RAFCON: a Graphical Tool for Task Programming and Mission Control

TL;DR

RAFCON is a graphical tool that simplifies programming and mission control of complex robotic systems using hierarchical state machines, supporting debugging, error handling, and autonomous operation demonstrations.

Contribution

It introduces a visual, hierarchical state machine-based programming environment with advanced debugging and error recovery for robotic task development and mission management.

Findings

Successfully used in SpaceBotCamp for autonomous exploration and assembly

Enables intuitive visual programming and rapid prototyping

Supports complex, hierarchical, and concurrent task scenarios

Abstract

There are many application fields for robotic systems including service robotics, search and rescue missions, industry and space robotics. As the scenarios in these areas grow more and more complex, there is a high demand for powerful tools to efficiently program heterogeneous robotic systems. Therefore, we created RAFCON, a graphical tool to develop robotic tasks and to be used for mission control by remotely monitoring the execution of the tasks. To define the tasks, we use state machines which support hierarchies and concurrency. Together with a library concept, even complex scenarios can be handled gracefully. RAFCON supports sophisticated debugging functionality and tightly integrates error handling and recovery mechanisms. A GUI with a powerful state machine editor makes intuitive, visual programming and fast prototyping possible. We demonstrated the capabilities of our tool in the SpaceBotCamp national robotic competition, in which our mobile robot solved all exploration and assembly challenges fully autonomously. It is therefore also a promising tool for various RoboCup leagues.