ORION VI ROVER — GROUND CONTROL STATION

Mission Control & Telemetry System | KN MicroChip | European Rover Challenge (ERC 2026/27)

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Overview

A mission-critical Ground Control Station (GCS) engineered for the Orion VI Planetary Rover, built by KN MicroChip for competition in the European Rover Challenge (ERC 2026/27).

Built on top of the NASA Open MCT framework, the station enforces strict NASA-STD-3001 and ECSS human-system interface principles:

• Aerospace Dark Palette (#121212): Low-glare, high-contrast dark environment designed for outdoor command shelters.
• Square Edge Topology (0px !important): Zero-radius framing for maximum information density and clean visual alignment.
• Factual Telemetry Only: Status indicators strictly reflect verified telemetry ([B1: OK] when link active, [B1: ---] when unreceived).
• Tabular Monospace Typography: Monospace numeric streams prevent character-width jitter during high-frequency sensor updates.
• Decoupled Clocks: All telemetry displays, graphs, LAD tables, and logs stream continuously on the UTC Real Time Clock, while competition task timelines operate on independent Mission Elapsed Time (MET) starting from 0 on operator command.
• Full Session Persistence: Custom display layouts, tab order in modes_tab, grid item positions, and in-place camera names automatically persist across sessions via Open MCT localStorage synchronization hooks.
• AXIS F34 Network Vision: High-speed LAN proxy integration with the AXIS F34 multi-sensor unit, 5s grace period, 4.5s freeze watchdog, and repeating 5s force reconnect loop.

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Mission Interface Gallery

1. Operating Modes Master Dashboard (HEALTH / OVERVIEW)

The central operations screen integrating 9 tabbed operational layouts (HEALTH / OVERVIEW, CAMERAS (12 FEEDS), TELEOP, NAV / AUTONOMY, MANIPULATOR, SCIENCE, MAINTENANCE, SAFETY / COMM, Full Mission Master Time Strip). Features the Rover Master Health & Anomaly Watchdog, the real-time Main 20V Bus & Pack Voltages graph streaming on the continuous UTC Real Time Clock, the Power System LAD Table, and the embedded Rover MQTT Live System Logs Console.

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2. Main Teleoperation & Subsystem HUD

The master teleoperation dashboard integrating real-time IMU artificial horizon, robotic arm manipulator controls, subsystem power distribution strip, and live battery states on the upper HUD.

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3. 5S Li-ion Battery Diagnostics & Health Monitoring

Factual 20.1V – 20.2V nominal operating plateau monitoring with individual module health badges, parallel bus balance tracking, and standalone diagnostics window with a 14V – 22V trend graph.

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4. AXIS F34 Network Cameras, Dual Test Feeds & Repeating Reconnect Watchdog

Integrated Flexible Layout tab (CAMERAS (12 FEEDS) / disp_cameras) within Operating Modes and Rover Displays. Features live physical AXIS F34 Network Cameras, rover operational feeds, and dedicated operator test feeds for the Laptop Built-in Webcam (cam_laptop_test) and an external USB Camera (cam_usb_test):

