Robomates HQ — Robomates Docs

How It Works

HQ uses the Web Bluetooth API to connect directly from your browser to a repeater or robot.

📶

Connect via Bluetooth

Click Connect — the browser scans for nearby RBM_ devices. Up to 6 simultaneous connections.

📻

Repeater Bridge

The repeater receives BLE commands and broadcasts them to all robots over 869 MHz RF — ~50 m range.

📊

Live Telemetry

Robots send battery, temperature, position, and fall status every 750 ms via PING messages.

🔗

Direct Connection

Any robot can connect directly to HQ via BLE — no repeater needed for small setups.

Games

⚔️ Push Wars

Last robot standing wins. Robots physically push each other off an arena surface.

Players2–16

EliminationAutomatic fall detection

RatingElo, K=32, start 1500

FeaturesLeaderboard, match history, presentation mode

🧟 Zombie Tag

Zombies spread infection through proximity. Survivors must evade until the timer runs out.

Players2–16, 1–8 starting zombies

InfectionRSSI-based proximity (CC1101)

Duration10–300 seconds

Win conditionAll infected / timer expires

🎨 Sandbox

Free play mode for manual control, testing, and demos.

LEDsPer-LED color pickers (12 LEDs)

ControlsSpeed + torque sliders (16 levels)

TargetingBroadcast or single-robot

Smart sendSkips if state matches

Developer Tools

BLE Dev

Advanced multi-tab developer interface:

Tab	Purpose
Subprograms	Visual block editor for autonomous robot behaviors, bytecode upload
Controller	Virtual gamepad with joystick and keyboard mapping
Melody	Buzzer melody composer with piano keyboard and presets
Mapping	Per-controller button/axis mapping, robot calibration
Crypto	ECDSA P-256 key retrieval, signing, and verification

Serial Dev

USB serial interface for robot configuration:

Read firmware version and robot name
Change robot name (3–10 alphanumeric characters)
Flash firmware updates directly from the browser via esptool-js

Admin

Database management (protected by a separate admin password):

Register and manage robot public keys (ECDSA P-256)
View and edit robot names and Elo ratings
Monitor database connection status

Smart State Reconciliation

HQ minimizes RF bandwidth with an implicit ACK system:

1Every robot PING contains its current LED and coefficient state

2Before sending UPDATE_STATUS, HQ compares desired vs. reported state

3If they match, the send is skipped — saving RF bandwidth

4Periodic full refresh every 5 s ensures eventual convergence

5After applying a command, robots fire an extra PING within 100 ms

Tech Stack

BackendFlask 3.0 (Python)

ServerGunicorn

DatabasePostgreSQL

FrontendVanilla JS (no frameworks)

BLEWeb Bluetooth API

DeploymentDocker + Docker Compose

Self-Hosting

            git clone https://github.com/user/robomates-web-hq.git
            cd robomates-web-hq
            
            export SECRET_KEY=$(python3 -c "import secrets; print(secrets.token_hex(32))")
            export ADMIN_PASSWORD="your-admin-password"
            export POSTGRES_URL="postgresql://user:pass@host:port/db"
            
            docker compose up -d
        

HQ will be available at http://localhost:6301