A Visual Modeling Language for RDIS and ROS Nodes Using AToM3

In robotics we are often faced with the problem of repeatedly writing robot drivers for the same devices, but different robot frameworks. In an effort to counter this, a domain model was developed that had success in raising the abstraction level enough to describe a few different devices and frameworks. The domain model was captured in a domain specific language. However, descriptions tend to get verbose fast and the adopted syntax was difficult for programmers. This paper outlines an attempt to shift away from a textual syntax and toward a visual syntax, instead relying on the textual syntax to communicate the model to other tools. As well, it notes how the domain model has been evolved during this process. In addition, a formalism for defining ROS nodes is presented and a model transformation for mapping RDIS messages to ROS messages and vice-versa is created.