• AXIS F34 Multi-Sensor Network Camera Integration:
  • Connects directly to the rover's AXIS F34 4-sensor main unit over high-speed Ethernet (link-local address 169.254.186.98).
  • Automatic Network Discovery: The gateway performs SSDP M-SEARCH broadcasts over 169.254.255.255:1900 to automatically locate and bind the AXIS unit on the local subnet without hardcoded configuration.
  • High-Throughput MJPEG Proxy: Real-time HTTP MJPEG streaming via /api/camera/axis/:id/stream (standard multipart/x-mixed-replace; boundary=myboundary).
  • In-Memory Stream Caching: The gateway tracks active stream consumers to suppress background snapshot polling on the AXIS F34 embedded CPU while live video is playing.
  • Physical Sensor Mapping:
    • Port 2 (AXIS 2): Live 30 FPS high-definition feed.
    • Port 3 (AXIS 3): Live 30 FPS high-definition feed.
    • Ports 1 & 4: Unpopulated sensor bays (gracefully identified and held in standby).
• Local Operator Test Feeds:
  • Laptop Webcam (Test Camera): WebRTC auto-negotiated live camera feed with green telemetry HUD (#10b981).
  • USB Camera (Test Cam): External plug-and-play USB video feed with dedicated cyan HUD overlay (#06b6d4) and fail-safe device detection.
• 10 Rover Operational Feeds: Mast RGB, Mast Depth, Hazcams (Front L/R, Rear), 360 Deck Pano, Manipulator Wrist & Elbow, Science Micro Imager & Internal Chamber.
• 5-Second Grace Period Before No Signal:
  • When a camera stream drops, loses network packets, or disconnects, the display does NOT immediately flash black or trigger an alarm.
  • The last valid video frame remains visible and frozen for a 5-second grace period to absorb momentary network jitter.
• Repeating 5s Force Reconnect Loop:
  • Once the 5s grace period expires, the display transitions to the authentic Orion standby screen (dark #0a0a0a grid, centered Orion VI insignia, red NO SIGNAL box, live UTC timestamp).
  • An active countdown timer displays: "Attempting reconnect in 5s..." counting down each second.
  • At count 0s, the system executes an active FORCE RECONNECT: destroying the existing socket/image element, issuing a fresh cache-busting connection request (?reconnect=true&t=...), and re-probing the camera gateway.
  • If the camera is still offline, the 5s countdown resets and repeats indefinitely until link recovery.
  • As soon as valid camera frames resume, the NO SIGNAL overlay immediately disappears and live video playback resumes.
• 4.5-Second Stream Freeze Watchdog:
  • Frame arrival rates are continuously monitored on active feeds.
  • If video frames stall for longer than 4.5 seconds (video freeze), the watchdog detects the stall, tears down the hung connection, and initiates the 5s recovery sequence.
• Native Open MCT Camera Renaming:
  • Operators can rename any camera directly inside Open MCT using native object properties (right-click -> Edit in tree or inspector).
  • Custom camera names are automatically saved to localStorage under orion-camera-custom-names and persist across restarts.
• Instant Snapshot Export: Real-time snapshot buttons (📸 SNAPSHOT) on camera tiles, enlarged views, and standalone popout windows (camera-view.html?id=X) capture full-resolution PNG frames into the Open MCT Notebook snapshot drawer (notebook-snapshot-storage) and trigger browser downloads.

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5. Native User Layout, Tab Ordering & Camera Name Persistence

All operator customizations made inside Open MCT persist automatically across browser refreshes, application restarts, and system reboots without requiring external database setup:

• Display Layout Grids & Coordinates: Modifying layout item positions, dimensions, frame borders, or adding telemetry alphanumerics and plots persists via orion_taxonomy_dynamic_objects.
• Custom Displays & Objects: Newly created user displays, custom plots, and layouts created through the + Create menu survive restarts and remain anchored in the object tree.
• Tab Ordering in Operating Modes: Any reordering or composition updates in the master modes_tab container persist in orion_taxonomy_custom_compositions.
• Camera In-Place Renaming: Custom camera labels edited via Open MCT object properties are preserved via orion-camera-custom-names.
• Mission Activity Schedules: Custom task milestones, durations, and swimlane assignments configured in the in-app timeline editor persist in orion_timeline_tasks_config.

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6. 5GHz RF Comms & Dedicated Diagnostics

Live wireless transceiver link metrics (RSSI, SNR, downlink/uplink throughput, packet loss) with real-time health indicator and detached popout diagnostics window (antenna-details.html).

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7. Native Open MCT Timelines, Decoupled Real-Time Clock & Pure Per-Mission MET

Full integration with native NASA Open MCT timeline engines, featuring authentic swimlane visuals, zero-drift activity anchors, decoupled Real Time Clock operation, independent per-task MET timers, separate overall mission MET, and zero-code in-app timeline customization:

