🛩️ UARV — Unmanned Aerial Reconnaissance Vehicle

A full-stack MAVLink ground control system for ArduPilot/PX4-based drones

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✨ Features • 🏗️ Architecture • 🚀 Getting Started • 📡 API Reference • 🖥️ Web Interface • 🛠️ Configuration • 📁 Project Structure

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✨ Features

🎮 Full Drone Control Arm / Disarm with safety confirmation Flight mode switching (MANUAL, FBWA, AUTO, GUIDED, RTL, LOITER, STABILIZE, LAND) Takeoff with automatic GUIDED mode transition Velocity control (local NED frame) GPS waypoint navigation (goto command) Mission upload & download with full MAVLink protocol support Emergency abort (disarm + switch to MANUAL)	📊 Real-Time Telemetry GPS position (latitude, longitude, altitude) Attitude (roll, pitch, yaw) Velocity (ground speed, airspeed, climb rate) Battery status (voltage, current, remaining %) GPS quality (fix type, satellite count) System health (connected status, heartbeat) Live video stream via Socket.IO at ~30 FPS
🗺️ Interactive Map Leaflet-based with OpenStreetMap tiles Real-time aircraft position with heading indicator Rotating triangle marker showing drone orientation Auto-centering on GPS coordinates Telemetry data in a draggable floating window	📋 Mission Planner Visual waypoint placement by clicking on the map Action insertion (takeoff, loiter, RTL, land, delay, speed, yaw) Drag-and-drop reordering of mission items Mission upload to Pixhawk via MAVLink Mission download from Pixhawk Coordinate input for precise waypoint placement

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🏗️ Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    Raspberry Pi (onboard)                   │
│                                                             │
│  ┌──────────────────┐    ┌──────────────────────────────┐   │
│  │  controll_api.py │◄──►│        mav_bridge.py         │   │
│  │  (Flask + Socket)│    │   (pymavlink MAVLink bridge) │   │
│  └──────┬───────────┘    └──────────┬───────────────────┘   │
│         │                           │                       │
│         │ HTTP/WS                   │ UART (921600 baud)    │
│         ▼                           ▼                       │
│  ┌──────────────┐          ┌──────────────┐                 │
│  │  Web Browser │          │   Pixhawk    │                 │
│  │  (Admin UI)  │          │  (ArduPilot) │                 │
│  └──────────────┘          └──────────────┘                 │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Component Breakdown

Component	Technology	Purpose
controll_api.py	Flask + Flask-SocketIO	REST API server & WebSocket video streaming
mav_bridge.py	pymavlink	MAVLink protocol bridge to Pixhawk over UART
admin_panel/	HTML/CSS/JS + Leaflet	Web-based ground control interface
config.js	JavaScript	Dynamic API URL resolution via window.location.origin

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🚀 Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Hardware: Raspberry Pi (any model with UART), Pixhawk (or any ArduPilot/PX4 autopilot)
• Connection: Pixhawk connected to Raspberry Pi UART (/dev/ttyAMA0)
• Software: Python 3.10+, pip

Installation

# 1. Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/jonaw2005/UARV.git
cd UARV

# 2. Install Python dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt

# 3. (Optional) Create a virtual environment
python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate  # Linux/Mac
# or: venv\Scripts\activate  # Windows

Running

# Start the API server (default: port 8000)
python controll_api.py

The web interface will be available at: http://<raspberry-pi-ip>:8000

Note: The web interface automatically detects the server's IP address using window.location.origin — no hardcoded IPs needed!

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📡 API Reference

Status & Health

Endpoint	Method	Description
/api/status	GET	API health check
/api/get_health	GET	System health status
/api/get_telemetry	GET	Full telemetry data
/api/get_location	GET	GPS location only

Vehicle Control

Endpoint	Method	Description
/api/arm	GET	Arm the vehicle
/api/disarm	GET	Disarm the vehicle
/api/arm_disarm	GET	Toggle arm/disarm
/api/is_armed	GET	Check armed status
/api/takeoff	GET	Takeoff (switches to GUIDED)
/api/change_flightmode	POST	Change flight mode
/api/get_flightmode	GET	Get current flight mode
/api/set_velocity	POST	Set velocity (vx, vy, vz)
/api/goto	POST	Go to GPS coordinate

Mission Management

Endpoint	Method	Description
/api/mission_upload	POST	Upload mission to Pixhawk
/api/mission_download	GET	Download mission from Pixhawk
/api/mission_start	GET	Start mission (switch to AUTO)
/api/abort_mission	GET	Abort mission (disarm + MANUAL)

