adds mermaid2 plugin for easy creation of diagrams

docs/departments/perception/clustering_algo.md

@@ -416,14 +416,14 @@ Despite these, the pipeline provides a strong foundation for autonomous track pe
 
 ```mermaid
 flowchart TD
-    A[LiDAR /velodyne_points] --> B[ROI Filter]
-    B --> C[Ground Plane Removal<br>(via /cluster/plane_model)]
-    C --> D[Cluster Non-Ground Points]
-    D --> E[Color Classification<br>(optional)]
-    E --> F[Publish ConeArrayWithCovariance<br>/cones/lidar]
-    C --> G[/cluster/filtered_point_cloud]
-    D --> H[/cluster/cluster_cloud]
-    A --> I[/cluster/ransac_point_cloud]
+    A["LiDAR /velodyne_points"] --> B["ROI Filter"]
+    B --> C["Ground Plane Removal<br>(via /cluster/plane_model)"]
+    C --> D["Cluster Non-Ground Points"]
+    D --> E["Color Classification<br>(optional)"]
+    E --> F["Publish ConeArrayWithCovariance<br>/cones/lidar"]
+    C --> G["/cluster/filtered_point_cloud"]
+    D --> H["/cluster/cluster_cloud"]
+    A --> I["/cluster/ransac_point_cloud"]
 ```
 
 ---

docs/guidelines/documentation.md

@@ -14,6 +14,31 @@
 - Always include meaningful alt text for accessibility
 - Store images in the `media/` directory relative to your markdown file
 
+#### Adding diagrams
+
+- [Mermaid](https://mermaid.ai/open-source) can be used to easily create diagrams to explain systems, create flowcharts, etc.
+- In order to add a Mermaid diagram into a page:
+    1. Start a new line with triple backticks and the codeword `mermaid`.
+    2. Type the diagram using the Mermaid syntax
+    3. End on a new line with triple backticks
+- For example:
+````markdown
+```mermaid
+graph LR
+    hello --> world
+    world --> again
+    again --> hello
+```
+````
+Becomes
+```mermaid
+graph LR
+    hello --> world
+    world --> again
+    again --> hello
+```
+- Reference the [Mermaid documentation](https://mermaid.ai/open-source/intro/) to learn more about how you can use Mermaid.
+
 ### Keeping Documentation up to Date
 
 In general you will encounter cases where documentation is inadequate / out of date when people start complaining or asking questions. It can be very easy to issue a temporary fix or give a verbal explanation in this case but it's always best to incorporate such issues in the docs.

mkdocs.yml

@@ -44,7 +44,11 @@ markdown_extensions:
   - attr_list
   - footnotes
   - pymdownx.details
-  - pymdownx.superfences
+  - pymdownx.superfences:
+      custom_fences:
+        - name: mermaid
+          class: mermaid
+          format: !!python/name:mermaid2.fence_mermaid_custom
   - md_in_html 
   - pymdownx.tabbed:
       alternate_style: true
@@ -69,6 +73,7 @@ plugins:
       custom_format: "%b %d, %Y"   # e.g. "Oct 17, 2025"
       timezone: Europe/Dublin
       locale: en
+  - mermaid2
 
 
 nav: # This is the structure of the sidebar

requirements.txt

@@ -14,4 +14,6 @@ mkdocs-material-extensions>=1.3
 #Zoom in for pictures
 mkdocs-glightbox
 
+# Mermaid diagrams plugin
+mkdocs-mermaid2-plugin