Developer & API Documentation

Documentation regarding DroneBridge for ESP32 aimed at developers and everyone how wants to use the REST:API.

Compile

You will need the Espressif SDK: esp-idf + toolchain. Check out their website for more info and on how to set it up. The code is written in pure C using the esp-idf (no Arduino libs). Compile using esp-idf v5.1 or esp-idf v5.2 or esp-idf v5.3

• ESP32 idf.py set-target esp32 build

• ESP32S2 idf.py set-target esp32s2 build

• ESP32S3 idf.py set-target esp32s3 build

• ESP32C3 idf.py set-target esp32c3 build

• ESP32C3 idf.py set-target esp32c6 build

Or compile all at once with release configuration running the release scripts for bash or PowerShell create_release_zip.sh or create_release_zip.ps1

This project supports the v5.3 of ESP-IDF Compile and flash by running: idf.py build, idf.py flash

The web interface is built using the command idf.py frontend. This is done automatically when compiling the entire project using idf.py build. The frontend is built to build/frontend. Alternatively, the frontend can be built using npm install && npm i -D shx && npm run build within /frontend/, then manually copy the content of /frontend/build to /build/frontend

API

The web interface communicates with a REST: API on the ESP32. You can use that API to set configurations that are not selectable via the web interface (e.g., baud rate). It also allows you to integrate DroneBridge for ESP32 easily.

Get Settings

GET /api/settings

Get all available settings that are currently stored on the ESP32.

Headers

Name	Value
Content-Type	application/json
Authorization	none

Response

200

{
  "esp32_mode": 2,
  "wifi_ssid": "DroneBridge",
  "wifi_pass": "dronebridge",
  "ap_channel": 6,
  "trans_pack_size": 128,
  "tx_pin": 4,
  "rx_pin": 5,
  "cts_pin": 0,
  "rts_pin": 0,
  "rts_thresh":	64,
  "baud": 115200,
  "telem_proto": 4,
  "ltm_pp": 2,
  "ap_ip": "192.168.2.1",
  "static_client_ip": "",
  "static_netmask": "",
  "static_gw_ip": ""
}

Get Statistics

GET /api/system/stats

Receive real-time statistics about connected clients and received UART bytes.

Headers

Name	Value
Content-Type	application/json
Authorization	none

Response

200

{
    "read_bytes": 4672,
    "tcp_connected": 0,
    "udp_connected": 2,
    "udp_clients": ["192.168.10.55:14550", "192.168.10.6:14550"],
    "current_client_ip": "192.168.10.17",
    "esp_rssi":	-45
}

Get System Info

GET /api/system/info

General information about the installed DroneBridge for ESP32 firmware

Headers

Name	Value
Content-Type	application/json
Authorization	none

Response

200

{
 "idf_version":	"v5.3",
 "db_build_version": 12,
 "major_version": 2,
 "minor_version": 0,
 "esp_mac": "EC:DA:3B:BC:XX:XX"
}

Get connected clients

GET /api/system/clients

List of all connected UDP and TCP clients with their ports.

Headers

Name	Value
Content-Type	application/json
Authorization	none

Response

{
    "udp_clients": ["192.168.10.55:14550", "192.168.10.6:14550"]
}

Manually add UDP target

Add a UDP target with IP and port that the ESP32 shall send serial data to. Set "save" to true in case you want the UDP client be saved to NVM. That way it will be automatically added on startup. Otherwise (false) it will only be added for this session and deleted on poweroff/reset of the ESP32. Only one UDP client can be added to NVM. The currently stored client will be overwritten if called multiple times with "save" = true.

To clear saved and manually added UDP clients call API to remove/clear UDP clients.

POST /api/settings/clients/udp

{
  "ip": "XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX",
  "port": 452,
  "save": true
}

Remove all UDP targets

Removes all UDP targets/clients for this session and from the NVM.

DELETE /api/settings/clients/clear_udp

No need to send any content.

Assign static IP when in WiFi Client Mode

POST /api/settings/static-ip

Request

 {
  "client_ip": "XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX",
  "netmask": "XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX",
  "gw_ip": "XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX"
 }

Testing Locally

Check /test for scripts triggering the API.

To test the frontend without the ESP32 run

npm install -g json-server
json-server db.json --routes routes.json

Set const ROOT_URL = "http://localhost:3000/" inside index.html and the <script> block