• Decoupled Real Time Clock for Telemetry & Graphs: All telemetry graphs (Main 20V Bus & Pack Voltages, Pitch & Roll Attitude Trend, Drive Motor Currents), display layouts (disp_overview, disp_nav, disp_teleop, etc.), LAD tables, and live logs run continuously on the UTC Real Time Clock (local clock, utc time system). Task state changes (pausing, stopping, resetting) never freeze or disrupt real-time telemetry streaming.
• Authentic Native Open MCT Visuals: Retains 100% native Open MCT plan.view (openmct.plugins.PlanLayout), time-strip.view, and timelist.view rendering:
  • Authentic swimlane headers (MET, Safety, Drive, Science, Arm).
  • Authentic rounded SVG activity pills styled with Open MCT's official telemetry color palette.
  • Native D3 time-axis ruler and the triangular .nowMarker time needle tracking across elapsed time.
• In-Timeline Interactive Controls Bar: Positioned cleanly directly above the native plan swimlanes without disrupting layout geometry:
  • Control buttons: ▶ START, ⏸ HOLD, ▶ RESUME, ✓ DONE, ⏭ SKIP, ⏹ STOP, ↺ RESET, and ⚙ EDIT.
  • Task selector dropdown, live judges' remaining countdown (REM: 39:59), and active task MET (TASK MET T+00:01).
  • Context-Aware Embedding: When embedded inside composite display layouts (like the NAV / AUTONOMY operating mode), the plan renders purely as a native swimlane view without redundant toolbar wrappers.
• Zero Execution on App Opening: When opening the application or refreshing, no mission or timeline runs automatically. All 4 competition tasks (Navigation, Science, Maintenance, Probing) and the overall mission strictly initialize in IDLE standby with metMs = 0, cursor anchored at 0 (the first activity block), bounds { start: 0, end: limitMs }, and conductor mode 'fixed'.
• Independent Per-Mission MET Starting on Operator Start:
  • Each competition task maintains its own independent Mission Elapsed Time (MET) clock starting from 0 only when the operator explicitly clicks ▶ START for that specific task.
  • Starting Navigation runs Navigation MET from 0 while Science, Maintenance, and Probing remain in IDLE standby at 0.
  • Starting Science runs Science MET from 0 while Navigation continues its own clock independently.
  • Pausing (⏸ HOLD) or stopping (⏹ STOP) freezes that task's MET and cursor instantaneously with zero drift.
  • Resetting (↺ RESET) returns that task to IDLE standby with MET 0 and anchors the cursor at the beginning of the first block.
• Separate Overall Mission MET: Overall Mission MET runs continuously across the rover operation session from the moment the first task is initiated. It persists independently across task switches, pauses, and resets. Both OVERALL MISSION MET (+HH:mm:ss) and active TASK MET (+HH:mm:ss) are displayed on the top HUD indicator and in-timeline toolbars.
• Native Master Time Strip (type: 'time-strip'): Stacks multi-domain mission plans (plan_nav, plan_science) and live telemetry plots (plot_bus_voltage, plot_wheel_currents) along a unified, synchronized time axis operating on UTC Real Time Clock with a moving real-time Conductor cursor.
• In-App Milestone & Activity Editor Modal (⚙ EDIT TIMELINE): A full-featured aerospace configuration dialog accessible from any timeline. Operators can add new milestones, modify activity names, edit durations in minutes, reassign subsystem swimlanes (Drive, Arm, Science, Safety, Power), pick colors, and reorder steps. Changes are saved to localStorage and immediately update Open MCT plans and Time Strips without reloading. Includes a 1-click ↺ RESET TO ERC DEFAULTS button.
• Universal Expanded View "X" Close Button: All "Large View" expansions, flexible layout previews, modals, and popup inspectors open cleanly and reliably close immediately upon clicking the top-right "X" button, clicking the backdrop, or pressing Escape.

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8. Rover MQTT Live System Logs Console (HEALTH / OVERVIEW)

A dedicated, real-time aerospace logging terminal embedded directly into the master HEALTH / OVERVIEW display layout (disp_overview) and available as a standalone Open MCT domain object (rover_logs_console).

• Live Ingestion Pipeline: Ingests streaming text and JSON log messages transmitted from the rover over MQTT (default topic rover/logs/#, configurable via MQTT_LOG_TOPIC environment variable).
• Dual Format Parsing: Automatically handles both raw text log lines (e.g. "[INFO] Navigation RTAB-Map SLAM node started") and structured JSON payloads ({ level: "WARN", source: "POWER", message: "..." }).
• Aerospace Severity Badges: Distinct high-contrast badges for log levels: [INFO], [WARN], [ERROR], [DEBUG].
• Subsystem Source Tagging: Automatically detects and tags the subsystem origin (NAV, ARM, POWER, SCIENCE, SAFETY, COMM, DRIVE) from MQTT topics or JSON fields.
• Real-Time Search & Filtering: Client-side full-text search with instant severity level toggles (ALL, INFO, WARN, ERR).
• Operator Utilities: Live WebSocket sync with REST history preload (/api/logs), AUTO-SCROLL: ON/OFF toggle, in-app test log injection (+ TEST LOG), buffer clear, and one-click log file export.
• Integrated Telemetry: Seamlessly updates Open MCT telemetry points rover.logs.latest, rover.logs.count, and rover.logs.level.

