How do you test and monitor your ROS robot?

1 ROS Testing Framework

ROS has a built-in testing framework that allows you to write and run unit tests, integration tests, and system tests for your ROS packages. You can use the rostest command to launch test nodes, run test cases, and generate test results. You can also use the roslaunch command with the --test option to run launch files as tests. The ROS testing framework supports different types of test formats, such as Python unittest, C++ gtest, and ROS-specific test nodes. You can also use the roslint package to check the code style and quality of your ROS packages.

2 ROS Monitoring Tools

ROS also provides a set of tools and utilities that help you monitor the status and activity of your ROS robot. You can use the rostopic command to inspect and interact with the topics that your robot publishes and subscribes to. You can use the rosnode command to list and manage the nodes that are running on your robot. You can use the rosservice command to call and list the services that your robot provides and uses. You can use the rosparam command to get and set the parameters that your robot uses. You can use the rqt_graph and rqt_console tools to visualize the communication graph and the log messages of your robot.

3 ROS Debugging Tools

Sometimes, you may encounter errors or bugs in your ROS robot that require more in-depth analysis and troubleshooting. ROS offers some debugging tools that can help you identify and fix the problems. You can use the rosbag command to record and play back the messages that your robot exchanges on different topics. You can use the rosmsg and rossrv commands to display the message and service definitions that your robot uses. You can use the gdb and valgrind tools to debug and profile the C++ nodes that your robot runs. You can use the pdb and pyflakes tools to debug and check the Python nodes that your robot runs.

4 ROS Simulation Tools

Another way to test and monitor your ROS robot is to use simulation tools that can mimic the real-world environment and scenarios that your robot faces. ROS supports several simulation engines, such as Gazebo, Stage, and V-REP, that can create realistic 3D models of your robot and its surroundings. You can use the roslaunch command to start the simulation and the rosbridge package to communicate with the simulator. You can use the rviz tool to visualize the sensor data and the robot state that the simulator provides. You can also use the rosbag command to record and play back the simulation data.

5 ROS Documentation Tools

Finally, you should document your ROS robot and its components, such as packages, nodes, topics, services, messages, and parameters. Documentation helps you and others understand, maintain, and reuse your robot code. ROS provides some documentation tools that can help you generate and organize your documentation. You can use the rosdoc_lite package to create HTML documentation from the source code and the manifest files of your ROS packages. You can use the roswiki package to create and edit wiki pages for your ROS packages. You can also use the rosdoc and rospack commands to access and manage the documentation of your ROS packages.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?