HTTP API

All commands are HTTP POST requests to port 8080 under /send/…. Status is read through HTTP GET endpoints and the TCP telemetry stream.

HTTP runs alongside MAVLink 2, on by default. It’s kept for compatibility with ground stations built against this project’s predecessor, WildBridge; it covers what MAVLink doesn’t yet (AI detections, live settings); and it’s the fast path for big transfers — HTTP uses as much of the Wi-Fi link as it can, which is what media and video need, where MAVLink FTP stays deliberately slow and lightweight so it doesn’t crowd the radio spectrum a swarm shares.

Two-Computer Safety Authority

Two computers can drive the same drone over HTTP. Which one is in command is decided purely by the X-Safety-Token header on each request:

Request	Classified as
carries the valid X-Safety-Token	Safety Computer
anything else (no header, wrong token)	Pilot Computer

How a single HTTP command is arbitrated: the X-Safety-Token header classifies the request, ControlAuthority holds a latch (kept between runs, keyed by aircraft serial), and the first Safety command seizes control and cancels whatever the Pilot was flying.

Rules enforced by the app on every /send/* command:

• The Pilot Computer holds control at startup and flies the mission normally.
• The first command from the Safety Computer latches authority to SAFETY, cancels whatever autonomous loop the Pilot left running, and holds the aircraft in place.
• From then on every Pilot command is rejected with REJECTED: Safety Computer is in control. Pilot commands are blocked.
• The takeover is persistent — there is no timeout. If the Safety Computer goes silent, the Pilot does not regain control.
• The only way back is POST /releaseSafetyControl, which only the Safety Computer may call.
• The latch survives a restart, and is keyed by aircraft serial. A crash, an OOM kill, or an Android-initiated restart is not the Safety Computer releasing control, so the app reads the latch back on startup — the red banner is shown before an aircraft has even connected. A takeover only ever holds the airframe it happened on: connecting a different aircraft reads that aircraft’s latch, so one airframe cannot lock out another.
• The latch lives in the app’s private preferences. Clearing app data or reinstalling the app is the deliberate bypass when the Safety Computer is not there to release it; nothing else clears it, and the app will not do it for you.

While the Safety Computer holds authority, a red SAFETY COMPUTER IN CONTROL banner is shown over the video feed. Normal Pilot control shows no banner.

This axis is independent of the RC manual-override latch: that one tracks the physical pilot on the sticks, this one tracks which computer commands the server.

from lyrebird_groundstation.safety import DJIInterfaceSafety

safety = DJIInterfaceSafety("192.168.1.100")   # every command carries the token
safety.requestSendGotoAltitude(30.0)           # first command seizes control
safety.requestReleaseSafetyControl()           # hand authority back to the Pilot

Method & Endpoint	Body	Description
POST/releaseSafetyControl	—	Return authority to the Pilot Computer (Safety Computer only)

Control Endpoints (HTTP POST — Port 8080)

Method & Endpoint	Body	Description
POST/send/takeoff	—	Takeoff
POST/send/land	—	Land
POST/send/RTH	—	Return to home (aborts active mission + disables VS first)
POST/send/enableVirtualStick	—	Enable Virtual Stick mode
POST/send/abortMission	—	Stop mission + disable Virtual Stick
POST/send/abortAll	—	Stop all active missions (DJI native + Virtual Stick)
POST/send/abort/DJIMission	—	Stop DJI native mission only
POST/send/stick	leftX,leftY,rightX,rightY	Direct AVS velocity input (values ∈ [-1, 1])
POST/send/gotoWaypointNoseForward	lat,lon,alt,yaw[,speed]	Turn to face the leg, fly forward, rotate to yaw on arrival (yaw = final heading)
POST/send/gotoWaypointHoldHeading	lat,lon,alt,yaw[,speed]	Hold yaw for the whole flight (drone crabs sideways), tighter arrival tolerance
POST/send/navigateTrajectoryDJINative	speed;lat,lon,alt;…	DJI native KMZ mission (≥ 2 waypoints)
POST/send/gotoYaw	yaw_degrees	Rotate to heading
POST/send/gimbal/rel_pitch	roll,pitch,yaw	Gimbal pitch relative to current angle (degrees)
POST/send/gimbal/rel_yaw	roll,pitch,yaw	Gimbal yaw relative to current angle (degrees)
POST/send/capture	—	Take one photo on the aircraft’s camera, whichever lens it is. Returns {"captured":true,"file":"<name>"} once the file is on the SD card, or {"error":"Failed to capture photo"}
POST/send/captureThermalImage	—	Capture on the thermal lens. Returns a JSON capture descriptor
POST/send/captureTemperature	—	Read the thermal max temperature. Returns {"thermalMaxTemp": <float or null>}
POST/send/listMedia	—	List every file on the SD card as JSON
POST/send/downloadMediaByName	<fileName>	Download one media file by name; responds with the raw file bytes
POST/send/lrf/measure	—	Fire the laser rangefinder. Returns distance, geo-referenced target, and laser state as JSON. distance and target are non-null only when the laser locks (state NORMAL, needs a GPS fix)
POST/send/drop	—	Release the payload on airframes with a drop port configured in the active profile; rejected otherwise
POST/send/gotoAltitude	altitude_m	Change altitude
POST/send/gimbal/pitch	roll,pitch,yaw	Set gimbal pitch
POST/send/gimbal/yaw	roll,pitch,yaw	Set gimbal yaw joint angle
POST/send/camera/zoom	zoom_ratio	Set camera zoom
POST/send/camera/startRecording	—	Start recording
POST/send/camera/stopRecording	—	Stop recording
POST/send/setRTHAltitude	altitude_m	Set RTH altitude
POST/send/deactivateManualOverride	—	Re-enable autonomous commands after pilot override
POST/send/autoSensing/start	—	Enable DJI AutoSensing object detection where supported
POST/send/autoSensing/stop	—	Disable DJI AutoSensing object detection

Status Endpoints (HTTP GET — Port 8080)

Method & Endpoint	Returns	Description
GET/config	JSON	Drone name, IP, HTTP/telemetry ports, whether telemetry is actually answering, and current video mode
GET/get/isManualOverrideActive	JSON/text	Manual override state
GET/get/autoSensing/status	JSON	AI detection status and target count
GET/get/autoSensing/targets	JSON	Current detected targets with bounding boxes

All other flight state data is available via the TCP telemetry stream on port 8081. Use GET /config for connection metadata and auto-discovery.