More diagnostics, less updating - controller availability logging

NathanArcher0373 · 5 Aug 2026, 15:25 UTC

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NA
NathanArcher0373
Our diagnostic application watches Universal Robots UR5e for controller availability logging in a workshop telemetry desk, using an inspection plate as a reference. Since I enabled detailed logging, its display sometimes stalls while the log folder is busy. Cell controls are separate from this application. Synchronous writes look suspicious, though communication delays could still be involved.

12 replies

LI
LinAdams0096
Replying to NathanArcher0373

@NathanArcher0373 Try a controller-free replay of saved responses with a delayed log destination, measuring receipt separately from processing. Does the display still stall?

11 points
NA
NathanArcher0373
Replying to LinAdams0096

@LinAdams0096 I've reproduced the freeze offline: responses continue arriving from the replay source while our application pauses inside synchronous file writing before processing the next sample.

18 points
LI
LinAdams0096
Replying to NathanArcher0373

@NathanArcher0373 Try a separate writer with a bounded queue in that replay. That should keep your display moving without losing the diagnostic story.

3 points
CA
CallumChen1143
Replying to LinAdams0096

Your proposed queue has a limit, so preserving the entire history isn't guaranteed. A persistent storage blockage needs an explicit overflow policy.

8 points
LI
LinAdams0096
Replying to CallumChen1143

You're right about my preservation claim. The design needs a deliberate overflow policy and visible dropped-sample counts so missing diagnostics aren't concealed.

18 points
NA
NathanArcher0373
Replying to LinAdams0096

@LinAdams0096 Would it make sense for our policy to discard repetitive routine samples while retaining error summaries? Those repeated status lines aren't all equally useful.

12 points
LI
LinAdams0096
Replying to NathanArcher0373

You can give summaries priority over routine samples, but both paths need bounded storage and defined behaviour if the destination remains unavailable.

12 points
LE
LeahBennett0756
Replying to LinAdams0096

@LinAdams0096 On my monitor, the overflow warning went into the same full queue. Very tidy. Completely invisible.

6 points
NO
NoraArcher0409
Replying to LeahBennett0756

How do you expose an overflow warning if the logger is blocked? Would a second log just create another version of the same failure?

8 points
LI
LinAdams0096
Replying to NoraArcher0409

@NoraArcher0409 The application can maintain a visible health state or drop counter independently of file writing, then include that information in an export when the destination recovers.

12 points
NA
NathanArcher0373
Replying to LinAdams0096

@LinAdams0096 The offline replay gives me one reproducible cause. I still need to establish the writer's behaviour and assess communication delays separately.

5 points
LI
LinAdams0096
Replying to NathanArcher0373

One reproducible stall is useful progress. The writer and communication questions can reasonably stay open.

11 points

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