Drone Remote id to Meshtastic 📡

Minimal WiFi-based Drone Remote ID Scanner This project is a minimal scanner for WiFi-based Drone Remote ID, supporting both OpenDroneID and French Remote ID formats. It runs on ESP32 (tested with Mesh-Detect boards like the Xiao ESP32-C3) and sends parsed messages over a custom UART to a serial mesh network.

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Features 🌟

• WiFi Monitoring: Listens to WiFi management frames in promiscuous mode.
• Protocol Support: Decodes both OpenDroneID and French Remote ID packets.
• Mesh Integration: Sends compact, formatted messages via custom UART (TX: GPIO6, RX: GPIO7) to a mesh network.
• Efficient & Lightweight: Minimal scanning and parsing for real-time UAV data.
• Heartbeat Logging: Prints periodic heartbeat messages to USB serail to ensure the device is active.

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How It Works 🔍

1. Initialization:

   • Configures USB Serial (115200 baud) and a custom UART for mesh communication.
   • Initializes the ESP32's WiFi in promiscuous mode to capture management frames.
   • Sets up system events and optimizes the CPU frequency (set to 160 MHz).

2. Packet Capture & Parsing:

   • Packet Handling: The callback intercepts WiFi management frames.
   • Identification: Checks for specific MAC addresses or payload signatures to determine if a packet is for OpenDroneID or French Remote ID.
   • Data Extraction:
     • OpenDroneID: Uses functions (e.g., odid_wifi_receive_message_pack_nan_action_frame) to decode UAV details such as MAC address, RSSI, location, altitude, speed, and heading.
     • French ID: Custom parsing logic extracts operator ID, UAV ID, GPS coordinates, altitude, and other flight parameters.

3. Message Formatting & Transmission:

   • Constructs a compact message that includes:
     • UAV MAC Address & RSSI
     • Location Data: Latitude and longitude (if available)
     • Flight Data: Speed, altitude, and heading (if applicable)
   • Transmits the message over the custom UART to integrate with your Meshtastic network.
   • Debug information is printed over USB serial for local monitoring.

4. Heartbeat Mechanism:

   • Every 60 seconds, a heartbeat message ("Heartbeat: Device is active and running.") is printed via USB Serial to confirm that the scanner is operational.

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Hardware Requirements 🛠️

• ESP32 Development Board: Xiao ESP32-C3
• Custom UART Wiring:
  • TX: GPIO6
  • RX: GPIO7
• WiFi Module: Utilizes the built-in WiFi capabilities of the ESP32 to scan for drone Remote ID signals.

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Software Requirements 💻

• Arduino Framework: The project is built using the Arduino IDE with ESP32 support.
• Libraries:
  • Arduino.h
  • HardwareSerial.h
  • ESP32-specific WiFi libraries (esp_wifi.h, etc.)
  • Custom drone ID libraries: opendroneid.h and odid_wifi.h

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Installation & Setup 🚀

1. Clone the Repository:

   git clone https://github.com/yourusername/drone-remote-id-scanner.git
   cd drone-remote-id-scanner
   
   Build and Flash in Platform.io via VSCode or run or use esptool https://github.com/espressif/esptool to flash binary.
   
   

Thanks to Cemaxacutor and Luke Switzer for the underlying code!

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