State Machine for Driving | Dataford Interview Questions

Describe a time you implemented a state machine for driving behavior in a robotics system.

Implement a deterministic version that processes an event sequence and returns the state after each event. Start in IDLE and use the specified transitions; unrecognized events leave the state unchanged.

Input/output contract: events is a list of strings, and the function returns a list beginning with the initial state and containing one state per event.

Constraints

0 <= len(events) <= 10^5
Each event is a string
Valid events are start, obstacle, clear, stop, emergency, and reset
Unrecognized events must leave the current state unchanged

Function Signature

def driving_states(events):

Your question is State Machine for Driving. Start with the requirements in the Question tab.

Run and submit as often as you like. When you're ready, talk me through your approach or go straight to the code.

Problem

Describe a time you implemented a state machine for driving behavior in a robotics system.

Input/output contract: events is a list of strings, and the function returns a list beginning with the initial state and containing one state per event.

Constraints

0 <= len(events) <= 10^5
Each event is a string
Valid events are start, obstacle, clear, stop, emergency, and reset
Unrecognized events must leave the current state unchanged

Function Signature

def driving_states(events):

Your question is State Machine for Driving. Start with the requirements in the Question tab.

Run and submit as often as you like. When you're ready, talk me through your approach or go straight to the code.