How can you use logging to debug robot programming?

1 Why use logging?

Logging can help you debug robot programming in several ways. First, logging can give you a detailed and chronological view of what your robot is doing and why, which can help you identify and fix bugs, errors, or unexpected outcomes. Second, logging can help you monitor and analyze your robot's performance, such as speed, accuracy, energy consumption, or sensor readings, which can help you optimize and improve your robot's functionality. Third, logging can help you document and communicate your robot's behavior and status, which can help you share and collaborate with other programmers, testers, or users.

3 What to log?

The answer to what to log depends on your robot programming goals and needs, but here are some general guidelines to follow. You should log enough information to understand and debug your robot's behavior and status, but not too much information to clutter or slow down your robot's performance. You should log relevant and meaningful information that can help you answer questions or solve problems, such as inputs, outputs, parameters, variables, conditions, exceptions, or results. You should log different levels of information according to their importance and urgency, such as debug for development and testing, info for normal operation and reporting, warning for potential issues and alerts, error for failures and recovery, and critical for emergencies and termination.

4 Where to log?

The answer to where to log depends on your robot programming resources and preferences, but here are some common options to consider. You can log to a file on your robot's memory or storage device, which can be convenient and secure, but may have limited space and accessibility. You can log to a console on your robot's screen or terminal, which can be easy and interactive, but may have limited visibility and persistence. You can log to a database on your robot's network or server, which can be scalable and searchable, but may have latency and complexity. You can log to a cloud service on your robot's internet or web, which can be flexible and accessible, but may have cost and security issues.

5 When to log?

The answer to when to log depends on your robot programming logic and events, but here are some basic principles to follow. You should log frequently enough to capture and trace your robot's behavior and status, but not too frequently to overload or interfere with your robot's performance. You should log timely enough to respond and react to your robot's actions and events, but not too timely to miss or ignore important information. You should log conditionally enough to adapt and adjust to your robot's situations and environments, but not too conditionally to create or confuse inconsistency or ambiguity.

6 How to log?

The answer to how to log depends on your robot programming style and standards, but here are some best practices to follow. You should log consistently enough to follow and maintain a clear and uniform format and style, such as the date, time, level, source, message, and data of your log messages. You should log clearly enough to convey and communicate a concise and accurate information, such as the cause, effect, solution, or recommendation of your log messages. You should log readably enough to parse and analyze a human-friendly and machine-friendly information, such as the punctuation, grammar, spelling, and syntax of your log messages.

7 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?