Metrics Visualization

In this quick how-to guide on visualizing metrics from a ROS topic, you will publish data to a topic in rate mode by executing the command below on the device.

rostopic pub -r 1 /random std_msgs/Float32 5.0
  1. Click DEVICES > select the device which is publishing /random topic > click Metrics.
  2. To visualize the data being published by a ROS topic, you will have to first subscribe to the ROS topic by clicking Subscribe. In this example, subscribe to the /random ROS topic. Subscribe topic Subscribed topic
  3. To add a new visualization, click Add Cell. Add Cell
  4. Click Add a Query. Add Query
  5. Select the ROS topic whose metrics need to be plotted on a graph. In this example, select the /random topic. Select topic
  6. Select the topic’s field like data in this example. Select Data
  7. You may plot multiple functions such as mean, sum, median in the same graph. Click on 1Function button to open the list of fuctions available. Select the functions you want to visualize on the graph like mean in this example, and then click Apply. Plot Function
  8. You may change the type of the graph by selecting one of the available graph forms like line, stacked, step-plot or bar. In this example, a Bar graph is selected. To confirm the current settings, click the red colored checkmark at the top-right corner. Bar graph
  9. To edit the title of the graph, click the pencil icon at the top right corner of the cell as indicated by 1 in the below image.
  10. To modify the current graph settings, click the wheel icon at the top right corner of the cell as indicated by 2 in the below image.
  11. To delete the cell, click on the cross mark at the top right corner of the cell as indicated by 3 in the below picture. Graph Window Options
  12. To change the refresh interval, click Every 60 seconds drop-down list and select your desired interval.
  13. To change the time range, click Past 5 minutes drop-down list and select your desired range.
  14. The final graph may look like the one below: Final graph

The procedure to visualize the system metrics is the same as the procedure to visualize metrics from a ROS topic as explained above.