Introduction

In QFIRE Studio, hierarchical state machines are constructed with four basic elements:

• Finite States

  : Can be placed inside other state machines and may contain only signal flow blocks.

• State Machines

  : Can be placed inside other state machines and may contain either state machines or finite states.

• Transitions

  : Triggers transition between any pair combination of finite state and/or state machine.

• Initial State

  : It is placed automatically at each level of a hierarchical state machine and unconditionally links a transition to a finite state or a state machine.

Examples

The working principles of a hierarchical state machine are detailed by four examples:

1. Transitions are evaluated prior to the execution of any Finite State

2. Only one Finite State gets executed at a time
3. Transitions' Priorities
4. Continuous and Discrete States in a Hierarchical State Machine