployment for real-world.

This lesson describes how to use the SmartMDSD Toolchain with the OPC Unified Architecture (OPC UA). More specifically, the lesson describes how to model and use a Mixed-Port Component for OPC UA.

• Accessing an OPC UA Device: Using the Plain OPC UA Port (DeviceClient) to create a Mixed-Port Component
  This tutorial describes how component supplier models a mixed port software component with a plain OPC-UA port to communicate with a OPC UA enabled devices.
  Also available as video tutorial.

• Composing a System with OPC UA Mixed-Port Components
  This tutorial composes the mixed-port component together with other software components to a system.
  Also available as video tutorial.

• Developing an OPC UA Server: Using the Plain OPC UA Port (ReadServer)
  This tutorial shows how to develop a mixed-port component with an Plain OPC UA Server Port (ReadServer).
  Also available as video tutorial

This expert-level lesson describes how to access ROS nodes from the SmartMDSD Toolchain, i.e. how to use an existing ROS subsystem with the SmartMDSD Toolchain. More specifically, the lesson describes how to model and use a Mixed-Port Component for ROS.

• Mixed-Port for ROS: Accessing ROS nodes from software components
  This tutorial describes how to model a Mixed-Port Component for ROS in order to access ROS nodes from software components in the SmartMDSD Toolchain.

• Mixed Systems: Composing Mixed-Port ROS Components and regular Software Components (WORK IN PROGRESS)
  This tutorial describes how to compose systems from regular software components and mixed-port components that encapsulate a whole ROS subsystem.

This expert-level lesson describes everything you need to get started with the SmartMDSD Toolchain and Raspberry Pi. We will use the example of a LED-powered traffic light.

• Working with the Raspberry Pi: Installation
  This tutorial provides Raspberry Pi specific installation instructions and general remarks to work with the SmartMDSD Toolchain and the Raspberry Pi.

• Developing Software Components for the Raspberry Pi using GPIO Pins (coming soon)
  This tutorial describes how to develop software components using the SmartMDSD Toolchain. We use the WiringPi library to access the GPIO pins.

• Composing a System for the Raspberry Pi (coming soon)
  This tutorial describes how to compose a system that runs components on the RaspberryPi and your development computer.

• Exercises: Navigate through a Simple Scenario in Simulation
  This is a supplement to the Laser Obstacle Avoid and First Software Component Tutorials. It describes a set of additional worlds/environments for the Player/Stage simulator to test obstacle avoidance algorithms.

• Domain Modeling: Service Definitions
  • Modeling of the service definitions as used by the laser-obstacle avoid example
• Manual Deployment
  • Wiring via ini files
  • Naming service, different computers
• Component parameterization
  • How to model and use a parameter
• Deploying additional files
• Component Mode Definition and usage + life-cycle
• Skill modeling
• Tutorial Template

• See video tutorials of the v2-generation of the SmartMDSD Toolchain at YouTube.
• You can also find screencasts of the SmartMDSD Toolchain's first generation as of 2009 (outdated).