got compression working really well, my laptops wifi card is able to talk to the nao fairly well through the door from the hallway

@

@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+pactl set-source-volume alsa_input.pci-0000_00_1b.0.analog-stereo 32%
+#python3.11 naowalk.py --ip spike.local --port 9561 --mic-gain 9 --video-scale 3.0 
+python3.11 naowalk.py --ip 127.0.0.1 --port 9561 --mic-gain 9 --video-scale 3.0 --nao-ssh-port 2222 --media-relay 127.0.0.1:8000

nao_video_server.py

@@ -0,0 +1,327 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+"""
+nao_video_server.py - RUNS ON THE ROBOT, under its own Python 2.7.
+
+Opens a qi session to NAOqi over localhost (zero network hop - it's
+the same box) and serves TWO persistent, length-framed TCP streams -
+one for compressed video (JPEG), one for compressed audio (mu-law) -
+each on its own port/connection. They used to share one connection,
+but a single big video frame mid-send could block audio behind it for
+its whole transfer time, which is a bad tradeoff for something as
+latency-sensitive as audio. Splitting them means a slow video frame
+can never delay audio.
+
+Why not HTTP: the phone tunnel only forwards specific TCP ports, so
+this still rides over TCP - but a 5-byte binary header has none of
+HTTP's chunked/multipart-boundary parsing overhead, and it's trivial
+to keep alive and reconnect on a flaky link.
+
+Why mic capture lives here now: it used to be shipped raw (16-bit PCM,
+uncompressed) straight through NAOqi's own pub/sub over the qi RPC
+session the client holds - i.e. across the tunnel, uncompressed, the
+whole time. Subscribing to ALAudioDevice locally (same zero-hop trick
+as the camera) means only mu-law-compressed bytes ever cross the
+tunnel, half the size of raw PCM.
+
+Wire format, identical on both connections (all integers big-endian,
+via `struct`):
+    1 byte   type     0x00 HELLO   0x01 VIDEO   0x02 AUDIO
+    4 bytes  length
+    N bytes  payload
+        HELLO payload: JSON, informational only
+        VIDEO payload: JPEG bytes (video connection only)
+        AUDIO payload: mu-law encoded 8-bit samples, mono (audio connection only)
+
+Under load (slow/lossy tunnel), video quality and frame rate step
+down automatically (see QUALITY_TIERS) and recover once sends are
+fast again - and since encoding is throttled to match, this also cuts
+CPU use on a congested link instead of just wasting it on frames that
+would've been discarded anyway.
+
+Needs the SDK's own env vars, since the bindings aren't on a login
+shell's default path:
+
+    export PYTHONPATH=/opt/aldebaran/lib/python2.7/site-packages
+    export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/opt/aldebaran/lib
+    python2 nao_video_server.py
+
+Stdlib only (BaseHTTPServer/Flask are gone entirely now) plus qi,
+cv2, and numpy, which are already confirmed present on the robot.
+"""
+import collections
+import json
+import socket
+import struct
+import threading
+import time
+
+import cv2
+import numpy as np
+import qi
+
+# ---- tunables ----
+NAOQI_PORT = 9561          # local qi session port (confirmed working)
+VIDEO_PORT = 8000          # forward both of these through the phone tunnel
+AUDIO_PORT = 8001          # kept on its own connection so a slow video
+                            # frame can never block/delay audio delivery
+CAMERA_RESOLUTION = 1      # 0=kQQVGA(160x120) 1=kQVGA(320x240) 2=kVGA(640x480)
+CAMERA_COLORSPACE = 11     # kRGBColorSpace
+CAMERA_FPS = 20
+AUDIO_RATE = 16000
+AUDIO_CHANNELS = 1
+MIC_CHANNEL = 1            # 1=left 2=right 3=front 4=rear (ALAudioDevice channel index)
+AUDIO_QUEUE_MAX = 60       # chunks buffered before we start dropping the oldest
+
+# (jpeg_quality, min_seconds_between_frames) - best link first, worst last.
+# The server steps down a tier when a video send is slow, and back up
+# after a run of fast ones.
+QUALITY_TIERS = [
+    (70, 0.05),
+    (55, 0.07),
+    (40, 0.10),
+    (25, 0.15),
+]
+SLOW_SEND_THRESHOLD = 0.20        # seconds - a send this slow means congestion
+FAST_STREAK_TO_RECOVER = 30       # consecutive quick sends before stepping back up
+
+TYPE_HELLO = 0x00
+TYPE_VIDEO = 0x01
+TYPE_AUDIO = 0x02
+
+
+def encode_ulaw(pcm16):
+    """int16 numpy array -> uint8 numpy array, mu-law companded.
+    Must match decode_ulaw() in naowalk.py exactly, or the far end
+    just hears noise - keep the two in sync if you touch this."""
+    mu = 255.0
+    x = np.clip(pcm16.astype(np.float64) / 32768.0, -1.0, 1.0)
+    y = np.sign(x) * np.log1p(mu * np.abs(x)) / np.log1p(mu)
+    return (((y + 1.0) / 2.0) * 255.0).round().astype(np.uint8)
+
+
+class FrameGrabber(object):
+    """Background thread: keeps the single most recent JPEG-encoded
+    frame available, at whatever quality tier the link currently
+    supports. A stalled capture never blocks a client's read."""
+
+    def __init__(self, session):
+        self.video = session.service("ALVideoDevice")
+        self.client = self.video.subscribeCamera(
+            "MediaServer", 0, CAMERA_RESOLUTION, CAMERA_COLORSPACE, CAMERA_FPS)
+        self._lock = threading.Lock()
+        self._jpeg = None
+        self._tier = 0
+        self._fast_streak = 0
+        self._stop = threading.Event()
+        self._thread = threading.Thread(target=self._loop)
+        self._thread.daemon = True
+        self._thread.start()
+
+    def _loop(self):
+        last_encode = 0.0
+        while not self._stop.is_set():
+            try:
+                image = self.video.getImageRemote(self.client)
+                if not image or len(image) < 7:
+                    continue
+                # getImageRemote() blocks until the next camera frame is
+                # ready (~1/CAMERA_FPS), so this loop is already paced -
+                # but under a congested tier we send far less often than
+                # that, so skip the (expensive) convert+encode work for
+                # frames we're just going to overwrite unsent anyway.
+                quality, min_interval = self.quality_and_interval()
+                now = time.time()
+                if now - last_encode < min_interval:
+                    continue
+                w, h = image[0], image[1]
+                arr = np.frombuffer(bytearray(image[6]), dtype=np.uint8).reshape((h, w, 3))
+                bgr = cv2.cvtColor(arr, cv2.COLOR_RGB2BGR)
+                ok, buf = cv2.imencode(".jpg", bgr, [cv2.IMWRITE_JPEG_QUALITY, quality])
+                if ok:
+                    with self._lock:
+                        self._jpeg = buf.tobytes()
+                    last_encode = now
+            except Exception as e:
+                print("frame grab error: %s" % e)
