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title: Using PiTrac description: Day-to-day operation of the PiTrac web dashboard, with one page per UI screen: dashboard, configuration, calibration, testing, logs, and system update.

Using PiTrac

The PiTrac web interface runs on the Pi at {PI-IP}:8080. This section documents each page of the interface, plus the shared header and navigation that appear across all of them.

Reaching the Web Interface

The web interface is at http://{PI-IP}:8080.

If the page does not load, two things to check first:

  1. Is the PiTrac web service running?
    • Verify with systemctl status pitrac-web. Start it with sudo systemctl start pitrac-web.
  2. Are you visiting the right address?
    • Verify the IP address on the Pi with ifconfig and look for your configured interface with a local IP address.
    • On the Pi's own desktop environment, use localhost or 127.0.0.1.
    • Always use http://. HTTPS support is not implemented.

Header and Navigation

The header bar appears on every page and provides navigation, status monitoring, and PiTrac process control.

Status Indicators

Status indicators (left side of header):

Indicator Label Meaning
Green dot WS WebSocket connection to the server is active
Red dot WS WebSocket is disconnected (will auto-reconnect)
Green dot LM PiTrac launch monitor process is running (shows PID in tooltip)
Red dot LM PiTrac launch monitor is stopped

These indicators poll the server every 5 seconds via /health and /api/pitrac/status.

PiTrac controls (desktop: visible in header; mobile: inside dropdown menu):

  • Start calls POST /api/pitrac/start to launch the pitrac_lm binary.
  • Stop calls POST /api/pitrac/stop to send SIGTERM (then SIGKILL if needed).
  • Restart stops then starts the process.

When PiTrac is stopped, only the Start button is visible. When running, only Stop and Restart are shown.

Strobe safety gate

On V3 Connector Boards, Start and Restart check strobe safety first (GET /api/strobe-safety). If the V3 DAC is not calibrated, a modal dialog blocks the action and directs you to the Calibration page.

Dropdown menu (three-dot icon, top right):

Dropdown Menu

The dropdown provides navigation to all pages and a theme selector:

  • Dashboard (/)
  • Calibration (/calibration)
  • Configuration (/config)
  • Logs (/logs)
  • Testing Tools (/testing)
  • Theme: Light / Dark / System (persisted to localStorage)

Pages

  • Dashboard

    Real-time shot data via WebSocket. Status strip, metrics panel, shot image.

  • Configuration

    Settings editor. Camera types, lens choice, gains, simulator connection.

  • Calibration

    Camera calibration wizard and strobe (DAC) calibration for V3 boards.

  • Testing Tools

    Image pipeline tests, still capture, ball location checks, connectivity tests.

  • Logs

    Real-time log streaming over WebSocket for PiTrac and the web server.

  • System Update

    Pull the latest code from GitHub and rebuild PiTrac from the browser.