Rpanion-server 1.0.0 User Manual

Rpanion-server is a web-based companion computer management system designed for MAVLink vehicles running ArduPilot or PX4 firmware. It provides comprehensive control and configuration for common companion computer functions on embedded systems like Raspberry Pi, NVIDIA Jetson, and Orange Pi.

This user guide covers version 1.0.0 and assumes Rpanion-server is installed and running. For installation instructions, please visit the main Rpanion-server installation page.

Default Access: The web interface is typically accessible at http://10.0.2.100:3001 (your IP address may vary).

Rpanion-server assists and automates the managing of commonly used functions of a Companion Computer.

This includes network configuration for Wifi and wired networks, low latency video streaming, photo/video recording, NTRIP streaming, PPP connections, MAVLink telemetry streaming, automatic uploads and tlog/binlog management. It is all managed from a Web based GUI.

The web GUI is protected by username and password authentication. The default username is admin and the default password is also admin.

• Upgrade to using nodejs 24
• Add local video and stills recording
• Support added for Jetson Orin (Jetpack 7.2)
• Various stability fixes to network management GUI
• Batter packaging (deb) and install scripts
• Support ArduPilot MAVLinkCamera, to allow ArduPilot to trigger still or video capture
• Add option to sync flight controller time (clock) to system time
• PPP: Better reliability with restarts and start-on-boot
• Add support for RasPiOS Trixie
• Updated detection of cameras
• Cloud: Upload photos and video. Allow for upload-on-disarm

The home screen provides a real-time overview of all major system components and their status. This page updates every second, giving you current information about your system's operation.

The dashboard displays flight controller status information including the connection state, vehicle type, and firmware version. Network status is shown with details about active connections, assigned IP addresses, and WiFi signal strength when applicable. If video streaming is active, you'll see information about active streams including bitrate and format details.

System resources are monitored and displayed, including CPU usage, memory consumption, and temperature readings on supported platforms. The status of various services is also shown, allowing you to see at a glance whether NTRIP, VPN, PPP, camera and logging services are active and functioning correctly.

Use this dashboard for quick health checks of your system and to verify that all services are running as expected before flight operations.

PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol) enables high-speed IP networking over UART connections, allowing the flight controller and companion computer to communicate using standard IP protocols rather than raw serial data.

The PPP connection requires RTS/CTS hardware flow control. Your flight controller must be running ArduPilot firmware with PPP support enabled. You can find detailed configuration information in the ArduPilot PPP documentation. For optimal performance, a high baud rate of 921600 or higher is recommended.

When setting up PPP, Both ends of the connection will need an IP address. The Local IP address is assigned to the companion computer (for example, 192.168.144.14), while the Remote IP address is assigned to the flight controller (such as 192.168.144.15).

The PPP status display provides real-time information about your connection's performance. Bandwidth usage shows the percentage utilization of the UART's capacity.

The bandwidth usage metric is particularly valuable for determining the minimum required baud rate for the configuration. If you notice usage approaching 100%, the baud rate should be increased to prevent data loss and ensure reliable communication.

The Network page enables viewing and changing the companion computer's network settings, including both Wi-Fi and Ethernet connections. Network management is performed on an adapter (hardware device) and connection (network settings) basis. Each adapter can have one active connection at a time. Connections can be added, edited, or deleted using the respective buttons. For Wi-Fi connections, available networks will be displayed for selection.

Connections are specific to the selected network adapter at the time of creation.

Priority is given to connecting to an existing Wi-Fi network. If none is found, a Wi-Fi hotspot will start automatically, ensuring accessibility even outside known networks. Settings are saved between reboots. For network debugging, the “nmcli” tool may be used.

To disable all Wi-Fi interfaces (Flight Mode), toggle the “Wi-Fi Interfaces Enabled” button.

The Flight Controller page manages telemetry (MAVLink) input and output from a connected flight controller. To enable telemetry, select the correct connection type (UART or UDP) device, baud rate, and MAVLink version, then click “Start Telemetry”. The status section displays packet numbers, vehicle type, firmware details, and connection state. Status text from the flight controller appears in the “Console Output” box.

To forward telemetry via UDP, enter the destination in “IP:port” format and add it. Use the “UDP” connection option in Mission Planner or “udpin” option in MAVProxy. To stop telemetry, click “Stop Telemetry”.

Telemetry can also be output over TCP using the “Enable TCP Server” option, starting a server at port 5760. A single ground station can connect to a UDP server via the “UDP Server” option. Multiple connections result in high packet loss. If no ground station is connected, enabling “Enable datastream requests” triggers full telemetry stream transmission at 4Hz.