+                time.sleep(0.2)
+
+    def quality_and_interval(self):
+        with self._lock:
+            return QUALITY_TIERS[self._tier]
+
+    def report_send_time(self, elapsed):
+        """Called by the writer thread after each video send so we can
+        adapt to how the link is actually behaving right now."""
+        with self._lock:
+            if elapsed > SLOW_SEND_THRESHOLD:
+                self._fast_streak = 0
+                if self._tier < len(QUALITY_TIERS) - 1:
+                    self._tier += 1
+                    print("link looks congested - dropping to quality tier %d" % self._tier)
+            else:
+                self._fast_streak += 1
+                if self._fast_streak >= FAST_STREAK_TO_RECOVER and self._tier > 0:
+                    self._tier -= 1
+                    self._fast_streak = 0
+                    print("link recovered - raising to quality tier %d" % self._tier)
+
+    def latest(self):
+        with self._lock:
+            return self._jpeg
+
+    def close(self):
+        self._stop.set()
+        try:
+            self.video.unsubscribe(self.client)
+        except Exception:
+            pass
+
+
+class MicGrabber(object):
+    """Subscribes to the robot's own mic locally (zero-hop, same trick
+    as FrameGrabber) and mu-law-encodes each chunk as it arrives. This
+    replaces the old design where raw PCM was pushed to the client
+    directly through NAOqi's pub/sub over the (tunneled) qi session."""
+
+    def __init__(self, session, channel=MIC_CHANNEL):
+        self.audio = session.service("ALAudioDevice")
+        self._svc_name = "MicRelay"
+        self._lock = threading.Lock()
+        self._chunks = collections.deque(maxlen=AUDIO_QUEUE_MAX)
+        session.registerService(self._svc_name, self)
+        time.sleep(0.5)  # let NAOqi's service directory propagate the
+                          # registration before ALAudioDevice looks it up
+                          # by name, or subscribe() fails to find it
+        self.audio.setClientPreferences(self._svc_name, AUDIO_RATE, channel, 0)
+        self.audio.subscribe(self._svc_name)
+
+    def processRemote(self, nbOfChannels, nbOfSamplesByChannel, timeStamp, buffer):
+        try:
+            pcm = np.frombuffer(bytes(buffer), dtype=np.int16)
+            chunk = encode_ulaw(pcm).tobytes()
+            with self._lock:
+                self._chunks.append(chunk)
+        except Exception as e:
+            print("mic encode error: %s" % e)
+
+    def pop_all(self):
+        """Drain everything queued right now, oldest first."""
+        with self._lock:
+            out = list(self._chunks)
+            self._chunks.clear()
+        return out
+
+    def close(self):
+        try:
+            self.audio.unsubscribe(self._svc_name)
+        except Exception:
+            pass
+
+
+def _send(conn, msg_type, payload):
+    conn.sendall(struct.pack(">BI", msg_type, len(payload)))
+    conn.sendall(payload)
+
+
+def serve_video(grabber, host, port):
+    """Video gets its own connection/thread - a slow sendall() here
+    (a big JPEG frame over a bad link) must never be able to delay
+    audio, which used to share this same socket and paid for it in
+    latency."""
+    sock = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_STREAM)
+    sock.setsockopt(socket.SOL_SOCKET, socket.SO_REUSEADDR, 1)
+    sock.bind((host, port))
+    sock.listen(1)
+    print("video server listening on :%d" % port)
+    while True:
+        conn, addr = sock.accept()
+        conn.setsockopt(socket.IPPROTO_TCP, socket.TCP_NODELAY, 1)
+        conn.settimeout(5.0)
+        print("video client connected: %s" % (addr,))
+        last_jpeg = None
+        last_send = 0.0
+        try:
+            _send(conn, TYPE_HELLO, json.dumps({"stream": "video"}).encode("utf-8"))
+            while True:
+                jpeg = grabber.latest()
+                _, min_interval = grabber.quality_and_interval()
+                now = time.time()
+                if jpeg is not None and jpeg is not last_jpeg and now - last_send >= min_interval:
+                    t0 = time.time()
+                    _send(conn, TYPE_VIDEO, jpeg)
+                    grabber.report_send_time(time.time() - t0)
+                    last_jpeg = jpeg
+                    last_send = now
+                else:
+                    time.sleep(0.01)
+        except Exception as e:
+            print("video client disconnected (%s)" % e)
+        finally:
+            try:
+                conn.close()
+            except Exception:
+                pass
+
+
+def serve_audio(mic, host, port):
+    """Audio's own connection/thread. Checked eagerly (short sleep,
+    not paced like video) since gaps are far more noticeable than a
+    video frame being a beat stale."""
+    sock = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_STREAM)
+    sock.setsockopt(socket.SOL_SOCKET, socket.SO_REUSEADDR, 1)
+    sock.bind((host, port))
+    sock.listen(1)
+    print("audio server listening on :%d" % port)
+    while True:
+        conn, addr = sock.accept()
+        conn.setsockopt(socket.IPPROTO_TCP, socket.TCP_NODELAY, 1)
+        conn.settimeout(5.0)
+        print("audio client connected: %s" % (addr,))
+        try:
+            _send(conn, TYPE_HELLO,
+                  json.dumps({"rate": AUDIO_RATE, "channels": AUDIO_CHANNELS}).encode("utf-8"))
+            while True:
+                chunks = mic.pop_all() if mic is not None else []
+                if chunks:
+                    for chunk in chunks:
+                        _send(conn, TYPE_AUDIO, chunk)
+                else:
+                    time.sleep(0.005)
+        except Exception as e:
+            print("audio client disconnected (%s)" % e)
+        finally:
+            try:
+                conn.close()
+            except Exception:
+                pass
+
+
+def main():
+    session = qi.Session()
+    session.connect("tcp://127.0.0.1:%d" % NAOQI_PORT)
+    print("connected to local NAOqi on port %d" % NAOQI_PORT)
+
+    grabber = FrameGrabber(session)
+    mic = None
+    try:
+        mic = MicGrabber(session)
+        print("mic capture ready (mu-law, %dHz)" % AUDIO_RATE)
+    except Exception as e:
+        print("mic capture unavailable (%s) - video only" % e)
+
+    video_thread = threading.Thread(target=serve_video, args=(grabber, "0.0.0.0", VIDEO_PORT))
+    video_thread.daemon = True
+    video_thread.start()
+
+    try:
+        serve_audio(mic, "0.0.0.0", AUDIO_PORT)
+    except KeyboardInterrupt:
+        pass
+    finally:
+        grabber.close()
+        if mic:
+            mic.close()
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main()

