Drone Dance Dialog

An open source application designed for motion capture, choreographing and visualizing drones accurately in space using the OptiTrack system.
This project leverages precise real-time motion capture to control and preview drones, both in simulation and live flight.
User control interface is built with React, while the backend is written in C++ and communicates with drones using ESP32 modules connected over ESP-NOW WiFi, ensuring secure and seamless information flow between the control system and the drones.
To ensure consistent runtime environment, main project modules run inside individual docker containers.

Features

• Choreograph and visualize drone movements in a 3D space using a web interface.
• Blender animation export integration to control and execute pre-programmed drone flight patterns.
• Live control and preview of drone positions and movements in real time.
• Communication between C++ backend and drones via ESP32 devices.
• Utilizes the OptiTrack motion capture system for accurate drone tracking.

Requirements

• Docker with Docker Compose
• Forward USB to UART serial port to WSL (if running on MS Windows)

usbipd list
usbipd bind --busid <device BUSID>
usbipd attach --wsl --busid <device BUSID>

Tech Stack

Backend

• C++: Core logic and communication handling.
• ESP32: Wireless communication between backend and drones (sending and receiving commands/data).

Frontend

• React.js: Web app for visualizing and controlling the drones.
• Three.js: 3D visualization for live drone choreography preview.

Additional Components

• Blender: Integration for exporting drone choreography as animations.
• OptiTrack: Motion capture system to track drone positions in real-time.