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====== TIMI ======

//TAMI Inventory Management Interface//

//"timi is always at ~/"//

TIMI is the combined weekend-hackathon brainchild of TAMI folks building an **audio-visual inventory dataset** for the space — and eventually a **space-aware inventory tagging, logging and querying system**. It is critical infrastructure. It is also complete and utter bullshit. This is a hackerspace.

===== What is TIMI? =====

At its core TIMI is four things:

  * **SciCam** — an Android camera app that snaps photos (and videos), writes JSON sidecars with EXIF + metadata, exposes a NanoHTTPD REST API, and auto-captures via QR codes.
  * **GoPro Bridge** — a Flask server that talks to a GoPro over USB WiFi, pulls captures, runs a live preview stream, and does **motion-based auto-capture** with an ROI editor. Writes the same SciCam-compatible sidecars.
  * **Dashboard** — a Rust TUI that discovers devices via UDP multicast, monitors them, and one-way mirrors captures to a local archive.
  * **Dataset** — a growing folder of ''images'', ''videos'', and ''.json'' sidecars that describe stuff in the space.

The long-term dream: walk into a room, point a camera at an object (or let a fixed camera see it), and have the system know what it is, where it lives, and how many we have.

===== Architecture =====

<code>
+-------------+      UDP multicast      +-----------------+
|   SciCam    | <-- 239.255.0.1:9876 -->| Rust Dashboard  |
| (Android)   |                         |   (TUI)         |
|  :8080/api  |<------- HTTP/SSE ------> |  ~/timi/capture |
+-------------+                         +-----------------+
      |                                         ^
      v                                         |
MediaStore (Pictures/SciCam...)                 |
                                                |
+-------------+      HTTP/Preview             |
| GoPro Bridge| -------------------------------+
|  (Flask)    |     SciCam sidecars (.json)
|  USB+WiFi   |
+-------------+
</code>

==== Components ====

=== SciCam Android App ===

  * **REST API** on port 8080 — see the [[timi:api|API Spec]].
  * **Photo capture** with CameraX, saved to ''Pictures/SciCam/''.
  * **Video recording** — toggle with ''POST /record'', saved to ''Movies/SciCam/''.
  * **JSON sidecars** — every capture gets a ''.json'' buddy with EXIF, camera settings, item ID, tags, and timestamp. Stored in ''Documents/SciCam/''.
  * **QR auto-capture** — point the camera at a QR code, the app snaps automatically. Great for rapid inventory sweeps.
  * **SSE stream** — live events at ''/events'' so the dashboard sees captures in real-time.

=== GoPro Bridge (gopro-scicam) ===

  * **Flask server** connecting to GoPro HERO12 (and compatible) via the **Open GoPro USB WiFi API**.
  * **Full web UI** — capture button, live MJPEG preview, gallery, sidecar viewer, and a **table-boundary ROI editor**.
  * **Motion-based auto-capture** — monitors the live preview stream for structural change inside a masked region. Only fires when something actually stays on the table (ignores hands passing through). Adjustable motion and structural thresholds.
  * **Background sync** — on startup, pulls every photo/video from the GoPro SD card that hasn't been downloaded yet. Persists sync history so clearing local files doesn't cause re-downloads.
  * **SciCam-compatible sidecars** — writes the same ''*.json'' format as the Android app (item_id, tags, timestamp, camera settings, origin, source="gopro"). Includes a background QR-retry hunter that tries ZBar, CLAHE, adaptive threshold, and morphological close to read tricky codes.
  * **Live QR detection** — scans preview frames and downloaded images; updates ''item_id'' automatically when a code is found.
  * **Multicast beacons** — broadcasts UDP presence just like SciCam, so the Rust dashboard can discover it.

=== Dashboard ===

  * Rust terminal UI.
  * Auto-discovers devices every 5 s via UDP beacons.
  * Hotkeys: ''r/R'' refresh, ''s/S'' sync, ''w'' watch SSE, ''a'' add, ''d'' delete, ''q'' quit.
  * Mirrors ''*.jpg'', ''*.mp4'', and ''*.json'' from devices to ''~/timi/capture''.
  * Config lives in repo-root ''timi.conf''.

=== API Clients ===

  * **Go CLI** (''clients/go-scicam'') — curl-friendly wrapper.
  * **Web client** (''clients/web-scicam'') — vanilla JS, static HTML.

===== Capture Sources =====

Not just one camera — the idea is everything that can see should feed TIMI.

