webrtc_rpi (C++ WebRTC for Raspberry Pi 4 - Debian 12)

A C++ application using GStreamer's webrtcbin to publish video from a camera directly attached to a Raspberry Pi 4 (Debian 12 Bookworm) via WebRTC.

• Video Source:
  • Primary: libcamerasrc (default stack on Debian 12)
• Encoder:
  • Primary: VP8 (vp8enc)
• Signaling: WebSocket
• WebRTC Role: Browser acts as Caller (sends Offer), Pi app acts as Answerer (returns Answer). Bidirectional ICE.

Host Machine (Cross-Compilation)

Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/phuoc-SET/webrtc-rpi-cpp.git

Cross-compile

cd webrtc-rpi-cpp/
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y docker.io qemu-user-static
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
newgrp docker
docker build -t webrtc-rpi-builder .
mkdir -p build_arm64
sudo docker run --rm -v $(pwd):/source -w /source/build_arm64 webrtc-rpi-builder /bin/bash -c "cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release .. && make -j$(nproc)"

After a successful build, copy the webrtc_rpi executable from the build_arm64 directory to the main project directory (webrtc-rpi-cpp).

Copy to Target Machine:

scp -r [/path/to/webrtc-rpi-cpp]/ pi@[RPI-IP]:/home/pi/

Target Machine (Debian 12 / Raspberry Pi 4)

Note: It is recommended to install the necessary libraries on the Pi while setting up the cross-compilation environment on the Host Machine to save time.

sudo apt update
sudo apt-get install -y \
  build-essential \
  cmake \
  pkg-config \
  gstreamer1.0-tools \
  gstreamer1.0-x \
  gstreamer1.0-alsa \
  gstreamer1.0-pulseaudio \
  libgstreamer1.0-dev \
  libgstreamer-plugins-base1.0-dev \
  libgstreamer-plugins-bad1.0-dev \
  gstreamer1.0-plugins-base \
  gstreamer1.0-plugins-good \
  gstreamer1.0-plugins-bad \
  gstreamer1.0-plugins-ugly \
  gstreamer1.0-libav \
  gstreamer1.0-nice \
  gstreamer1.0-libcamera \
  libnice10 \
  libnice-dev \
  gir1.2-gstreamer-1.0 \
  gir1.2-gst-plugins-base-1.0 \
  libopencv-dev \
  python3-opencv \
  libjsoncpp-dev \
  nlohmann-json3-dev \
  libwebsocketpp-dev \
  libboost-system-dev \
  libboost-thread-dev \
  nodejs npm

After cross-compiling and copying the project folder to the Pi:

cd webrtc-rpi-cpp/signaling
npm install
npm install ws
cd ../

Run Test:

chmod +x webrtc-rpi.sh
./webrtc-rpi.sh

Open a browser on a device connected to the same network as the Raspberry Pi and navigate to:

http://[RPI-IP]:8080/