Picar X Behavior

Domain Principles Table

Workflow

Behavior Development Pipeline

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                                                                  │
│   ┌────────┐   ┌───────────┐   ┌─────────────┐   ┌───────────┐ │
│ ─>│ DEFINE │──>│ IMPLEMENT │──>│ TEST_STATIC │──>│TEST_DYNAMIC│ │
│   └────────┘   └───────────┘   └─────────────┘   └───────────┘ │
│                                                        │        │
│        ┌─────────┐      ┌────────┐                     │        │
│        │ DEPLOY  │<─────│COMPOSE │<────────────────────┘        │
│        └─────────┘      └────────┘                              │
│             │                ▲                                   │
│             └────────────────┘ (add more behaviors)             │
│                                                                  │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Pre-Flight Checklist

Before ANY dynamic test or deployment, verify:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Pre-Flight Hardware Safety Check                │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ [ ] Battery charged and securely connected      │
│ [ ] Wheels off ground OR in bounded test area   │
│ [ ] Emergency stop mechanism verified working   │
│ [ ] Servo range calibration confirmed           │
│ [ ] Ultrasonic sensor returning valid readings  │
│ [ ] Camera stream active (if vision behavior)   │
│ [ ] Max speed set to TEST level (<=30)          │
│ [ ] Watchdog timeout configured (<2 seconds)    │
│ [ ] Clear path / no obstacles in test zone      │
│ [ ] Operator within physical reach of robot     │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Step-by-Step Workflow

DEFINE

1. Name the behavior and describe its goal in one sentence
2. List sensor inputs required (ultrasonic, grayscale, camera)
3. List actuator outputs produced (drive motors, steering servo, camera servos)
4. Define safety constraints: max speed, servo bounds, timeout
5. Describe the expected sense-act loop at a high level

IMPLEMENT

1. Create a class inheriting from Behavior base class
2. Implement setup(), update(), and teardown() methods
3. Add safety bounds checking inside update()
4. Ensure teardown() always stops motors and centers servos
5. Add logging for sensor reads and actuator writes

TEST_STATIC

1. Mock all hardware interfaces (motors, servos, sensors)
2. Test that update() produces correct actuator commands for given sensor inputs
3. Test boundary conditions: sensor min/max, obstacle at threshold distance
4. Test that teardown() issues stop commands
5. Test that safety limits are enforced (speed clamping, servo range)
6. Run with pytest -- all tests must pass before proceeding

TEST_DYNAMIC

1. Complete pre-flight checklist
2. Set speed to minimum test level (10-15)
3. Run behavior for bounded duration (5-10 seconds)
4. Observe and log actual robot motion
5. Verify sensor readings match expected environment
6. Gradually increase speed if behavior is correct
7. Test edge cases in physical environment (close obstacles, sharp turns)

COMPOSE

1. Define behavior priority order (highest priority = safety behaviors)
2. Wire behaviors into a behavior tree or priority-based selector
3. Test composed system in static tests first (mocked hardware)
4. Verify that higher-priority behaviors suppress lower-priority ones
5. Run composed system in dynamic test with low speed

DEPLOY

1. Set operational speed limits
2. Configure watchdog timeouts for production
3. Enable logging for post-run analysis
4. Monitor first full run with operator present
5. Iterate on tuning parameters (speeds, thresholds, timing)

State Block Format

Maintain state across conversation turns using this block:

<picar-behavior-state>