RocketLog

A modular Python ground-station application for small rocketry and telemetry experiments.

RocketLog provides:

• Live video preview via GStreamer
• Live telemetry display (currently simulated)
• Session recording (video + telemetry packaged together)
• A modern “glass cockpit” UI (Qt / PySide6)
• Designed to run both on a desktop Linux machine and a headless / kiosk Raspberry Pi
• Clean architecture ready for physical hardware (LEDs, 7-segment displays, buttons)

This repository is structured as a proper Python package and is intended to be installable directly from source.

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Current status

• UI: Qt Widgets (PySide6)
• Video: GStreamer via gi.repository
• Telemetry: simulated source (pluggable later)
• Recording: session-based, .rocketlog archive

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Runtime requirements

Supported OS

• Linux (tested on Arch Linux)
• Wayland or X11

Python

• Python 3.10+

Python dependencies

Installed via pip install -e .:

• PySide6 (Qt UI)

Also required at runtime and must be installed via OS packages (not pip):

• python-gobject / python3-gi (provides gi)
• GStreamer 1.0 runtime + plugins (see distro-specific package lists below)

If you see an error like ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'gi', you are missing the OS-level GI/GStreamer packages.

System dependencies (GStreamer + GI bindings)

RocketLog uses GStreamer via Python GObject Introspection (gi.repository). Those bindings are typically installed via your OS package manager (not pip).

Arch Linux

sudo pacman -S --needed \
  gstreamer \
  gst-plugins-base \
  gst-plugins-good \
  gst-plugins-bad \
  gst-plugins-ugly \
  gst-libav \
  python-gobject \
  gobject-introspection

Ubuntu

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y \
  python3-venv python3-pip \
  python3-gi python3-gst-1.0 gir1.2-gstreamer-1.0 \
  gstreamer1.0-tools \
  gstreamer1.0-plugins-base \
  gstreamer1.0-plugins-good \
  gstreamer1.0-plugins-bad \
  gstreamer1.0-plugins-ugly \
  gstreamer1.0-libav

Debian / Raspberry Pi OS

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y \
  python3-venv python3-pip \
  python3-gi python3-gst-1.0 gir1.2-gstreamer-1.0 \
  gstreamer1.0-tools \
  gstreamer1.0-plugins-base \
  gstreamer1.0-plugins-good \
  gstreamer1.0-plugins-bad \
  gstreamer1.0-plugins-ugly \
  gstreamer1.0-libav

Fedora

Some GStreamer plugin packages (notably -ugly and -libav) may require RPM Fusion.

# Enable RPM Fusion (recommended for full codec/plugin coverage)
sudo dnf install -y \
  https://download1.rpmfusion.org/free/fedora/rpmfusion-free-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm \
  https://download1.rpmfusion.org/nonfree/fedora/rpmfusion-nonfree-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm

sudo dnf install -y \
  python3-pip python3-virtualenv \
  python3-gobject \
  gstreamer1 \
  gstreamer1-plugins-base \
  gstreamer1-plugins-good \
  gstreamer1-plugins-bad-free \
  gstreamer1-plugins-ugly \
  gstreamer1-libav

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Install

git clone https://github.com/rinickolous/rocketlog
cd rocketlog

# GI bindings are installed system-wide, so the venv must see system packages:
python3 -m venv .venv --system-site-packages
source .venv/bin/activate

python -m pip install --upgrade pip
python -m pip install -e .

Launch

After install:

rocketlog

Or run as a module:

python -m rocketlog

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Firmware (ESP-IDF)

This repo also contains two ESP-IDF projects:

• firmware/receiver: telemetry receiver/simulator (ESP32-S3)
• firmware/transmitter: minimal transmitter stub (ESP32-S3)

Prerequisites

• ESP-IDF installed (tested with ESP-IDF v5.5.2)
• just installed for convenient one-liners (optional but recommended)

Install just

Arch Linux:

sudo pacman -S --needed just

Ubuntu / Debian / Raspberry Pi OS:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y just

Fedora:

sudo dnf install -y just

Build / flash (via just)

Troubleshooting

If just receiver-flash fails with a serial/monitor error, check the baud in firmware/flash.toml. ESP-IDF defaults to 115200 for monitor output unless you changed the project config.

The Python ground-station telemetry reader also defaults to the receiver settings in firmware/flash.toml.

All commands run from the repo root.

just app-build
just app-run

just receiver-build
just receiver-flash
just receiver-burn

just transmitter-build
just transmitter-flash
just transmitter-burn

Flash configuration

Serial ports and baud rates are configured in firmware/flash.toml.

You should edit it once for your machine (example):

[receiver]
port = "/dev/ttyACM0"
baud = 115200

[transmitter]
port = "/dev/ttyACM1"
baud = 115200

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Keyboard Shortcuts

Key	Action
R	Start recording
S	Stop recording
Space	Toggle record / stop
F	Toggle fullscreen
Ctrl+Q	Quit application