naomictest.py

@@ -1,101 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env python
-# -*- encoding: UTF-8 -*-
-"""
-Standalone NAO audio diagnostic - deliberately bypasses naowalk.py entirely.
-
-Run this FIRST when troubleshooting "I can't hear the robot's mic". It tests
-each link in the chain independently, so a failure tells you exactly where
-the problem is instead of "somewhere in 300 lines of PyAudio/threading code":
-
-  TEST 1 - Front mic hardware energy.
-           Uses ALAudioDevice's built-in energy meter. No PyAudio, no
-           network audio streaming, no laptop audio stack involved at all.
-           This is the lowest-level check of "does the mic itself work".
-
-  TEST 2 - Local on-robot recording.
-           Records straight to a .wav file on the robot's own disk, then
-           you pull it off and play it normally. This bypasses the live
-           network stream, the SoundReceiver/queue/threading code, and
-           your laptop's PyAudio output path - all at once.
-
-  TEST 3 - Robot's own speaker.
-           Plays a tone through the ROBOT's speaker (not your laptop), to
-           confirm robot-side audio output is fine, independent of any of
-           the mic-listening code.
-
-If TEST 1 shows no energy change when you make noise: mic hardware/mute/
-environment issue, upstream of any code in this project.
-If TEST 1 works but TEST 2's file is silent: something is wrong with the
-recording/robot-audio-stack itself, still nothing to do with naowalk.py.
-If TEST 2's file has clear audio: the mic and robot are fine, and the bug
-is specifically in naowalk.py's live-streaming path (network delivery,
-PyAudio device selection, etc.) - go back to the diagnostics already
-built into naowalk.py (device list / test beep / peak level) to isolate it
-further.
-
-Usage:
-    python3 nao_audio_diagnostic.py --ip spike.local --port 9559
-"""
-
-import qi
-import argparse
-import time
-
-parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
-parser.add_argument("--ip", type=str, default="127.0.0.1")
-parser.add_argument("--port", type=int, default=9559)
-args = parser.parse_args()
-
-session = qi.Session()
-session.connect(f"tcp://{args.ip}:{args.port}")
-print(f"✅ Connected to {args.ip}")
-audio = session.service("ALAudioDevice")
-
-# --- TEST 1: mic hardware energy, all four channels ------------------------
-print("\n=== TEST 1: Mic hardware energy (all 4 mics) ===")
-print("Make noise near the robot's head (clap, talk right up close to it) for 10s...")
-audio.enableEnergyComputation()
-front_readings, rear_readings, left_readings, right_readings = [], [], [], []
-for i in range(10):
-    f, r, l, rt = (audio.getFrontMicEnergy(), audio.getRearMicEnergy(),
-                   audio.getLeftMicEnergy(), audio.getRightMicEnergy())
-    front_readings.append(f); rear_readings.append(r); left_readings.append(l); right_readings.append(rt)
-    print(f"  t={i}s  front={f:.2f}  rear={r:.2f}  left={l:.2f}  right={rt:.2f}")
-    time.sleep(1)
-audio.disableEnergyComputation()
-
-results = {"front": front_readings, "rear": rear_readings, "left": left_readings, "right": right_readings}
-flat = [name for name, vals in results.items() if max(vals) - min(vals) < 2]
-if len(flat) == 4:
-    print("⚠️ ALL FOUR mics are flat. This points to something systemic - e.g. audio "
-          "inputs closed (closeAudioInputs() called somewhere and never reopened), "
-          "or a low-level hardware/driver fault - rather than one damaged mic.")
-elif flat:
-    print(f"⚠️ Flat mic(s): {', '.join(flat)}. The others responded normally, which "
-          f"points to a fault specific to {', '.join(flat)} rather than the audio "
-          f"pipeline as a whole (that pipeline is clearly working for the others).")
-else:
-    print("✅ All four mics responded to noise - hardware capture is fine across the board.")
-
-# --- TEST 2: local on-robot recording ---------------------------------------
-print("\n=== TEST 2: Local on-robot recording ===")
-remote_path = "/home/nao/mic_test.wav"
-print(f"Recording 5s directly to {remote_path} on the robot itself "
-      f"(this bypasses the network stream and your laptop's audio stack entirely)...")
-audio.startMicrophonesRecording(remote_path)
-time.sleep(5)
-audio.stopMicrophonesRecording()
-print(f"Done. Pull it off and play it with:")
-print(f"  scp nao@{args.ip}:{remote_path} .")
-print(f"  (then open mic_test.wav in any media player - it's 4-channel, so check all channels)")
-print("If that file has clearly audible sound, the mic and robot are fine and the")
-print("bug is specifically in naowalk.py's live-streaming path.")
-
-# --- TEST 3: robot's own speaker, via TTS (version-agnostic) ---------------
-print("\n=== TEST 3: Robot's own speaker ===")
-input("Press Enter to have the robot say a test phrase out loud...")
-session.service("ALTextToSpeech").say("Testing 1 2 3, can you hear me.")
-print("If you heard the robot speak just now, its speaker output is fine "
-      "(this is unrelated to hearing its mic on your laptop, but rules out a robot-wide audio fault).")
-
-print("\nDone. Report back which test(s) failed and we'll know exactly where to look.")

