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Judah Paul edited this page Jul 16, 2026
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Canary Ground Control (CanaryGC) is a web-based ground control station for remote autopilot management over MAVLink. It runs on a Raspberry Pi as part of the flight stack, so the autopilot is reachable from any browser over the network rather than from a desktop GCS on a short-range radio.
- Streams live telemetry (attitude, position, battery, GPS) and sends commands (flight-mode changes, arm/disarm, guided-position moves) over MAVLink.
- Supports ArduPilot and PX4 autopilots over MAVLink through a per-stack flight-mode strategy, and Betaflight and INAV flight controllers over MSP.
- Plans missions on a 2D map (Leaflet) and a 3D map (MapLibre), with waypoint path optimization, airspace overlays, and pre-flight safety validation.
- Bridges an on-board Raspberry Pi camera to the browser over WebRTC.
- Recovers a lost-operator situation on its own: when the vehicle is armed and no operator has been connected for a configured window, it returns to launch, and a fixed wing flies a synthesized autoland approach.
- Raises a persistent notice for each FAA temporary flight restriction over the operating area, with its ceiling, active window, and controlling center; the notice stays until the operator dismisses it.
- Speaks audible callouts on flight-state transitions, with an on/off toggle.
- Serves a customizable dashboard with weather, compass, and stats widgets.
- Architecture covers the stack, the server/client split, the MAVLink transport, and the database schema.
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HTTP API documents the
/api/*endpoints the front end calls. - Autopilot Support explains the ArduPilot and PX4 flight-mode strategy.
- Mission Planning describes path optimization, airspace overlays, and pre-flight safety checks.
- Firmware covers Betaflight and INAV over MSP and firmware flashing for all four stacks.
- Build documents the reference hardware build.
- Deployment covers the setup script and the compose profiles.
- Development covers the local dev loop and the CI gates.
- Configuration lists the environment variables and the Integrations settings, including the lost-operator failsafe.
CanaryGC controls real aircraft. Understand the laws and regulations governing unmanned aircraft in your area, and treat the pre-flight safety checks as an aid, not a substitute for airmanship.