We provide tutorials to learn applying and using the SmartMDSD Toolchain. Tutorials are grouped thematically into lessons. 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, check our list of HowTo's that provide very precise and short descriptions of a specific task in the SmartMDSD Toolchain.

The effort to follow these tutorials is fairly low since we provide a virtual machine image (virtual appliance) with everything set-up and ready-to-go.

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“.

We assume that you successfully followed either option 1 or option 2 (both options can also be reached via the Getting Started Guide):

• option 1: you downloaded the virtual appliance (recommended for an easy start)
• option 2: you did a direct installation onto your computer (recommended only in case you need the full performance)

In case, someone else did the installation for you, please talk to that person to know about how to access the installation.

The following tutorial gives you very basic information:

• Getting Started with the SmartMDSD Toolchain

This lesson guides you through the SmartMDSD Toolchain and software development environment to get an overview and a comfortable start. We do this by running different robots in simulation. You get an immediate impression of the power of the SmartMDSD Toolchain and its development tools. We provide all the hints of where to find more information, documentation, reusable components etc. We will accomplish all the tasks of this tutorial and the next tutorials by using a Virtual Machine.

• Simple System: Laser Obstacle Avoid
  Explore and run a simple obstacle avoidance robot in simulation
  (Pioneer P3DX and Robotino in Webots).
  • features a simple reactive and collision-free motion of a robot with a laser ranger
  • example is simple by purpose and you get hands-on experience with the toolchain

• A More Complex System using the Flexible Navigation Stack
  Explore and run a more complex system in simulation (Pioneer P3DX, Robotino, TIAGo, RMP50, Webots). The flexible navigation stack is a full Navigation Stack (mapping, path planning, collision avoidance, localization, etc.). The example is based on a composition of off-the-shelf software components as they are used in physical robots.
  • features a full navigation stack
  • example uses simulation for easy use of different robots in different environments
  • Also available as video tutorial.

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

• Develop Your First System by Composing Software Components
  Compose a simple laser obstacle avoid system with the Pioneer P3DX robot and the Webots simulator. You also learn how to setup a robot and a world in the Webots simulator.
  Also available as video tutorial.

• Develop Your First Domain Model (to be updated)
  Complete the picture of component modeling and become able to add custom services to your component: understand how to model a service definition and how to model a communication object. Important hint: service definitions as well as communication objects are pre-specified for component developers via the domain models and component developers use them as is. They are not introduced by component developers but are agreed upon by domain experts. Nevertheless, component developers can come up with suggestions to domain experts. This tutorial closes the loop for understanding services and communication objects.

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

• Deploy a Simple System onto a Pioneer P3DX (or a Robotino)
  We guide you through the steps of deploying a readily configured system onto a real-world P3DX robot. We use the now already well-known example of reactive navigation (a mobile robot with a laser scanner and an obstacle avoidance algorithm). It is pre-configured for the P3DX robots in the Service Robotics Research Lab of Technische Hochschule Ulm. However, as reactive navigation is independent of specific maps and coordinate system references, you can run it in your environemnt as well. You learn where you find the settings that you need to adjust to your physical robot.

• Deploy the Flexible Navigation Stack onto a Robotino (or a Pioneer P3DX)
  We guide you through the steps of deploying the flexible navigation stack onto a real-world P3DX robot. The flexible navigation stack requires a map of the environment for localization and symbolic names for regions. These are pre-configured for the Service Robotics Research Lab of Technische Hochschule Ulm.

• Create your Own Real-World Deployment
  We start with the system you developed in Develop Your First System by Composing Software Components (reactive navigation with laser obstacle avoid). We do all the steps to make it work on a real robot instead of just in simulation. We focus on the differences between deployment for simulator and deployment for real-world.

• Configure the Flexible Navigation Stack for a New Environment

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 [Outdated Video: Refer text 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.

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
  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
  This tutorial describes how to compose a system that runs components on the RaspberryPi and your development computer.

This advanced lesson describes how to use the SmartMDSD Toolchain with the GoPiGo Robot from Dexter Industries. The lesson covers a tutorial for getting started in pure software using simulation and how to operate the hardware robot. A video demonstration of the GoPiGo and Webots simulator is available at https://youtu.be/fEBv-Lc6FlM

• SmartMDSD and GoPiGo using Webots simulator
  How to get started with the webots robot simulator.

• SmartMDSD and GoPiGo Hardware
  How to work with the hardware robot.

Dependency Graphs are networks of dependencies that emerge from the flow of system-level characteristics, controlled by evidence and business logic. Dependency Objects are entities that encapsulate a distinct system characteristic of the system that is relevant to and are altered by components and connectors that compose the system.

This lesson describes how to use the SmartMDSD Toolchain with SmartDG: The Dependency-Graph extensions for SmartMDSD Toolchain. More specifically, these lessons give a detailed account of how to add Dependency Graph Elements to existing SmartMDSD components and system projects. This tutorial is also available as video tutorial.

• SmartDG : Import and Use Tier-2 Environments and Service models
  A Tier-2 SmartDG Environment allows declaration of domain-specific Dependency Objects, Software Components, and approved Transfer Functions for Components provided by their manufacturers. This tutorial describes how to import and use a Tier-2 domain-specific SmartDG Environment model. This tutorial further describes how to import any SmartDG Service model in the workspace.
  This tutorial is also available as video tutorial.
  

• SmartDG : Adding SmartDG Dependency Objects to SmartMDSD Components
  Dependency Objects are entities that encapsulate a distinct system characteristic of the system that is relevant to and are altered by components and connectors that compose the system. This tutorial adds SmartDG Dependency Objects to an existing SmartMDSD component project.
  This tutorial is also available as video tutorial.
  

• SmartDG : Adding SmartDG Dependency Graphs to SmartMDSD Systems
  Dependency Graphs are networks of dependencies that emerge from the flow of system-level characteristics, controlled by evidence and business logic. This tutorial adds SmartDG Dependency Graphs to an existing SmartMDSD system project.
  This tutorial is also available as video tutorial.
  

• SmartDG : Dependency-Graph extensions for SmartMDSD Toolchain
  Lists and links to SmartDG Tutorials and Repositories.
  

To use the SmartDG feature, wait for SmartMDSD Eclipse Toolchain and Virtual Machine (To be released very soon)

• Accessing the Webots Simulator in the SmartMDSD Toolchain
  This advanced tutorial describes how to use the SmartMDSD Toolchain together with the Webots simulator.

• 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.

• 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).