naomusic.py

@@ -9,15 +9,17 @@ import time
 import threading
 
 class NaoMusicPlayer:
-    def __init__(self, session, nao_ip):
+    def __init__(self, session, nao_ip, ssh_port=22):
         self.session = session
         self.player = session.service("ALAudioPlayer")
         self.nao_ip = nao_ip
+        self.ssh_port = ssh_port
         self.music_dir = "/home/nao/music"
         self.local_path = "/tmp/song.mp3"
         self.remote_path = f"{self.music_dir}/song.mp3"
         try:
-            subprocess.run(["sshpass", "-p", "nao", "ssh", f"nao@{nao_ip}", f"mkdir -p {self.music_dir}"],
+            subprocess.run(["sshpass", "-p", "nao", "ssh", "-p", str(self.ssh_port),
+                             f"nao@{nao_ip}", f"mkdir -p {self.music_dir}"],
                          stdout=subprocess.DEVNULL, stderr=subprocess.DEVNULL)
         except: pass
         self.current_file = None
@@ -110,7 +112,8 @@ class NaoMusicPlayer:
             t = threading.Thread(target=ticker, daemon=True)
             t.start()
             scp_result = subprocess.run(
-                ["sshpass", "-p", "nao", "scp", self.local_path, f"nao@{self.nao_ip}:{self.remote_path}"],
+                ["sshpass", "-p", "nao", "scp", "-P", str(self.ssh_port),
+                 self.local_path, f"nao@{self.nao_ip}:{self.remote_path}"],
                 capture_output=True, text=True, timeout=60
             )
             stop_ticker.set()

naowalk.py

@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ import pygame
 import subprocess
 import os
 import json
-import re
+import struct
 import socket
 
 # Import the new music module
@@ -33,6 +33,38 @@ try:
 except ImportError:
     HAS_SSH = False
 
+# ==========================================
+# MEDIA RELAY WIRE PROTOCOL (see nao_video_server.py)
+# One TCP connection, length-framed: [1 byte type][4 byte length][payload].
+# Replaces the old HTTP MJPEG pull - no multipart parsing, and now
+# carries mu-law-compressed mic audio too, not just video.
+# ==========================================
+TYPE_HELLO = 0x00
+TYPE_VIDEO = 0x01
+TYPE_AUDIO = 0x02
+
+
+def decode_ulaw(q):
+    """uint8 mu-law samples -> int16 PCM. Must match encode_ulaw() in
+    nao_video_server.py exactly, or this just produces noise."""
+    mu = 255.0
+    y = (q.astype(np.float64) / 255.0) * 2.0 - 1.0
+    x = np.sign(y) * (1.0 / mu) * (np.power(1.0 + mu, np.abs(y)) - 1.0)
+    return np.clip(x * 32768.0, -32768, 32767).astype(np.int16)
+
+
+def _recv_exact(sock, n):
+    """Read exactly n bytes from a TCP socket (recv() can return short
+    reads/chunks at any point - never assume one call gives you n)."""
+    buf = b""
+    while len(buf) < n:
+        chunk = sock.recv(n - len(buf))
+        if not chunk:
+            raise IOError("media relay connection closed")
+        buf += chunk
+    return buf
+
+
 # ==========================================
 # NAO MIC STREAM
 # ==========================================
@@ -82,14 +114,22 @@ class SoundReceiver:
         except: pass
 
     def processRemote(self, nbOfChannels, nbOfSamplesByChannel, timeStamp, buffer):
+        self.feed(bytes(buffer))
+
+    def feed(self, raw_pcm_bytes):
+        """Push one chunk of 16-bit PCM into the playback queue,
+        dropping the oldest chunk on overflow instead of blocking.
+        Used both by the direct qi audio callback (processRemote,
+        above) and by the TCP media relay path (which mu-law-decodes
+        back to PCM before calling this)."""
         if not HAS_AUDIO: return
         self.chunks_received += 1
         try:
-            self.queue.put_nowait(bytes(buffer))
+            self.queue.put_nowait(raw_pcm_bytes)
         except queue.Full:
             try:
                 self.queue.get_nowait()
-                self.queue.put_nowait(bytes(buffer))
+                self.queue.put_nowait(raw_pcm_bytes)
             except: pass
 
     def _playback_loop(self):
@@ -163,11 +203,12 @@ class LiveMicRelay:
     nc so it's ready for the next press. close() (call once at shutdown)
     tears down the persistent SSH connection and kills the remote loop.
     """
-    def __init__(self, nao_ip, ssh_user="nao", ssh_password="nao",
+    def __init__(self, nao_ip, ssh_user="nao", ssh_password="nao", ssh_port=22,
                  port=5555, rate=16000, input_device_index=None, pyaudio_instance=None):
         self.nao_ip = nao_ip
         self.ssh_user = ssh_user
         self.ssh_password = ssh_password
+        self.ssh_port = ssh_port
         self.port = port
         self.rate = rate
         self.input_device_index = input_device_index
@@ -199,7 +240,7 @@ class LiveMicRelay:
         try:
             self._ssh_client = paramiko.SSHClient()
             self._ssh_client.set_missing_host_key_policy(paramiko.AutoAddPolicy())
-            self._ssh_client.connect(self.nao_ip, username=self.ssh_user,
+            self._ssh_client.connect(self.nao_ip, port=self.ssh_port, username=self.ssh_user,
                                       password=self.ssh_password, timeout=5)
             self._ssh_channel = self._ssh_client.get_transport().open_session()
             # A pty ties the remote process group to this channel, so
@@ -306,12 +347,140 @@ class LiveMicRelay:
             self._cleanup()
             print("🎙️ Talk relay: stopped")
 
