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README.md

@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ cd ~/MultiRoombaRover
 sudo ./pi/install_roverd.sh
 ```
 
-Then point each rover's `/etc/roverd.yaml` at `ws://<server>:8080/rover`, set `name` to the rover’s ID, and (optionally) override `media.publishUrl` if your control server isn’t `192.168.0.86`. The new WHIP publisher service (`whip-publisher.service`) uses GStreamer (`gst-launch-1.0 libcamerasrc ! ... ! whipclientsink`) to encode the Pi camera to H264 and publish straight into the server’s mediaMTX instance at `http://<server>:8889/whip/<name>`. Install `libcamera-apps` plus `gstreamer1.0-tools gstreamer1.0-plugins-good gstreamer1.0-plugins-bad gstreamer1.0-plugins-ugly gstreamer1.0-libcamera` on each Pi so the pipeline is available. Use the “Restart Camera” button if you enable media management so roverd can bounce the publisher service remotely.
+Then point each rover's `/etc/roverd.yaml` at `ws://<server>:8080/rover`, set `name` to the rover’s ID, and (optionally) override `media.publishUrl` if your control server isn’t `192.168.0.86`. The WHIP publisher service (`whip-publisher.service`) captures the Pi camera with `rpicam-vid`/`libcamera-vid`, pipes the raw H264 into the bundled `ffmpeg-whip`, and publishes straight into the server’s mediaMTX instance at `http://<server>:8889/whip/<name>`. Install `libcamera-apps` on each Pi; the installer will download the patched ffmpeg build automatically. Use the “Restart Camera” button if you enable media management so roverd can bounce the publisher service remotely.
 Heads-up: the BRC pulser now uses libgpiod; make sure the `roverd` service account is in the `gpio` group (or otherwise allowed to access `/dev/gpiochip*`) and set `brc.gpioChip` if your hardware exposes a different chip name.
 
 ## Fedora server deployment

docs/pi-deployment.md

@@ -32,14 +32,11 @@ Run the resulting `dist/roverd-dummy` on any machine; it will connect to the ser
 
 ## Automated installation (recommended)
 
-Make sure the Pi has GStreamer 1.22+ plus the libcamera + bad plugin sets (Bookworm ships them):
+Install the Raspberry Pi camera helpers (Bookworm ships them):
 
 ```bash
 sudo apt update
-sudo apt install libcamera-apps \
+sudo apt install libcamera-apps
-  gstreamer1.0-tools gstreamer1.0-plugins-good \
-  gstreamer1.0-plugins-bad gstreamer1.0-plugins-ugly \
-  gstreamer1.0-libcamera
 ```
 
 Once the binary (and repo) are on the Pi, run the helper script from the repo root:
@@ -92,13 +89,14 @@ If you set `media.manage: true` in `/etc/roverd.yaml`, make sure the `roverd` se
 The `whip-publisher.service` unit runs `/usr/local/bin/whip-publisher`, a small shell wrapper that launches:
 
 ```bash
-gst-launch-1.0 libcamerasrc ! video/x-raw,width=WIDTH,height=HEIGHT,framerate=FPS/1 \
+rpicam-vid (or libcamera-vid) --inline --timeout 0 --width=WIDTH --height=HEIGHT \
-  ! videoconvert ! x264enc tune=zerolatency bitrate=BITRATE_KB key-int-max=FPS \
+  --framerate=FPS --bitrate=BITRATE --codec h264 --profile baseline --output - \
-  ! h264parse config-interval=1 ! whipclientsink signaller::whip-endpoint=$WHIP_URL
+  | ffmpeg-whip -hide_banner -loglevel warning -fflags nobuffer \
+      -f h264 -i pipe:0 -c:v copy -an -f whip $WHIP_URL
 ```
 
-roverd writes `/var/lib/roverd/whip.env` on startup (and whenever you restart the service) so the publisher inherits the correct `WHIP_URL`, resolution, FPS, and bitrate. Tweak those knobs under `media.videoWidth`, `media.videoHeight`, `media.videoFps`, and `media.videoBitrate` in `/etc/roverd.yaml` if you need different camera settings.  
