Robotics Design Patterns

Proven architecture patterns for robot software — behavior trees, FSMs, HALs, safety systems — with working code examples.

Dev & CodingIntermediate★ 349⑂ 45AI score 8/10Last updated: Aug 12, 2026

What it does

Gives Claude a reference library of robotics software architecture knowledge to apply when you design or review robot systems.

Six-layer robot software stack (Application → Behavioral → Functional → Communication → HAL → Hardware) with the rule that data flows up and commands flow down
Behavior Trees vs Finite State Machines: selection criteria plus real py_trees and smach implementations, including the blackboard pattern
Perception pipeline and sensor fusion across camera/LiDAR/IMU rates, with the timing rule controller > planner > sensor frequency
Hardware Abstraction Layer pattern: abstract interface, real + simulated implementations, factory-based config switching for sim-to-real
Safety architecture: four-level safety hierarchy, heartbeat-based software watchdog, workspace/velocity/force limit checks before commands reach hardware
Episode-based data recording architecture and 8 anti-patterns to avoid (God Node, blocking the control loop, missing timestamps...)
A 10-question architecture decision checklist for new systems

Who it's for

Robotics engineers building on ROS2 (arms, mobile robots, drones)
Teams deciding between behavior trees and state machines
Anyone whose simulation code keeps breaking on real hardware
Engineers designing safety logic (E-stop, watchdogs, limit enforcement) for the first time

Example uses

"Design a behavior tree for a pick-and-place task" → produces a tree with a safety-check sequence, Pick and Place subtrees, and blackboard read/write conventions
"Make the system safe-stop if any node misses heartbeats" → generates a SafetyWatchdog with component registration, a monitor thread and timeouts
"My Gazebo code fails on the real UR5" → recommends refactoring behind a HAL interface with a driver factory selected by config

· · · Install guide · · ·

Try it now, no install

Paste this into Claude to use the skill without installing anything.

Read the instructions in this file and follow them to help me:
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/arpitg1304/robotics-agent-skills/HEAD/skills/robotics-design-patterns/SKILL.md

What I want: (describe your task here)

If Claude can't open the link, open it yourself and paste the contents instead.

↓ If it works for you, download the ZIP below and install it. Then it runs on its own — no pasting each time.

Install in the Claude app (no terminal)

Download the ZIP with the button below.
In Claude, open Settings → Capabilities and turn on 'Code execution and file creation'. (one time)
Go to Customize → Skills → + → 'Upload a skill' and upload the ZIP.

↓ Download ZIP

Install in Claude Code

Let Claude do it — paste this into Claude Code

Install the skill I found on Claude Skill Mart.
Copy the skills/robotics-design-patterns folder from the GitHub repo arpitg1304/robotics-agent-skills into my ~/.claude/skills/robotics-design-patterns/.
When it's done, tell me in one line what this skill can do.

Install with a command instead

git clone https://github.com/arpitg1304/robotics-agent-skills.git && mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && cp -r robotics-agent-skills/skills/robotics-design-patterns ~/.claude/skills/

⚠ This is a third-party skill. Check the source repository before installing.

Open a terminal.
Create the skills directory: mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills
Clone the repository: git clone https://github.com/arpitg1304/robotics-agent-skills.git
Copy just this skill: cp -r robotics-agent-skills/skills/robotics-design-patterns ~/.claude/skills/
Restart Claude Code and run /skills to confirm robotics-design-patterns is listed.
Trigger it by asking something like "design a behavior-tree architecture for my robot".
(Optional) To run the sample code, install pip install py_trees and set up a ROS2 workspace separately.

View source on GitHub ↗License: Apache-2.0