Globomantics Robotics Control API 🤖

Pluralsight Course Demo: Master CircleCI pipelines with a real-world Node.js API

Welcome to the Globomantics Robotics Control API! This project serves as the hands-on companion to the Pluralsight CircleCI course. You'll use this fully functional REST API to learn CI/CD concepts in a practical, engaging way.

What You're Building

Globomantics (our fictional robotics company) needs a control system for their robot fleet. This API lets you:

• Register robots into the fleet with unique identifiers
• Execute commands like move, rotate, grab, and release
• Monitor battery levels that drain realistically with usage
• Calibrate sensors including temperature, proximity, and pressure
• Manage the fleet with full CRUD operations

Quick Start

# Clone and install
git clone https://github.com/your-org/globomantics-robotics-api.git
cd globomantics-robotics-api
npm install

# Start the server
npm start
# API running at http://localhost:3000

# Run tests
npm test

API Reference

Health Check

GET /health
# Returns: { "status": "healthy", "timestamp": "..." }

Register a Robot

POST /api/robots
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "name": "Atlas-7",
  "type": "arm",          # arm, manipulator, or mobile
  "location": "Factory Floor A"
}

Execute Commands

POST /api/robots/:id/command
Content-Type: application/json

# Movement (mobile robots)
{ "command": "move", "direction": "forward" }
{ "command": "rotate", "degrees": 90 }
{ "command": "stop" }

# Manipulation (arm/manipulator robots)
{ "command": "grab" }
{ "command": "release" }

# Battery management
{ "command": "charge" }

Calibrate Sensors

POST /api/robots/:id/calibrate
# Recalibrates temperature, proximity, and pressure sensors

Other Endpoints

GET /api/robots           # List all robots
GET /api/robots/:id       # Get specific robot
DELETE /api/robots/:id    # Remove robot from fleet

---

CircleCI Course Content

This project demonstrates key CircleCI concepts you'll master in the course:

Pipeline Architecture

┌──────────────┐
│ install-deps │ ← Caches node_modules for speed
└──────┬───────┘
       │
       ├──────────────┬─────────────────┐
       ▼              ▼                 ▼
┌──────────┐   ┌───────────┐   ┌─────────────────┐
│   lint   │   │ test-unit │   │ test-integration│
└────┬─────┘   └─────┬─────┘   └────────┬────────┘
     │               │                  │
     └───────────────┴──────────────────┘
                     │
                     ▼
              ┌───────────┐
              │   build   │ ← Creates dist/ artifact
              └─────┬─────┘
                    │
       ┌────────────┴────────────┐
       ▼                         ▼
┌──────────────┐         ┌──────────────────┐
│deploy-staging│         │hold-for-approval │ ← Manual gate
│(all branches)│         │  (main only)     │
└──────────────┘         └────────┬─────────┘
                                  ▼
                         ┌─────────────────┐
                         │deploy-production│
                         │  (main only)    │
                         └─────────────────┘

Concepts You'll Practice

Concept	Where It's Used
Dependency Caching	install-deps job caches npm packages
Workspace Persistence	node_modules shared across jobs
Parallel Jobs	lint, unit tests, and integration tests run simultaneously
Artifacts	Build output and test results stored for download
Branch Filtering	Different deploy paths for main vs feature branches
Approval Gates	Manual approval required for production deploys
Test Splitting	Unit and integration tests run as separate jobs

Key Files to Explore

• .circleci/config.yml - The complete pipeline definition
• package.json - Script definitions referenced by CircleCI
• jest.config (in package.json) - Test output configured for CircleCI insights

---

Development Commands

# Full test suite with coverage report
npm test

# Watch mode for TDD
npm run test:watch

# Run specific test file
npx jest tests/robot-controller.test.js

# Lint check
npm run lint

# Production build
npm run build

Project Structure

├── .circleci/
│   └── config.yml          # ⭐ CircleCI pipeline config
├── src/
│   ├── index.js            # Express server & routes
│   ├── robot-controller.js # Command execution logic
│   ├── sensor-calibration.js # Sensor management
│   └── logger.js           # Winston logging setup
├── tests/
│   ├── api.test.js         # API integration tests
│   ├── robot-controller.test.js
│   ├── sensor-calibration.test.js
│   └── integration/
└── scripts/
    └── build.js            # Build script for dist/

Course Exercises

As you progress through the course, you'll:

1. Module 1: Examine the existing pipeline and understand job dependencies
2. Module 2: Modify caching strategies and measure build time improvements
3. Module 3: Add new test jobs and configure parallelism
4. Module 4: Implement branch-based deployment rules
5. Module 5: Set up approval workflows and environment variables

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Troubleshooting

Tests failing locally but passing in CI?

• Ensure you're on Node 18.19: node --version
• Clear node_modules and reinstall: rm -rf node_modules && npm install

CircleCI build not triggering?

• Check that .circleci/config.yml is valid: circleci config validate
• Ensure the project is connected in the CircleCI dashboard

Port 3000 already in use?

• Kill the process: npx kill-port 3000
• Or use a different port: PORT=3001 npm start

---

Tech Stack

• Runtime: Node.js 18.19
• Framework: Express.js 4.18
• Testing: Jest 29 + Supertest
• Linting: ESLint 8
• Logging: Winston 3
• CI/CD: CircleCI 2.1

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