+The installer downloads `ffmpeg-whip` (a WHIP-enabled FFmpeg build) and drops it at `/usr/local/bin/ffmpeg-whip`, along with its private libraries under `/usr/local/lib/ffmpeg-whip`. roverd writes `/var/lib/roverd/whip.env` on startup (and whenever you restart the service) so the publisher inherits the correct `WHIP_URL`, resolution, FPS, and bitrate. Tweak those knobs under `media.videoWidth`, `media.videoHeight`, `media.videoFps`, and `media.videoBitrate` in `/etc/roverd.yaml` if you need different camera settings.  
-Use `sudo systemctl status whip-publisher` to watch the pipeline logs; the unit auto-restarts whenever the network drops or GStreamer exits.
+Use `sudo systemctl status whip-publisher` to watch the pipeline logs; the unit auto-restarts whenever the network drops or FFmpeg exits.
 
 ## Server + UI
 

pi/bin/whip-publisher.sh

@@ -18,31 +18,51 @@ VIDEO_HEIGHT="${VIDEO_HEIGHT:-720}"
 VIDEO_FPS="${VIDEO_FPS:-30}"
 VIDEO_BITRATE="${VIDEO_BITRATE:-3000000}"
 
-GST_BIN="${GST_BIN:-/usr/bin/gst-launch-1.0}"
+if [[ -n "${LIBCAMERA_BIN:-}" ]]; then
-
+	LIBCAMERA_BIN_PATH="$LIBCAMERA_BIN"
-if [[ ! -x "$GST_BIN" ]]; then
+elif command -v rpicam-vid >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-	if command -v gst-launch-1.0 >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+	LIBCAMERA_BIN_PATH="$(command -v rpicam-vid)"
-		GST_BIN="$(command -v gst-launch-1.0)"
+elif command -v libcamera-vid >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+	LIBCAMERA_BIN_PATH="$(command -v libcamera-vid)"
 else
-		echo "gst-launch-1.0 not found; install gstreamer1.0-tools and plugins." >&2
+	echo "Neither rpicam-vid nor libcamera-vid found; install libcamera-apps." >&2
 	exit 1
 fi
+
+if [[ -n "${FFMPEG_BIN:-}" ]]; then
+	FFMPEG_BIN_PATH="$FFMPEG_BIN"
+elif command -v ffmpeg-whip >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+	FFMPEG_BIN_PATH="$(command -v ffmpeg-whip)"
+elif command -v ffmpeg >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+	FFMPEG_BIN_PATH="$(command -v ffmpeg)"
+else
+	echo "ffmpeg not found; install it or run the installer to fetch ffmpeg-whip." >&2
+	exit 1
 fi
 
 run_pipeline() {
-	local bitrate_kbps=$((VIDEO_BITRATE / 1000))
+	"${LIBCAMERA_BIN_PATH}" \
-	if [[ "$bitrate_kbps" -le 0 ]]; then
+		--inline \
-		bitrate_kbps=3000
+		--timeout 0 \
-	fi
+		--width "${VIDEO_WIDTH}" \
-	"${GST_BIN}" -e \
+		--height "${VIDEO_HEIGHT}" \
-		libcamerasrc \
+		--framerate "${VIDEO_FPS}" \
-		! "video/x-raw,width=${VIDEO_WIDTH},height=${VIDEO_HEIGHT},framerate=${VIDEO_FPS}/1" \
+		--bitrate "${VIDEO_BITRATE}" \
-		! queue \
+		--codec h264 \
-		! videoconvert \
+		--profile baseline \
-		! x264enc speed-preset=ultrafast tune=zerolatency bitrate="${bitrate_kbps}" key-int-max="${VIDEO_FPS}" byte-stream=true \
+		--denoise cdn_off \
-		! "video/x-h264,profile=baseline" \
+		--nopreview \
-		! h264parse config-interval=1 \
+		--output - \
-		! whipclientsink signaller::whip-endpoint="${WHIP_URL}"
+		| "${FFMPEG_BIN_PATH}" \
+			-hide_banner \
+			-loglevel warning \
+			-fflags nobuffer \
+			-f h264 \
+			-i pipe:0 \
+			-c:v copy \
+			-an \
+			-f whip \
+			"${WHIP_URL}"
 }
 
 while true; do

pi/install_roverd.sh

@@ -6,6 +6,10 @@ set -euo pipefail
 
 BINARY_SRC="dist/roverd"
 CONFIG_SRC="pi/roverd/roverd.sample.yaml"
+FFMPEG_WHIP_VERSION="0.0.0"
+FFMPEG_WHIP_BASE_URL="https://github.com/steel-dev/ffmpeg-whip/releases/download/v${FFMPEG_WHIP_VERSION}"
+FFMPEG_WHIP_DIR="/usr/local/lib/ffmpeg-whip"
+FFMPEG_WHIP_BIN="/usr/local/bin/ffmpeg-whip"
 
 usage() {
 	cat <<'USAGE'
@@ -62,6 +66,11 @@ if [[ ! -f "$CONFIG_SRC" ]]; then
 	exit 1
 fi
 
+if ! command -v curl >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+	echo "curl is required by this installer" >&2
+	exit 1
+fi
+
 ensure_user() {
 	local user="$1"
 	local groups="${2:-}"
@@ -80,23 +89,43 @@ log() {
 	echo "[$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)] $*"
 }
 
-if ! command -v gst-launch-1.0 >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+if ! command -v rpicam-vid >/dev/null 2>&1 && ! command -v libcamera-vid >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-	log "WARNING: gst-launch-1.0 not found; install GStreamer (sudo apt install gstreamer1.0-tools gstreamer1.0-plugins-good gstreamer1.0-plugins-bad gstreamer1.0-libcamera)."
