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I'm currently working on this question as part of some homework, it has me stumped.

FSA Question

I'm familiar with finite state automata (FSA), I know how they work and I've read everything I can find on Google, but nothing's helped me come any closer to a solution.

If I don't know the length of the input string, or I'm not searching for a particular pattern, how can I design a machine that will always land on the final state?

I've tried drawing some, but that always end up being a little off.

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    $\begingroup$ A.Schulz's answer gives you pretty much everything, but from the conceptual level, it may be worth recognising that you are looking for a particular pattern - $bb$. The difference is that you want to reject when you find it, rather than accept (and if you haven't found it, then everything is still okay). $\endgroup$ – Luke Mathieson Nov 17 '12 at 9:05
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The FSA should have three states:

  • $q_a$ represents: last character was not a b, and no bb yet
  • $q_b$ represents: last character was a b, and no bb yet
  • $q_{bb}$ represents: there was already a bb

Clearly, you start with $q_a$ and you accept in $q_a$ and $q_b$. Now try to figure out how to connect the states.

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