+# ==========================================
+# ON-ROBOT VIDEO/AUDIO RELAY SERVER (auto-deploy)
+# ==========================================
+class VideoServerLauncher:
+    """
+    SCPs nao_video_server.py to the robot's home directory over SFTP and
+    launches it via a persistent, pty-backed SSH session - so the user
+    never has to manually copy the file over or SSH in to start/stop it.
+
+    Uses the same trick as LiveMicRelay: a pty ties the remote process
+    group to the SSH channel, so close() (killing the channel) reliably
+    kills the video server too instead of leaving it orphaned on the
+    robot, still holding VIDEO_PORT/AUDIO_PORT, for next time.
+    """
+    def __init__(self, nao_ip, ssh_user="nao", ssh_password="nao", ssh_port=22,
+                 local_path=None, remote_filename="nao_video_server.py"):
+        self.nao_ip = nao_ip
+        self.ssh_user = ssh_user
+        self.ssh_password = ssh_password
+        self.ssh_port = ssh_port
+        self.local_path = local_path or os.path.join(
+            os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)), remote_filename)
+        self.remote_filename = remote_filename
+        self.ready = False
+        self._ssh_client = None
+        self._channel = None
+        self._drain_thread = None
+
+    def deploy_and_start(self):
+        if not HAS_SSH:
+            print("🎥 Video server auto-deploy needs paramiko: pip install paramiko")
+            return False
+        if not os.path.isfile(self.local_path):
+            print(f"🎥 Video server auto-deploy: can't find {self.local_path}")
+            return False
+        try:
+            self._ssh_client = paramiko.SSHClient()
+            self._ssh_client.set_missing_host_key_policy(paramiko.AutoAddPolicy())
+            self._ssh_client.connect(self.nao_ip, port=self.ssh_port, username=self.ssh_user,
+                                      password=self.ssh_password, timeout=10)
+
+            # Best-effort: a previous session that didn't get to call
+            # close() cleanly (laptop lost network, crashed, etc.) can
+            # leave a stale instance squatting on the ports - clear it
+            # before starting a fresh one.
+            try:
+                _, out, _ = self._ssh_client.exec_command(
+                    f"pkill -f {self.remote_filename}", timeout=5)
+                out.channel.recv_exit_status()
+                time.sleep(0.3)
+            except Exception:
+                pass
+
+            sftp = self._ssh_client.open_sftp()
+            try:
+                remote_home = sftp.normalize(".")  # robot's home dir
+                remote_path = remote_home + "/" + self.remote_filename
+                print(f"🎥 Copying {self.remote_filename} -> {self.nao_ip}:{remote_path}")
+                sftp.put(self.local_path, remote_path)
+            finally:
+                sftp.close()
+
+            self._channel = self._ssh_client.get_transport().open_session()
+            self._channel.get_pty()
+            remote_cmd = (
+                "export PYTHONPATH=/opt/aldebaran/lib/python2.7/site-packages && "
+                "export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/opt/aldebaran/lib && "
+                f"python2 {remote_path}"
+            )
+            self._channel.exec_command(remote_cmd)
+
+            self._drain_thread = threading.Thread(target=self._drain_output, daemon=True)
+            self._drain_thread.start()
+
+            time.sleep(1.0)  # give it a moment to bind before the client tries to connect
+            if self._channel.exit_status_ready():
+                print("🎥 Video server exited immediately - check the log lines above")
+                self.ready = False
+                return False
+
+            self.ready = True
+            print("🎥 Video server deployed and running on robot")
+            return True
+        except Exception as e:
+            print(f"🎥 Video server auto-deploy failed: {e}")
+            self.ready = False
+            return False
+
+    def _drain_output(self):
+        """Keeps reading the remote process's stdout/stderr so its pty
+        buffer never fills up and stalls the server, and so its own
+        status prints (quality tier changes, client connects) surface
+        locally too."""
+        chan = self._channel
+        while chan and not chan.closed:
+            try:
+                got = False
+                if chan.recv_ready():
+                    data = chan.recv(4096)
+                    if data:
+                        print(f"🎥 [nao_video_server] {data.decode('utf-8', 'replace').rstrip()}")
+                        got = True
+                if chan.recv_stderr_ready():
+                    data = chan.recv_stderr(4096)
+                    if data:
+                        print(f"🎥 [nao_video_server] {data.decode('utf-8', 'replace').rstrip()}")
+                        got = True
+                if not got:
+                    time.sleep(0.1)
+            except Exception:
+                break
+
+    def close(self):
+        """Kill the pty-backed channel (which kills the remote python
+        process with it) and tear down the SSH connection. Call once at
+        app shutdown."""
+        if self._channel:
+            try: self._channel.close()
+            except: pass
+            self._channel = None
+        if self._ssh_client:
+            try: self._ssh_client.close()
+            except: pass
+            self._ssh_client = None
+        self.ready = False
+
+
 # ==========================================
 # MAIN TELEOP
 # ==========================================
 class NaoTeleop:
     def __init__(self, session, nao_ip, audio_device_index=None, mic_channel=1, mic_gain=8.0, video_scale=2.0,
-                 nao_ssh_user="nao", nao_ssh_password="nao", relay_port=5555, relay_rate=16000):
+                 nao_ssh_user="nao", nao_ssh_password="nao", nao_ssh_port=22, relay_port=5555, relay_rate=16000,
+                 video_fps=25, media_relay=None, deploy_video_server=True, video_server_path=None):
         self.session = session
         self.nao_ip = nao_ip
         self.motion = session.service("ALMotion")
@@ -322,7 +491,7 @@ class NaoTeleop:
         except:
             self.battery = None
 
-        self.music = NaoMusicPlayer(session, nao_ip)
+        self.music = NaoMusicPlayer(session, nao_ip, ssh_port=nao_ssh_port)
         self.music_results = []
         self.selected_result = 0
 
@@ -338,6 +507,7 @@ class NaoTeleop:
         self._pyaudio = pyaudio.PyAudio() if HAS_AUDIO else None
 
         self.mic_relay = LiveMicRelay(nao_ip, ssh_user=nao_ssh_user, ssh_password=nao_ssh_password,
+                                       ssh_port=nao_ssh_port,
                                        port=relay_port, rate=relay_rate, pyaudio_instance=self._pyaudio)
         self.ptt_active = False
 