+	log "WARNING: neither rpicam-vid nor libcamera-vid found in PATH; install libcamera-apps."
-else
-	if command -v gst-inspect-1.0 >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-		if ! gst-inspect-1.0 whipclientsink >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-			log "WARNING: whipclientsink element missing; install gstreamer1.0-plugins-bad (1.22+)."
-		fi
-		if ! gst-inspect-1.0 libcamerasrc >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-			log "WARNING: libcamerasrc plugin missing; install gstreamer1.0-libcamera."
-		fi
-		if ! gst-inspect-1.0 x264enc >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-			log "WARNING: x264enc element missing; install gstreamer1.0-plugins-ugly."
-		fi
-	else
-		log "WARNING: gst-inspect-1.0 not found; unable to verify GStreamer plugins."
 fi
+
+install_ffmpeg_whip() {
+	local arch asset tmp
+	arch="$(uname -m)"
+	case "$arch" in
+		aarch64)
+			asset="ffmpeg-whip-linux-arm64.tar.gz"
+			;;
+		x86_64|amd64)
+			asset="ffmpeg-whip-linux-amd64.tar.gz"
+			;;
+		*)
+			log "WARNING: ffmpeg-whip binary not available for architecture ${arch}; ensure a WHIP-capable ffmpeg is installed manually."
+			return
+	esac
+	tmp="$(mktemp -d)"
+	log "Downloading ffmpeg-whip ${FFMPEG_WHIP_VERSION} (${asset})"
+	if ! curl -fsSL "${FFMPEG_WHIP_BASE_URL}/${asset}" -o "${tmp}/${asset}"; then
+		rm -rf "$tmp"
+		echo "Failed to download ffmpeg-whip from ${FFMPEG_WHIP_BASE_URL}/${asset}" >&2
+		exit 1
 	fi
+	rm -rf "${FFMPEG_WHIP_DIR}"
+	install -d "${FFMPEG_WHIP_DIR}"
+	tar -xzf "${tmp}/${asset}" -C "${FFMPEG_WHIP_DIR}" --strip-components=1
+	rm -rf "$tmp"
+	cat > "${FFMPEG_WHIP_BIN}" <<'EOF'
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/local/lib/ffmpeg-whip/lib:${LD_LIBRARY_PATH}
+exec /usr/local/lib/ffmpeg-whip/bin/ffmpeg "$@"
+EOF
+	chmod 0755 "${FFMPEG_WHIP_BIN}"
+	log "Installed ${FFMPEG_WHIP_BIN}"
+}
 
 ensure_user roverd "dialout,gpio,video,render"
 install -o roverd -g roverd -m 0755 "$BINARY_SRC" /usr/local/bin/roverd
@@ -115,6 +144,8 @@ fi
 install -m 0644 pi/systemd/roverd.service /etc/systemd/system/roverd.service
 log "Installed roverd systemd unit"
 
+install_ffmpeg_whip
+
 # Install WHIP publisher assets
 install -D -o root -g root -m 0755 pi/bin/whip-publisher.sh /usr/local/bin/whip-publisher
 install -m 0644 pi/systemd/whip-publisher.service /etc/systemd/system/whip-publisher.service