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9. Realtime Telemetry Snapshot & Open Mode Modal Overlay

Direct capture and inspection of operational displays via the integrated Open MCT Notebook snapshot system:

• Zero-Clipping Flex Layout: Proper CSS flexbox dimensions preventing the .c-overlay__button-bar (Done button) from being pushed off-screen.
• Full-Fidelity Base64 Rendering: High-contrast, sharp telemetry snapshot inspection with active annotation tools (#snap-annotation), reticle alignment, and one-click PNG / JPG direct exports compliant with NASA-STD-3001 ground operations.
• Fail-Safe Modal Closure: Reliable event propagation handling on both .c-overlay__close-button and the aerospace Done action button.

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Quick Start (Zero Installation)

The project includes a pre-bundled, portable Electron runtime (node_modules/electron/dist/electron.exe) embedding both Chromium and Node.js. No external installations of Node.js, npm, or VS Code extensions are required on Windows.

Option A: Windows File Explorer (Double-Click)

Double-click start.bat.

Option B: PowerShell

.\start.bat

(or run the PowerShell launcher: .\start.ps1)

[!NOTE] In PowerShell, the .\ prefix is mandatory. PowerShell requires this prefix to execute files in the current working directory for security.

Option C: Command Prompt (CMD)

start.bat

Option D: NPM Scripts (If Node.js is Installed)

# Launch Electron native desktop window
npm start

# Launch server and auto-open default web browser at http://localhost:8088
npm run start:browser

# Launch background server only (headless)
npm run start:web

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Typography & Fonts Specification

The Orion VI Ground Control Station enforces strict aerospace typography standards across all UI components and documentation:

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Interface Element   | Primary Font Stack                                                |
+---------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Headings & UI Labels| -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, sans-serif |
| Telemetry & Numbers | "JetBrains Mono", "Fira Code", Consolas, "Courier New", monospace|
| Status Badges       | "SFMono-Regular", Consolas, Menlo, monospace (font-weight: 800)   |
| Time & Coordinates  | "JetBrains Mono", monospace (font-variant-numeric: tabular-nums)  |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Why Tabular Monospace Font Matters:

In mission-critical aerospace telemetry, numbers must render with fixed tabular character widths (font-variant-numeric: tabular-nums). If proportional fonts (like Arial or Helvetica) are used for high-frequency telemetry (such as battery voltage updating at 10Hz), numbers jitter horizontally as glyph widths change (e.g. 1 is narrower than 8), causing operator eye fatigue and reading errors during high-stress competition runs.

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Subsystems Architecture & Telemetry Data Flow

flowchart TD
    subgraph Rover ["Orion VI Rover (Physical / Simulation)"]
        subgraph PowerSub ["Power Subsystem (BMS)"]
            B1["Pack 1 (5S Li-ion)"]
            B2["Pack 2 (5S Li-ion)"]
            B3["Pack 3 (5S Li-ion)"]
            B4["Pack 4 (5S Li-ion)"]
            Bus["20V DC Main Power Bus"]
        end
        AxisF34["AXIS F34 Multi-Sensor Unit (169.254.186.98)\nPorts 2 & 3: Live 30 FPS Streams"]
        LocalCams["Local Test Feeds (Webcam / USB)"]
        Nav["Autonomous Nav, IMU & RTAB-Map"]
        Arm["6-DoF Manipulator"]
        LogsNode["Rover Logging Daemon"]
        Broker["Mosquitto MQTT Broker (192.168.1.1:1883)"]
        
        PowerSub -->|"Power/feedback & rover/power/telemetry"| Broker
        Nav -->|"rover/nav/#"| Broker
        Arm -->|"rover/arm/#"| Broker
        LogsNode -->|"rover/logs/#"| Broker
    end

    subgraph GCS_Backend ["Ground Station Gateway (Node.js/Express :8088)"]
        Bridge["MQTT TCP Bridge (mqtt-bridge.js)"]
        Gateway["Telemetry Gateway & Ring Buffers"]
        AxisProxy["AXIS MJPEG Proxy & SSDP Gateway (/api/camera/axis/:id/stream)"]
        WSServer["WebSocket Realtime Feed (/realtime)"]
        WSBridge["WebSocket MQTT Bridge (/mqtt-bridge)"]
        HTTPServer["Static & Historical REST API (/history, /api)"]
        
