README

ros2_medkit_fault_reporter

Client library for easy fault reporting to the central FaultManager.

Overview

The FaultReporter library provides a simple API for ROS 2 nodes to report faults. Just call report() when something goes wrong - the fault is immediately confirmed.

Quick Start

#include "ros2_medkit_fault_reporter/fault_reporter.hpp"

class MyNode : public rclcpp::Node {
 public:
  MyNode() : Node("my_node") {
    reporter_ = std::make_unique<ros2_medkit_fault_reporter::FaultReporter>(
        shared_from_this(), get_fully_qualified_name());
  }

  void check_sensor() {
    if (sensor_error_detected()) {
      reporter_->report("SENSOR_FAILURE",
                        ros2_medkit_msgs::msg::Fault::SEVERITY_ERROR,
                        "Sensor communication timeout");
    }
  }

 private:
  std::unique_ptr<ros2_medkit_fault_reporter::FaultReporter> reporter_;
};

That’s it! The fault will be immediately confirmed in FaultManager.

Features

• Simple API: Just call report() to report a fault

• Local Filtering (optional): Suppress repeated faults until threshold is met

• Per-fault tracking: Each fault_code has independent filtering

• Severity bypass: High-severity faults bypass local filtering

API

report(fault_code, severity, description)

Report a fault occurrence. With default FaultManager settings, the fault is immediately confirmed.

reporter_->report("MOTOR_OVERHEAT",
                  ros2_medkit_msgs::msg::Fault::SEVERITY_ERROR,
                  "Motor temperature exceeded safe limit");

report_passed(fault_code) (Advanced)

Report that a fault condition has cleared. Use this when FaultManager is configured with debounce filtering and healing enabled.

reporter_->report_passed("MOTOR_OVERHEAT");

Local Filtering

The reporter includes optional local filtering to reduce noise from repeated fault occurrences. Only forwards the fault to FaultManager after threshold is reached within a time window.

Configuration

my_node:
  ros__parameters:
    fault_reporter:
      local_filtering:
        enabled: true           # Enable local filtering (default: true)
        default_threshold: 3    # Reports needed before forwarding
        default_window_sec: 10.0  # Time window in seconds
        bypass_severity: 2      # ERROR and CRITICAL bypass filtering

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
fault_reporter.local_filtering.enabled	bool	true	Enable/disable local filtering
fault_reporter.local_filtering.default_threshold	int	3	Reports needed before forwarding
fault_reporter.local_filtering.default_window_sec	double	10.0	Time window in seconds
fault_reporter.local_filtering.bypass_severity	int	2	Severity level that bypasses filtering

Advanced: Debounce Integration

When FaultManager is configured with debounce filtering (confirmation_threshold < -1), you can use report_passed() to signal that a fault condition has cleared:

void check_sensor() {
  if (sensor_error_detected()) {
    // Fault condition detected
    reporter_->report("SENSOR_FAILURE",
                      ros2_medkit_msgs::msg::Fault::SEVERITY_ERROR,
                      "Sensor timeout");
  } else if (was_sensor_failing()) {
    // Fault condition cleared - helps with healing
    reporter_->report_passed("SENSOR_FAILURE");
  }
}

See ros2_medkit_fault_manager README for debounce configuration details.

Building

colcon build --packages-select ros2_medkit_fault_reporter

Testing

colcon test --packages-select ros2_medkit_fault_reporter
colcon test-result --verbose

License

Apache-2.0