moltbot-satellite-copilot (Moltbot/Clawdbot add-on)

A zero-AI satellite pass planner + orchestrator that can:

predict upcoming satellite passes over a given lat/lon (NORAD + TLE)
notify you on WhatsApp with manual dish alignment info (AOS/LOS az+el, track direction, inclination)
(optional) trigger remote capture on a Raspberry Pi and remote decode on a Jetson (disabled by default)

This repo is the skeleton/orchestration layer. It’s designed to be safe and production-friendly: nothing transmits or captures unless you enable it.

Example alert

Example WhatsApp pass alert

What you need

Node.js (for pass prediction)
Python 3 (for the orchestrator)
A Moltbot/Clawdbot instance configured for WhatsApp notifications

Optional (when you’re ready to automate captures):

Raspberry Pi with RTL-SDR dongle (USB)
Jetson (or any Linux host) to run SatDump decode jobs

Data flow

Pass prediction

scripts/pass_predictor.mjs fetches a TLE for a satellite by NORAD ID and predicts passes above a minimum elevation.
Output includes:
- start/max/end times
- AOS/LOS azimuth/elevation (for manual pointing)
- a simple compass track direction (AOS→LOS)

Orchestrator

scripts/orchestrator.py reads config, calls the predictor, dedupes alerts, and sends a WhatsApp message before the pass.
It can also (optionally) run capture and decode hooks (disabled by default).

State + run folders

State is persisted so you don’t get spammy repeats.
Run folders are created per pass under ~/.clawdbot/radio-copilot/runs/… (for future capture/decode artifacts).

Configuration

Copy the example config:

mkdir -p ~/.clawdbot/radio-copilot
cp config.example.json ~/.clawdbot/radio-copilot/config.json
chmod 600 ~/.clawdbot/radio-copilot/config.json

Edit ~/.clawdbot/radio-copilot/config.json:

observer.lat / observer.lon
satellites[] NORAD IDs (e.g. NOAA 19 = 33591)
schedule:
- alertLeadMinutes
- minRepeatMinutes (anti-spam backstop)

Install & run (system cron)

Run every 5 minutes:

*/5 * * * * /usr/bin/python3 /path/to/radio-copilot/scripts/orchestrator.py \
  >> ~/.clawdbot/radio-copilot/orchestrator.log 2>&1

SatDump Pi + Jetson architecture (planned / in development)

This repo currently focuses on pass prediction + orchestration + alerts.

The end-to-end SDR capture/decode pipeline (Pi capture + Jetson SatDump decode) is still in planning and development.

Target architecture (Option B: capture first, decode after):

Raspberry Pi (USB RTL‑SDR dongle)
- role: capture appliance
- job: record raw IQ (or baseband/audio depending on mode) during the pass window
- output: time-bounded capture files + a small status/metadata file per pass
Jetson (or any Linux box with enough CPU/GPU)
- role: decode worker
- job: run SatDump to decode NOAA APT / METEOR LRPT (and later ISS SSTV workflows)
- output: decoded images/products + a preview thumbnail
Clawdbot/Moltbot host
- role: orchestrator
- job: predict passes, schedule jobs, trigger remote capture/decode via SSH, and send WhatsApp summaries

Why this split:

capture during a pass is timing-sensitive → keep it simple and robust on the Pi
decoding can be retried/queued → run it on the Jetson where you have headroom

License

MIT

Satellite Copilot