diff --git a/robohive/robot/hardware_base.py b/robohive/robot/hardware_base.py
index 6b003d69..4397b69f 100644
--- a/robohive/robot/hardware_base.py
+++ b/robohive/robot/hardware_base.py
@@ -11,6 +11,29 @@
 
 
 class hardwareBase(abc.ABC):
+
+    # add tests to all defined subclasses to ensure that get_sensors() returns a dict with a 'time' key
+    def __init_subclass__(cls, **kwargs):
+        super().__init_subclass__(**kwargs)
+        if 'connect' in cls.__dict__:
+            user_connect = cls.__dict__['connect']
+
+            def connect_then_check(self, *args, **kw):
+                result = user_connect(self, *args, **kw)
+                try:
+                    data = self.get_sensors()
+                    if not (isinstance(data, dict) and 'time' in data):
+                        warnings.warn(
+                            f"{self.name}: get_sensors() should return a dict containing a 'time' key, got {type(data)}"
+                        )
+                except Exception as e:
+                    warnings.warn(
+                        f"{self.name}: could not verify get_sensors() 'time'-key contract after connect: {e}"
+                    )
+                return result
+
+            cls.connect = connect_then_check
+
     def __init__(self, name, *args, **kwargs) -> None:
         self.name = name
 
@@ -20,7 +43,11 @@ def connect(self) -> bool:
 
     @abc.abstractmethod
     def okay(self) -> bool:
-        """Return hardware health"""
+        """Check if hardware is healthy and return the status"""
+
+    @abc.abstractmethod
+    def recover(self) -> None:
+        """Recover hardware from any error, connection loss, failure, etc """
 
     @abc.abstractmethod
     def close(self) -> bool:
@@ -28,20 +55,11 @@ def close(self) -> bool:
 
     @abc.abstractmethod
     def reset(self) -> None:
-        """Reset hardware"""
+        """Reset hardware to a known state. Used for resetting the hardware to a known state"""
 
     @abc.abstractmethod
-    def _get_sensors(self) -> dict:
-        """Get hardware sensors — returned dict must include a 'time' key"""
-
     def get_sensors(self) -> dict:
-        """Get hardware sensors, enforcing 'time' key contract"""
-        data = self._get_sensors()
-        if not (isinstance(data, dict) and 'time' in data):
-            warnings.warn(
-                f"{self.name}: get_sensors() should return a dict containing a 'time' key, got {type(data)}. "
-                "Please add 'time' details to your sensor data to suppress this warning.")
-        return data
+        """Get hardware sensors — should return a dict containing a 'time' key"""
 
     @abc.abstractmethod
     def apply_commands(self) -> None:
diff --git a/robohive/robot/hardware_dynamixel.py b/robohive/robot/hardware_dynamixel.py
index 16c99c55..6c769f18 100644
--- a/robohive/robot/hardware_dynamixel.py
+++ b/robohive/robot/hardware_dynamixel.py
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ def close(self):
     def reset(self):
         """Reset hardware"""
 
-    def _get_sensors(self):
+    def get_sensors(self):
         """Get hardware sensors"""
 
     def apply_commands(self):
diff --git a/robohive/robot/hardware_franka.py b/robohive/robot/hardware_franka.py
index 7a2b8f07..cdba1a10 100644
--- a/robohive/robot/hardware_franka.py
+++ b/robohive/robot/hardware_franka.py
@@ -185,7 +185,7 @@ def reset(self, reset_pos=None, time_to_go=5):
             self.reset(reset_pos, time_to_go)
 
 
-    def _get_sensors(self) -> dict:
+    def get_sensors(self) -> dict:
         """Get hardware sensors"""
         try:
             joint_pos = self.robot.get_joint_positions()
@@ -193,7 +193,7 @@ def _get_sensors(self) -> dict:
         except:
             print("Failed to get current sensors: ", end="")
             self.reconnect()
-            return self._get_sensors()
+            return self.get_sensors()
         return {'time': time.time(), 'joint_pos': joint_pos, 'joint_vel': joint_vel}
 
 
diff --git a/robohive/robot/hardware_optitrack.py b/robohive/robot/hardware_optitrack.py
index 5aab551b..31106f3a 100644
--- a/robohive/robot/hardware_optitrack.py
+++ b/robohive/robot/hardware_optitrack.py
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ def __repr__(self):
                     self.data_float[2], self.data_float[3], self.data_float[4])
 
     # get latest sensor value (helpful when there is a single sensors)
-    def _get_sensors(self) -> dict:
+    def get_sensors(self) -> dict:
         # sensor_data isn't updated in place ==> it can be easily passed around and cached
         # repeated calls will return the same data_frame ==> no overhead for multiple queries to the same sensor reading
         return self.sensor_data
diff --git a/robohive/robot/hardware_realsense.py b/robohive/robot/hardware_realsense.py
index faa68e5f..17c0541c 100644
--- a/robohive/robot/hardware_realsense.py
+++ b/robohive/robot/hardware_realsense.py
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ def callback(self, pkt):
         timestamp_str_wo_nano = timestamp_str[:23] + timestamp_str[29:]
         self.most_recent_pkt_ts = datetime.datetime.fromisoformat(timestamp_str_wo_nano)
 
-    def _get_sensors(self) -> dict:
+    def get_sensors(self) -> dict:
         # get all data from all topics
         last_img = copy.deepcopy(self.last_image_pkt)
         last_depth = copy.deepcopy(self.last_depth_pkt)
diff --git a/robohive/robot/hardware_robotiq.py b/robohive/robot/hardware_robotiq.py
index 76182c8d..689568e6 100644
--- a/robohive/robot/hardware_robotiq.py
+++ b/robohive/robot/hardware_robotiq.py
@@ -88,14 +88,14 @@ def reset(self, width=None, **kwargs):
         self.apply_commands(width=width, **kwargs)
 
 
-    def _get_sensors(self) -> dict:
+    def get_sensors(self) -> dict:
         """Get hardware sensors"""
         try:
             curr_state = self.robot.get_state()
         except:
             print("RBQ:> Failed to get current sensors: ", end="")
             self.reconnect()
-            return self._get_sensors()
+            return self.get_sensors()
         return {'time': time.time(), 'width': np.array([curr_state.width])}
 
     def apply_commands(self, width:float, speed:float=0.1, force:float=0.1):