MultiRoombaRover/mediamtx_server_integration.md

mediaMTX Integration

Each rover runs mediaMTX locally to capture the Pi camera and publish it upstream, while the control server hosts a central mediaMTX instance that fans video out to drivers and spectators.

Pi (publisher)

• mediaMTX samples the Pi camera (paths.rovercam.source: rpiCamera) and exposes the HTTP API on http://127.0.0.1:9997.
• /etc/roverd.yaml contains media.publishUrl, pointing at the control server’s WHIP endpoint for that rover (e.g. https://control.example.com/whip/roomba-alpha). No auth is required when the Pi network is trusted.
• The media.manage flag keeps the local service alive via systemctl and hits the API for health checks (media.healthUrl, defaults to http://127.0.0.1:9997/v3/paths/list).

Control server (viewer)

• The central mediaMTX instance accepts WHIP ingest at /whip/<roverId> and serves WHEP playback at /whep/<roverId>.
• The Node server issues viewer sessions (one per socket) and mediamtx calls back into the Node server to authorize new WHEP connections. Lockdown mode simply stops minting sessions for non-lockdown admins.

Driver / spectator UIs

• When a user requests video the browser asks the Node server for a session token, and if the current mode/role allows it, the server returns the WHEP URL plus the session id.
• Spectator mode and lockdown are enforced purely on the Node server: no direct Pi URLs are ever exposed, and once a user has a session it remains valid until they disconnect or lockdown revokes it.