^ Source ^ Status ^ Notes ^
| Mobile (SciCam app) | Working | Primary capture device. CameraX + NanoHTTPD. |
| GoPro (gopro-scicam) | Working | Flask bridge over USB WiFi. Preview, auto-capture, ROI mask, background sync, SciCam sidecars. |
| Canon 70D | In space | Uses [[https://gitlab.com/entangle/entangle|Entangle]] (libgphoto2 frontend). Could script captures to same sidecar format. |
| Lixel 2 Pro | TBD | 3D scanner with cameras. Needs research. |

===== Weekend Hackathon Results =====

The first TIMI sprint produced a working end-to-end pipeline in about 48 hours:

  * Android app rewritten as API-first: fullscreen preview with IP overlay.
  * QR detection switched from ZXing to BoofCV — runs on preview frames, no Activity hop.
  * REST API with OpenAPI 3 spec.
  * Dashboard built in Rust with auto-discovery and sync.
  * Go and web clients consuming the API.
  * Full test suite in ''scicam_api_test.sh''.
  * **GoPro bridge** added later — brings a rugged wide-angle camera into the TIMI pipeline with motion auto-capture and the same sidecar format.

===== API Quick Reference =====

The SciCam API lives at ''http://<device-ip>:8080''. Critical rule: **''POST'' only for state-changing endpoints; ''GET'' returns 404.**

| Method | Endpoint | Purpose |
| POST | /capture | Trigger photo |
| POST | /record | Toggle video recording |
| POST | /settings | Set item_id, tags, lock, debug, capture_alert |
| POST | /auto-capture | Enable/disable QR auto-capture |
| GET | /status | Current state (item_id, tags, locked, last_qr, ...) |
| GET | /captures | List all images/videos with sidecar status |
| GET | /photo/last | Download latest JPEG |
| GET | /photo/<filename> | Download specific JPEG |
| GET | /video/last | Download latest MP4 |
| GET | /video/<filename> | Download specific MP4 |
| GET | /sidecar/<filename> | Download JSON sidecar |
| GET | /events | SSE stream |

Full spec: [[https://git.telavivmakers.space/tami/timi/src/branch/master/api_spec.yaml|api_spec.yaml]]

===== Git Repository =====

  * **Origin:** [[https://git.telavivmakers.space/tami/timi|git.telavivmakers.space/tami/timi]]
  * **Local dev desk:** ''~/timi/''

The repo is a multi-component monorepo:

<code>
timi/
├── scicam/           # Android app (Kotlin + Gradle Groovy DSL)
├── dashboard/        # Rust TUI
├── clients/
│   ├── go-scicam/    # Go CLI (submodule)
│   ├── web-scicam/   # Vanilla JS static client (submodule)
│   └── gopro-scicam/ # Flask GoPro bridge (submodule) — KEY PLAYER
├── api_spec.yaml     # OpenAPI 3 source of truth
├── timi.conf         # Dashboard registry & config
└── capture/          # Default local archive (gitignored)
</code>

===== Roadmap / Dreams =====

  * [ ] Prototype ''PreviewView'' overlay for QR region feedback in SciCam.
  * [ ] Camera calibration data in sidecars (lens distortion via BoofCV).
  * [ ] Database sync — non-destructive to existing images/sidecars.
  * [ ] Canon 70D scripted capture producing TIMI-compatible sidecars.
  * [ ] Lixel 2 Pro research and integration.
  * [ ] Space-aware querying: "what's in the CNC room?" "how many stepper motors?"

===== Philosophy =====

  * **Treat captures as immutable** — this is an archive and dataset. Don't mess with existing files.
  * **API-first UI** — the app is primarily a remote-controlled camera. The dashboard and CLI are the main interfaces.
  * **Bullshit acceptable** — it is a hackerspace. It should work well enough to be useful and broken enough to be fun.

===== Contact / Hacking =====

Ping the usual suspects on Matrix/Discord/Telegram, or just show up at the space and break things. The code is all there in ''~/timi'' on the dev desk. If you improve it, push to Gitea.

<code>
# Quick start on the dev desk
cd ~/timi

# Build and install the Android app
cd scicam && ./gradlew assembleDebug && adb install app/build/outputs/apk/debug/app-debug.apk

# Start the GoPro bridge (needs GoPro in USB Connect mode)
cd clients/gopro-scicam && python3 app.py

# Start the dashboard
cd ~/timi/dashboard && cargo build --release && ./target/release/scicam-dashboard

# Test against a device on the network
cd ~/timi && ./scicam_api_test.sh <device-ip>
</code>
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