Parameters & GPS

Endpoint	Method	Description
/api/get_param	POST	Read a single parameter
/api/get_param_test	GET	Test: read STAT_RUNTIME
/api/get_all_params	GET	Read all parameters
/api/get_gps	GET	GPS position (GLOBAL_POSITION_INT)
/api/get_gps_raw	GET	GPS position (GPS_RAW_INT)
/api/gps_status	GET	GPS fix type & satellites
/api/battery_level	GET	Battery voltage, current, remaining

Video Streaming

Endpoint	Method	Description
/video	GET	MJPEG video stream
Socket.IO video_frame	WS	Base64-encoded JPEG frames

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🖥️ Web Interface

Dashboard (index.html)

The main dashboard provides three panels:

Panel	Features
📷 Live Camera	Real-time video stream from the onboard camera via Socket.IO. Displays connection status and stream URL.
🗺️ Interactive Map	• Leaflet map with OpenStreetMap tiles • Aircraft position with heading-indicating triangle marker • GPS coordinate display (lat/lon) • Telemetry floating window (attitude, velocity, battery, GPS) • Mission Order floating window (downloaded mission display)
🎮 Controls	• Arm/Disarm toggle with automatic status polling (every 3s) • Flight mode dropdown (MANUAL, FBWA, AUTO, GUIDED, RTL, LOITER, STABILIZE, LAND) • Takeoff button • Abort button • Mission Planner link • Mission Order download button

Mission Planner (mission_planner.html)

A full-featured mission planning interface:

• Click-to-place waypoints on the map
• Action insertion with parameter configuration
• Drag-and-drop reordering of mission items
• Coordinate form for precise waypoint entry
• Mission upload to Pixhawk (converts to MAVLink format)
• Mission download from Pixhawk
• Numbered markers and route polyline visualization

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🛠️ Configuration

Pixhawk Connection

The connection is configured in controll_api.py:

bridge = MAVBridge("/dev/ttyAMA0", baud=921600)

Parameter	Default	Description
connection_string	/dev/ttyAMA0	UART device path
baud	921600	Baud rate (must match Pixhawk)
source_system	255	MAVLink system ID

Web Interface

All API URLs are dynamically resolved using window.location.origin (defined in admin_panel/config.js). No configuration needed — just access the web interface from any device on the same network.

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📁 Project Structure

UARV/
├── controll_api.py          # Flask REST API + Socket.IO server
├── mav_bridge.py            # MAVLink protocol bridge
├── mav_bridge_backup.py     # Backup of original bridge
├── mav_test.py              # MAVLink test script
├── requirements.txt         # Python dependencies
├── servo_test.py            # Servo test script
├── test_mission_download.py # Mission download test
├── test_mission_upload.py   # Mission upload test
├── update_uarv.sh           # Update script
├── README.md                # This file
│
└── admin_panel/             # Web frontend
    ├── config.js            # Shared configuration (API_BASE)
    ├── index.html           # Main dashboard
    ├── mission_planner.html # Mission planner interface
    ├── stylesheet.css       # Main stylesheet
    ├── mission_planner.css  # Mission planner styles
    ├── buttons.js           # Control buttons & arm status polling
    ├── camera.js            # Socket.IO video stream client
    ├── map.js               # Leaflet map, telemetry, mission display
    ├── mission_planner.js   # Mission planning logic
    ├── logo.png             # UARV logo
    └── ...

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🔧 Dependencies

Package	Version	Purpose
flask	≥2.0	Web framework
flask-socketio	≥5.0	WebSocket support for video streaming
pymavlink	≥2.4	MAVLink protocol implementation
opencv-python	≥4.5	Camera capture & JPEG encoding
eventlet	—	(Removed — conflicts with pymavlink)

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⚠️ Troubleshooting

"Pixhawk not responding"

• Check UART connection (/dev/ttyAMA0)
• Verify baud rate matches Pixhawk configuration (921600)
• Ensure Pixhawk is powered and running ArduPilot

"Arm command fails"

• Check pre-arm status in telemetry
• Ensure the vehicle is in GUIDED or STABILIZE mode
• Verify GPS has a 3D fix

"Video stream not loading"

• Check camera connection (/dev/video0)
• Verify the API server is running on port 8000
• Check browser console for Socket.IO connection errors

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Built with ❤️ for the UARV project