@@ -356,9 +526,37 @@ class NaoTeleop:
         self.music_search_pending = False
 
         self.video_scale = video_scale
+        self.video_fps = video_fps
+        self.media_relay = media_relay
+        # True only if we actually subscribed to ALAudioDevice ourselves
+        # (i.e. not using the relay, where nao_video_server.py owns the
+        # mic subscription instead) - used at shutdown so we don't try
+        # to unsubscribe from something we never subscribed to.
+        self._qi_audio_subscribed = False
         self.display_width = int(320 * video_scale)
         self.display_height = int(240 * video_scale)
 
+        # Video and movement are decoupled onto their own threads (see
+        # _init_video_maxfps / run) so a stalled network RPC to the robot
+        # never blocks keyboard input or the render loop.
+        self._latest_frame = None
+        self._latest_frame_ts = 0.0
+        self._video_stop_event = threading.Event()
+        self._desired_velocity = (0.0, 0.0, 0.0)
+        self._movement_stop_event = threading.Event()
+        self._movement_thread = None
+
+        # If we're using the on-robot media relay, deploy+launch
+        # nao_video_server.py over SSH now (before _init_video_maxfps
+        # tries to connect to it) instead of requiring it to already be
+        # running manually.
+        self.video_server_launcher = None
+        if self.media_relay and deploy_video_server:
+            self.video_server_launcher = VideoServerLauncher(
+                nao_ip, ssh_user=nao_ssh_user, ssh_password=nao_ssh_password,
+                ssh_port=nao_ssh_port, local_path=video_server_path)
+            self.video_server_launcher.deploy_and_start()
+
         self._init_audio_device()
         self._init_video_maxfps()
         if HAS_AUDIO:
@@ -388,40 +586,132 @@ class NaoTeleop:
             self.audio_device = None
 
     def _init_video_maxfps(self):
+        if self.media_relay:
+            self.video = None
+            self.video_client = "relay"  # truthy sentinel, unsubscribe() is a no-op for this path
+            print(f"✅ Camera via on-robot media relay: {self.media_relay}")
+            threading.Thread(target=self._video_relay_loop, daemon=True).start()
+            return
         try:
             self.video = self.session.service("ALVideoDevice")
-            self.video_client = self.video.subscribeCamera("TeleopCam", 0, 0, 11, 25)
+            self.video_client = self.video.subscribeCamera("TeleopCam", 0, 0, 11, self.video_fps)
             print("✅ Camera ready")
+            threading.Thread(target=self._video_loop, daemon=True).start()
         except:
             print("❌ Camera not available")
             self.video_client = None
 
-    def _init_mic_stream(self):
-        if not self.audio_device: return
-        try:
-            self.sound_receiver = SoundReceiver(self.audio_device_index, self.mic_gain,
-                                                 pyaudio_instance=self._pyaudio)
-            self.session.registerService(self.audio_service_name, self.sound_receiver)
-            time.sleep(0.5)
-            self.audio_device.setClientPreferences(self.audio_service_name, 16000, self.mic_channel, 0)
-            self.audio_device.subscribe(self.audio_service_name)
-            print(f"✅ Mic stream ready (gain={self.mic_gain}x)")
-        except Exception as e:
-            print(f"❌ Mic init failed: {e}")
-
-    def get_image(self):
-        if not hasattr(self, 'video') or not self.video_client:
-            return None
+    def _video_loop(self):
+        """Runs on its own thread for the app's lifetime. getImageRemote()
+        is a blocking RPC over the network - if a call hangs during a
+        WiFi hiccup, this thread just sits waiting on it. The render loop
+        never touches this call directly; it only ever reads whatever
+        self._latest_frame was last successfully set to, so a stalled
+        fetch here can no longer freeze keyboard input or movement."""
+        while not self._video_stop_event.is_set():
             try:
                 image = self.video.getImageRemote(self.video_client)
                 if image and len(image) >= 7:
                     w, h = image[0], image[1]
                     arr = np.frombuffer(bytearray(image[6]), dtype=np.uint8).reshape((h, w, 3))
                     frame = cv2.cvtColor(arr, cv2.COLOR_RGB2BGR)
-                return cv2.resize(frame, (320, 240), interpolation=cv2.INTER_NEAREST)
-        except:
-            pass
-        return None
+                    self._latest_frame = cv2.resize(frame, (320, 240), interpolation=cv2.INTER_NEAREST)
+                    self._latest_frame_ts = time.time()
+            except Exception:
+                time.sleep(0.05)
+
+    def _video_relay_loop(self):
+        """Same role as _video_loop, but speaks the lean length-framed
+        TCP protocol from nao_video_server.py instead of pulling raw
+        frames over the qi session. Video-only connection - it used to
+        share one socket with audio, but a slow video send could then
+        block audio behind it, so they're split (see the audio port,
+        media_relay port + 1, handled by _audio_relay_loop)."""
+        host, _, port_str = self.media_relay.partition(":")
+        port = int(port_str) if port_str else 8000
+        while not self._video_stop_event.is_set():
+            sock = None
+            try:
+                sock = socket.create_connection((host, port), timeout=5)
+                sock.settimeout(5.0)
+                sock.setsockopt(socket.IPPROTO_TCP, socket.TCP_NODELAY, 1)
+                print(f"✅ Video relay connected: {host}:{port}")
+                while not self._video_stop_event.is_set():
+                    msg_type, length = struct.unpack(">BI", _recv_exact(sock, 5))
+                    payload = _recv_exact(sock, length) if length else b""
+                    if msg_type == TYPE_VIDEO:
+                        arr = np.frombuffer(payload, dtype=np.uint8)
+                        frame = cv2.imdecode(arr, cv2.IMREAD_COLOR)
+                        if frame is not None:
+                            self._latest_frame = cv2.resize(frame, (320, 240), interpolation=cv2.INTER_NEAREST)
+                            self._latest_frame_ts = time.time()
+                    # TYPE_HELLO: nothing to do with it yet, just skip.
+            except Exception as e:
+                print(f"video relay error: {e}")
+            finally:
+                if sock:
+                    try: sock.close()
+                    except: pass
+            if not self._video_stop_event.is_set():
+                time.sleep(0.5)
+
+    def _audio_relay_loop(self):
+        """Mic audio's own connection - see _video_relay_loop for why
+        this is split off rather than sharing video's socket. Connects
+        to media_relay's host:port+1 by convention (matches AUDIO_PORT
+        = VIDEO_PORT + 1 in nao_video_server.py)."""
+        host, _, port_str = self.media_relay.partition(":")
+        video_port = int(port_str) if port_str else 8000
+        port = video_port + 1
+        while not self._video_stop_event.is_set():
+            sock = None
+            try:
+                sock = socket.create_connection((host, port), timeout=5)
+                sock.settimeout(5.0)
+                sock.setsockopt(socket.IPPROTO_TCP, socket.TCP_NODELAY, 1)
+                print(f"✅ Audio relay connected: {host}:{port}")
+                while not self._video_stop_event.is_set():
+                    msg_type, length = struct.unpack(">BI", _recv_exact(sock, 5))
+                    payload = _recv_exact(sock, length) if length else b""
+                    if msg_type == TYPE_AUDIO and getattr(self, "sound_receiver", None):
+                        pcm = decode_ulaw(np.frombuffer(payload, dtype=np.uint8))
+                        self.sound_receiver.feed(pcm.tobytes())
+                    # TYPE_HELLO: nothing to do with it yet, just skip.
+            except Exception as e:
+                print(f"audio relay error: {e}")
+            finally:
+                if sock:
+                    try: sock.close()
+                    except: pass
+            if not self._video_stop_event.is_set():
+                time.sleep(0.5)
+
+    def get_image(self):
+        """Non-blocking: returns whatever frame the background video
+        thread most recently captured (or None before the first one
+        arrives). Never makes a network call itself."""
+        return self._latest_frame
+
+    def _init_mic_stream(self):
+        if not self.audio_device: return
+        try:
+            # Playback machinery is needed either way - only the source
+            # of audio chunks differs (qi pub/sub below, vs mu-law
+            # chunks arriving over the audio relay connection).
+            self.sound_receiver = SoundReceiver(self.audio_device_index, self.mic_gain,
+                                                 pyaudio_instance=self._pyaudio)
+            if self.media_relay:
+                print(f"✅ Mic stream ready (gain={self.mic_gain}x, via media relay - compressed, own connection)")
+                threading.Thread(target=self._audio_relay_loop, daemon=True).start()
+                return
+            self.session.registerService(self.audio_service_name, self.sound_receiver)
+            time.sleep(0.5)
+            self.audio_device.setClientPreferences(self.audio_service_name, 16000, self.mic_channel, 0)
+            self.audio_device.subscribe(self.audio_service_name)
+            self._qi_audio_subscribed = True
+            print(f"✅ Mic stream ready (gain={self.mic_gain}x, uncompressed direct - use --media-relay on a tunneled link)")
+        except Exception as e:
+            print(f"❌ Mic init failed: {e}")
 