Enable logging (tlogs and bin logs) by selecting the relevant checkbox. Logs are available on the Flight Logs page.

If the flight controller does not have a GPS connected, use the “Enable SYSTEM_TIME messages” option to have Rpanion-server sync the flight controller date/time to the current system clock. This requires the BRD_RTC_TYPES parameter to be set to “Mavlink”.

The Flight Logs and Media page allows flight logs (tlog and bin log) and recorded photo/video media to be downloaded.

Dataflash logs will be logged according to the settings on the flight controller. In ArduPilot, set the LOG_BACKEND_TYPE parameter to use “MAVLink” to enable Dataflash logging to Rpanion-server.

A baud rate of 921600 or higher to the flight controller is recommended. Some (F4-based) flight controllers may struggle with high-rate logging - the ``LOG_BITMASK`` Ardupilot parameter will need to be reduced in some cases.

Rpanion-server will start a new tlog:

• On boot
• When flight telemetry is started on the Flight Controller page
• When the user clicks the “Start new Logfile” button

A logfile can be downloaded via clicking on the logfile name.

To delete all inactive (not currently being used for logging) logfiles, click the “Clear inactive logs” button for each log type.

If desired, KMZ (zipped KML) files can be automatically generated from flight logs via the “Enable” button in the “KMZ files” section. The KMZ files are generated every 20 seconds, based upon the available telemetry logs.

The Photo and Video page controls camera video streaming, video recording and still photos. Supported cameras include libcamera-supported CSI cameras, standard USB cameras and RTSP sources. Rpanion-server automatically detect most USB or CSI cameras, querying each for available resolutions. Options include video rotation, timestamp overlays, bitrate and datarate.

When using RTSP sources, the source URL should take the form rtsp://username:password@IP_address:port

Rpanion-server uses GStreamer to start an RTSP server, transmitting H.264 or H.265 compressed video. Video can also be streamed over UDP to a single client (RTP). Connection strings for popular software packages are provided. Ensure correct IP addresses if running on multiple networks.

The video stream will automatically be converted to H.264/H.265 depending on the user selection and camera capabilities (using hardware compression where available). Less powerful computers may struggle with real-time compression at higher resolutions. Only one video device can stream at a time. VLC may introduce up to 2 seconds of latency; consider reducing VLC’s “caching” option or using GStreamer for low latency.

The “Photo” and “Video Recording” modes will advertise Rpanion-server as a MAVLink camera, allowing ArduPilot and connected GCSs to remotely trigger the camera. See Camera Controls and Parameters for more details, noting that CAMn_TYPE should be set to 6 (MAVLinkCamV2).

Broadcasting video stream details to a GCS via MAVLink is possible by enabling the MAVLink Video Streaming Service.

The connection settings are saved between reboots.

The about page displays high level hardware and software information about the companion computer - including the OS version, node.js version and Rpanion-server version.

The companion computer can be shutdown from here, by clicking the “Shutdown” button.

In the case of the Raspberry Pi, it will also show any connected HAT devices.

For debugging any issues, the Rpanion-server logfile can be downloaded. This will show any errors encountered during operation.

The “Reset All Settings” will clear all Rpanion-server settings back to defaults. This does not include usernames or passwords, however.

The NTRIP Config page allows the user to stream a web-based NTRIP correction service to the flight controller. This requires that the GPS modules on the flight controller support RTCM input.

The “Status” section will advise if a connection to the NTRIP server was successful and if valid data is being received.

The connection settings will be saved between reboots.

This page configures usernames and passwords for accessing the Web GUI. Users can be created, passwords changed, and users deleted. Both usernames and passwords must be 2-20 characters long. The last remaining user cannot be deleted.

Usernames and passwords are stored in the /etc/Rpanion-server/user.json file in the Rpanion-server folder.

If a wireless adapter on the companion computer is configured to be an AP (Access point), this page will show the name and IP address of all connected clients.

VPN connections can be activated and deactivated from this page. The Zerotier and Wireguard services are supported.

For Zerotier, the Network ID can be entered or removed.

For Wireguard, the network configuration (.conf) file can be uploaded and the activated or deactivated as required.

The connection settings will be saved between reboots.

From this section, all files from the “Flight Logs and Media” section can be uploaded to a remote network location via a secure ssh connection, using rsync.

Files are uploaded every 20 seconds and includes any in-progress logs. Options are available for only uploading logs and/or media and to restrict uploading only if the vehicle is not armed.

The ssh connection only supports publickey authentication, so the remote location must have one of the listed publickeys loaded.