        Broker <==>|"TCP Socket"| Bridge
        AxisF34 <==>|"Ethernet MJPEG / SSDP"| AxisProxy
        Bridge --> Gateway
        Gateway --> WSServer
        Bridge --> WSBridge
        Gateway --> HTTPServer
    end

    subgraph GCS_Frontend ["Open MCT Mission Control (Electron / Browser)"]
        Shell["Open MCT UI Shell (Aerospace Theme)"]
        
        subgraph TimeEngines ["Decoupled Time Systems"]
            RTC["UTC Real Time Clock (local, utc)\nContinuous 30m Window"]
            TaskClock["Task MET Engine (orion-task-clock-plugin.js)\nIndependent Start at 0 per Task"]
        end
        
        subgraph DisplaysViews ["Displays, Views & Operating Modes"]
            ModesView["Operating Modes (disp_overview, disp_nav...)"]
            PlotsView["UTC Telemetry Plots & LAD Tables"]
            LogsView["Rover MQTT Live Logs Console"]
            PlanView["Native Plan Layouts (Safety, Drive, Science, Arm)"]
            TimeStripView["Full Mission Master Time Strip"]
        end

        subgraph CustomPlugins ["Custom Orion Plugins"]
            P_Batt["OrionBatteryPlugin (Top HUD & Health)"]
            P_Cam["OrionCameraMosaicPlugin (Flexible Layout & Watchdog)"]
            P_RF["OrionAntennaPlugin (5GHz Signal)"]
            P_3D["OrionModelPlugin (Three.js 3D Rover)"]
            P_Exc["OrionExceptionEngine (Master Caution/Warn)"]
            P_Modes["OrionModesPlugin (Tabbed Operating Layouts)"]
            P_Persist["Native Persistence Hooks (localStorage: layouts, compositions, names)"]
        end

        subgraph SecondaryWindows ["Independent Windows"]
            Win_Batt["Battery Diagnostics (battery-details.html)"]
            Win_RF["RF Comms Diagnostics (antenna-details.html)"]
            Win_Cam["Detached Camera Views (camera-view.html)"]
        end

        WSServer <==>|"WebSocket"| CustomPlugins
        WSBridge <==>|"WebSocket"| P_Batt
        WSBridge <==>|"WebSocket"| LogsView
        AxisProxy <==>|"HTTP MJPEG Stream"| P_Cam
        AxisProxy <==>|"HTTP MJPEG Stream"| Win_Cam
        LocalCams <==>|"WebRTC / MediaDevices"| P_Cam
        HTTPServer <==>|"HTTP Fetch"| CustomPlugins
        
        RTC --> PlotsView
        RTC --> LogsView
        RTC --> TimeStripView
        TaskClock --> PlanView
        
        CustomPlugins --> Shell
        DisplaysViews --> Shell
        P_Batt <==>|"BroadcastChannel ('orion-battery-sync')"| Win_Batt
        P_Cam -->|"window.open"| Win_Cam
        P_RF -->|"window.open"| Win_RF
    end

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Detailed Documentation Directory

For complete engineering details, see the dedicated guides in the docs/ directory:

• Architecture & Protocol Guide: Backend gateway, MQTT bridge, FIFO ring-buffers, decoupled clock engine, and multi-window state synchronization.
• Battery Subsystem Guide: 5S Li-ion battery curves, 20.1V–20.2V calibration, fault isolation thresholds, and diagnostics UI.
• Camera System Guide: AXIS F34 network integration, 5s grace period, 4.5s freeze watchdog, repeating 5s force reconnect loop, native renaming, and snapshotting.
• Telemetry Dictionary: Comprehensive table of telemetry identifiers, units, limits, and payload schemas.

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Automated Verification Tests

The GCS includes automated headless Electron verification test suites:

# Verify Display Layout grids, tab ordering & native camera renaming persistence
node run-electron.js --test=test_persistence
# (Alternative PowerShell env syntax: $env:TEST_RUN="test_persistence"; & "node_modules\electron\dist\electron.exe" .)

# Verify AXIS F34 streams, 5s grace period, repeating 5s force reconnect & freeze watchdog
node run-electron.js --test=test_cameras

# Verify timeline initiation standby gating & Rover MQTT Live Logs console
node run-electron.js --test=test_timeline_and_logs

# Verify native Open MCT Plan layouts, Time Strips, Timelists & Nav embedded plan
node run-electron.js --test=test_timeline

# Verify timeline interactive controls (start, pause, resume, reset, edit)
node run-electron.js --test=test_timeline_controls

# Verify battery telemetry, top panel indicators & diagnostics window
node run-electron.js --test=test_battery

# Verify telemetry snapshot capture and modal overlay
node run-electron.js --test=test_snapshot

# Full end-to-end telemetry ingestion test
node run-electron.js --test=e2e

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License & Team

• Team: KN MicroChip — Orion Rover Team
• Competition: European Rover Challenge (ERC 2026/27)
• Core Framework: NASA Open MCT (Apache 2.0 License)