     def wave_gesture(self):
         if self.typing_mode: return
@@ -552,6 +842,32 @@ class NaoTeleop:
             self.update_title()
             self.last_batt_check = now
 
+    def _movement_loop(self):
+        """Runs on its own thread for the app's lifetime, sending whatever
+        velocity the render loop most recently recorded in
+        self._desired_velocity. moveToward/stopMove are blocking network
+        RPCs - if one hangs during a WiFi hiccup, only this thread stalls;
+        the render loop keeps reading keys and updating the target
+        velocity so the very next send (as soon as the network unblocks)
+        reflects your latest input, not a stale one from before the drop.
+        """
+        stable_config = [
+            ["StepHeight", 0.02],
+            ["MaxStepFrequency", 0.5],
+            ["TorsoWy", 0.08],
+            ["MaxStepX", 0.03]
+        ]
+        while not self._movement_stop_event.is_set():
+            x, y, theta = self._desired_velocity
+            try:
+                if abs(x) > 0.05 or abs(y) > 0.05 or abs(theta) > 0.05:
+                    self.motion.moveToward(x, y, theta, stable_config)
+                else:
+                    self.motion.stopMove()
+            except Exception as e:
+                print(f"Move error: {e}")
+            time.sleep(0.05)  # ~20Hz send rate
+
     def run(self):
         print("🤖 Enabling stiffness (no wakeUp stand-up)...")
         self.motion.setStiffnesses("Body", 1.0)
@@ -570,6 +886,9 @@ class NaoTeleop:
         if getattr(self, "mic_relay", None):
             threading.Thread(target=self.mic_relay.connect, daemon=True).start()
 
+        self._movement_thread = threading.Thread(target=self._movement_loop, daemon=True)
+        self._movement_thread.start()
+
         print("\n🎮 Controls: WASD/Arrows=Walk | [/]=Speed | IJKL=Head | SPACE=Reset head | 1=Wave | 2=Cena | 3=6-7 | M=Music search | X=Stop | -/==Volume | T=TTS | V=Push-to-talk (hold) | ESC=Quit")
 
         try:
@@ -698,19 +1017,11 @@ class NaoTeleop:
                         if keys[pygame.K_a] or keys[pygame.K_LEFT]: theta = self.walk_speed * 0.8
                         if keys[pygame.K_d] or keys[pygame.K_RIGHT]: theta = -self.walk_speed * 0.8
 
-                        try:
-                            if abs(x) > 0.05 or abs(theta) > 0.05:
-                                stable_config = [
-                                    ["StepHeight", 0.02],      
-                                    ["MaxStepFrequency", 0.5], 
-                                    ["TorsoWy", 0.08],         
-                                    ["MaxStepX", 0.03]    
-                                ]
-                                self.motion.moveToward(x, y, theta, stable_config)
-                            else:
-                                self.motion.stopMove()
-                        except Exception as e:
-                            print(f"Move error: {e}")
+                        # Just record intent here - the movement thread
+                        # (see _movement_loop) is what actually calls
+                        # moveToward/stopMove, so a stalled network RPC
+                        # can't stop us reading the next key state.
+                        self._desired_velocity = (x, y, theta)
                         self.handle_head_movement()
 
                     frame = self.get_image()
@@ -719,6 +1030,9 @@ class NaoTeleop:
                         rgb = cv2.cvtColor(up, cv2.COLOR_BGR2RGB)
                         surf = pygame.surfarray.make_surface(rgb.swapaxes(0,1))
                         self.screen.blit(surf, (0, 0))
+                        if time.time() - self._latest_frame_ts > 1.0:
+                            warn = self.font.render("⚠ VIDEO STALE - reconnecting...", True, (255, 60, 60))
+                            self.screen.blit(warn, (10, self.display_height - 30))
                     else:
                         self.screen.fill((10, 10, 30))
 
