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    Build the Graph

    A Station is a graph of nodes connected through ports. This page shows how to add and name nodes, connect them, and keep a large graph tidy. You can change the graph on the Edit page and on the Live page; every change is saved automatically. The node types are explained in Key Concepts.

    1. Add a Node

    1. Click Add node in the toolbar, or right-click the empty canvas.

    2. Choose the node type: Gateway, Controller, Compound or Application.

      Add node: type
      Choosing the node type

    3. Under Select a module, choose the app or module, then click Next.

      Add node: module
      Gateway › sodero.actuator_gateway

    4. Enter the node name and click Add node. You can rename the node later.

      Add node: name
      Naming the node

    The node appears on the canvas as Planned. Nothing runs until you start it on the Live page (Start and Monitor Nodes).

    The Module List

    Badge Entry Detail line
    SODERO An app installed from the Store Sodero package · and its version
    CUSTOM A module package you uploaded Imported package · Installed
    DRAFT Empty gateway, Empty controller, Empty compound, Empty application Empty subsystem to develop yourself (no package): a placeholder with no program behind it, for sketching a system. It does not start.

    Each type lists only the apps and modules installed on this Station. To add another, install it first (Apps and Packages).

    Name the Node

    The name field proposes the app's own name, for example sodero.actuator_gateway. Add a last part that names the robot or device, so that the name reads sodero.<package>.<name>:

    Node Example name
    Actuator gateway of a robot sodero.actuator_gateway.jackal
    Mobile base controller of the same robot sodero.mlc.jackal
    Manipulator controller sodero.mmc.arm
    Articulation controller sodero.amc.dog
    Strider sodero.strider
    • The last part names the node's documents. A new document you upload to sodero.actuator_gateway.jackal is named jackal (Documents and Settings).
    • Robot documents refer to their gateway by its node name, for example sodero.actuator_gateway.jackal. Give the gateway the name its controller's document expects.
    • Give a robot's gateway and controller the same last part. The graph stays easy to read.
    • Names use letters, digits, _, . and -, start with a letter or digit, and have up to 60 characters (an empty draft: 20). Each name can be used once per Station: … is already a node of this graph: use another id, e.g. ….2.

    2. Node Cards

    Part Meaning
    Title The node name
    Second line The app or module the node runs
    REQUIRES n/m Ports the node needs from other nodes, on the left edge of the card: connected / total
    PROVIDES n/m Ports the node offers, on the right edge: ports with at least one connection / total
    State Planned until the node first starts, then its running state (Node States)

    The card border has the color of the node type: orange for gateways, blue-violet for controllers, purple for compounds and mint for applications. The arrow at the top right of a card folds its ports away.

    3. Connect Ports

    Connect a port that one node requires to a matching port that another node provides:

    • Drag from one port dot to the other.
    • Click one port, then the other.
    • In the inspector of the node that requires the port, click Auto-connect next to the port. The Station connects the first matching port it finds, or shows No match.

    The Station accepts a connection only when the two ports are on different nodes, one requires and the other provides, and both use the same interface. The inspector shows each port's interface under its name, for example api.actuator.servo.v1. The Station also keeps the system's structure:

    • Only a controller may use a gateway.
    • An application uses controllers or compounds, never gateways directly.
    • One controller drives a gateway.

    A refused connection says why, for example Connect ports on different nodes with opposite directions and matching contracts.

    To remove a connection, select the node and click Disconnect next to the port in the inspector.

    Check Auto-connect with several robots. Auto-connect does not look at node names: with two gateways in the graph, it may pick the other robot's. Check the result, or drag the connection yourself.

    Common Connections

    Node (requires) Port Connect to (provides)
    sodero.mmc.<name>, sodero.mlc.<name>, sodero.amc.<name> servo_link The robot's actuator gateway sodero.actuator_gateway.<name>, port servo_link
    sodero.strider mobile_base The mobile base controller sodero.mlc.<name>, port mobile_base
    sodero.strider localization The localizer sodero.icp_localizer, port localization
    sodero.strider navigation The navigator sodero.navigator, port navigation
    sodero.icp_localizer camera (required) The robot's camera gateway sodero.camera_gateway.<name>, port camera
    sodero.navigator mobile_base The mobile base controller sodero.mlc.<name>, port mobile_base
    sodero.navigator localization The localizer sodero.icp_localizer, port localization

    Strider drives what its ports are connected to (Strider).

    For navigation, install sodero.icp_localizer and sodero.navigator from the Store (Apps and Packages) and add them. The localizer needs its camera port connected; the navigator drives the base connected to its mobile_base port and follows the robot's position from the localizer connected to its localization port. Both read the Station's map bundle (Documents and Settings).

    4. Rename and Delete

    • Rename: click the pencil next to the node name in the inspector and enter the new name. The node keeps its connections and the documents it uses.
    • Delete: right-click the node and choose Delete node. The dialog asks Delete "…" from this robot system?; click Delete node. The node's connections are removed too.

    On the Live page, stop a node before you rename or delete it.

    Deleting a node cannot be undone. Everyone working on the Station sees the change at once.

    5. Find Your Way in a Large Graph

    • Filter shows only nodes of one Node type or Status; Reset all clears it.
    • Fit view zooms to show every node; Auto layout arranges the nodes by their connections.
    • The N issues chip at the left of the toolbar lists problems, such as Required port "servo_link" is not connected. Locate jumps to the node.

    6. Load and Export the Graph

    • Export downloads the graph as a .yaml file. If something runs on the Live page that the graph does not show, it asks first: Planned topology only or Also include what is running.
    • Load YAML loads such a file from your PC (From your PC) or from the project library (Project Library). It replaces the nodes and connections of the Station (… loaded — N nodes now in the system.).

    The file holds the graph only: nodes, their parameters and their connections. Documents, settings and apps are not part of it. To copy a whole Robot System, use Duplicate file, or Download local copy and Import, on the project page (Robot Systems and Robot Worlds).