@@ -812,16 +1126,22 @@ class NaoTeleop:
                     print(f"\u26a0\ufe0f  Frame error (continuing): {e}")
         finally:
             print("🛑 Shutting down...")
+            self._movement_stop_event.set()
+            if self._movement_thread:
+                self._movement_thread.join(timeout=1.0)
+            self._video_stop_event.set()
             self._safe("stopMove", self.motion.stopMove)
             self._safe("music stop", self.music.stop)
             if getattr(self, "mic_relay", None):
                 self._safe("mic relay stop", self.mic_relay.stop)
                 self._safe("mic relay close", self.mic_relay.close)
-            if self.audio_device:
+            if getattr(self, "video_server_launcher", None):
+                self._safe("video server stop", self.video_server_launcher.close)
+            if self.audio_device and self._qi_audio_subscribed:
                 self._safe("audio unsubscribe", lambda: self.audio_device.unsubscribe(self.audio_service_name))
             if getattr(self, "sound_receiver", None):
                 self._safe("sound receiver close", self.sound_receiver.close)
-            if hasattr(self, 'video') and self.video_client:
+            if hasattr(self, 'video') and self.video is not None and self.video_client:
                 self._safe("video unsubscribe", lambda: self.video.unsubscribe(self.video_client))
             if getattr(self, "_pyaudio", None):
                 self._safe("pyaudio terminate", self._pyaudio.terminate)
@@ -839,14 +1159,40 @@ if __name__ == "__main__":
     parser.add_argument("--mic-channel", choices=MIC_CHANNELS.keys(), default="left")
     parser.add_argument("--mic-gain", type=float, default=8.0)
     parser.add_argument("--video-scale", type=float, default=2.0)
+    parser.add_argument("--video-fps", type=int, default=25,
+                         help="Camera fps requested from NAO. Video is uncompressed RGB at "
+                              "160x120, so this is roughly 460KB/s per fps - lower it "
+                              "(e.g. 10-12) when tunneling over a constrained link. "
+                              "Ignored when --media-relay is set (the server controls fps).")
+    parser.add_argument("--media-relay", type=str, default=None,
+                         help="host:port to reach the on-robot media relay (nao_video_server.py) "
+                              "at, e.g. 127.0.0.1:8000 when tunneled through the phone. Setting "
+                              "this also makes naowalk auto-scp nao_video_server.py to the "
+                              "robot's home dir over SSH and launch it (see --no-deploy-video-"
+                              "server to skip that and connect to one you started yourself). "
+                              "BOTH video and mic audio come compressed over this one TCP "
+                              "connection (JPEG + mu-law) instead of raw frames/PCM over the "
+                              "qi session - use this on a tunneled/shoddy link. --mic-channel "
+                              "is ignored in this mode (set MIC_CHANNEL in nao_video_server.py "
+                              "instead, since the mic subscription lives there now).")
     parser.add_argument("--nao-ssh-user", type=str, default="nao",
                          help="SSH login for the live mic relay (push-to-talk)")
     parser.add_argument("--nao-ssh-password", type=str, default="nao",
                          help="SSH password for the live mic relay (push-to-talk)")
+    parser.add_argument("--nao-ssh-port", type=int, default=22,
+                         help="SSH port for the robot (music upload + push-to-talk). "
+                              "Set this to your local forwarded port, e.g. 2222, when tunneling.")
     parser.add_argument("--relay-port", type=int, default=5555,
                          help="TCP port used to stream mic audio to the robot's nc listener")
     parser.add_argument("--relay-rate", type=int, default=16000,
                          help="Sample rate for the live mic relay - try 48000 if audio sounds sped up/slow")
+    parser.add_argument("--no-deploy-video-server", action="store_true",
+                         help="Don't auto-scp/launch nao_video_server.py on the robot when "
+                              "--media-relay is set - use this if you're already running it "
+                              "yourself and just want naowalk to connect to it.")
+    parser.add_argument("--video-server-path", type=str, default=None,
+                         help="Local path to nao_video_server.py to deploy (default: the "
+                              "copy sitting next to naowalk.py)")
     args = parser.parse_args()
 
     session = qi.Session()
@@ -862,7 +1208,12 @@ if __name__ == "__main__":
               mic_channel=MIC_CHANNELS[args.mic_channel],
               mic_gain=args.mic_gain,
               video_scale=args.video_scale,
+              video_fps=args.video_fps,
+              media_relay=args.media_relay,
               nao_ssh_user=args.nao_ssh_user,
               nao_ssh_password=args.nao_ssh_password,
+              nao_ssh_port=args.nao_ssh_port,
               relay_port=args.relay_port,
-              relay_rate=args.relay_rate).run()
+              relay_rate=args.relay_rate,
+              deploy_video_server=not args.no_deploy_video_server,
+              video_server_path=args.video_server_path).run()

start.sh

@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 pactl set-source-volume alsa_input.pci-0000_00_1b.0.analog-stereo 32%
-python3.11 naowalk.py --ip spike.local --port 9561 --mic-gain 9 --video-scale 3.0
+#python3.11 naowalk.py --ip spike.local --port 9561 --mic-gain 9 --video-scale 3.0 
+#python3.11 naowalk.py --ip 127.0.0.1 --port 9561 --mic-gain 9 --video-scale 3.0 --nao-ssh-port 2222 --media-relay 127.0.0.1:8000
+python3.11 naowalk.py --ip spike.local --port 9561 --mic-gain 9 --video-scale 3.0 --nao-ssh-port 22 --media-relay spike.local:8000

startSSHTunnel.sh

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+ssh -N -L 9561:192.168.0.100:9561 -L 2222:192.168.0.100:22 -L 8000:192.168.0.100:8000 root@10.196.124.46