WDM

Watch · Detect · Manage

Blocao Labs platform repository — distributed edge AI for video and audio forensics with full data sovereignty.

This repository is the single source of truth for the design, architecture, mockups, sprint backlog, and decisions taken during the initial design phase of the Blocao platform. It is documentation-first: code lives in sibling repositories that this one references.

What this is

Blocao is a vertically integrated edge AI platform for sites that need:

IP camera forensics with cross-AI fusion (video + audio + access events).
Audio transcription with speaker diarization, topic search, and forensic playback.
Full data sovereignty: nothing leaves the site unless explicitly bridged.
Open-source stack on commodity hardware (OpenWrt + RK3588).
GitOps-managed configuration auditable by anyone with read access to the repo.

It is not a re-skin of an existing VMS, not a SaaS, and not a hyperscaler-cloud product. The competitive positioning, technical contracts, and target markets are documented in docs/.

Repository layout

wdmUI/
├── README.md              ← you are here
├── WIKI.md                ← human-friendly entry point with deeper navigation
├── docs/                  ← architecture, products, design language, deployments
├── backlog/               ← user stories, sprint plan, cross-product reuse
├── mockups/               ← clickable HTML prototypes (LCARS-style)
└── decisions/             ← lightweight ADRs for major design choices

If you want the executive briefing, read WIKI.md. If you want to start a sprint, jump to backlog/sprint-plan.md. If you want to see the product, open the HTML files in mockups/.

Quick orientation by role

You are an investor or non-technical stakeholder → start with docs/00-vision.md, then open mockups/index.html in a browser to feel the product.

You are a developer joining the project → read WIKI.md end to end, then docs/01-architecture/overview.md. Pick a sprint from backlog/sprint-plan.md and find the corresponding stories.

You are an ops / SRE → docs/01-architecture/tiers.md and docs/04-deployments/single-site.md describe what you'll be running. The runbooks in docs/07-runbooks/ are still placeholders.

You are a designer → docs/03-design/ has the design tokens, the LCARS language adaptation, and the brand guidelines. The mockups/ folder contains the live prototypes.

You are a salesperson or partner → docs/05-comparatives/ has structured comparisons against Verkada, Milestone, Frigate-DIY and Hikvision. docs/04-deployments/argentina-targets.md has the geographic-vertical map for the LATAM market.

Vocabulary

A few terms that recur throughout the documentation:

Term	Meaning
Site	One physical location with a Blocao deployment. Identified as `BL-<slug>`.
Router	OpenWrt device serving as network gateway, broker, and console host.
Cell	RK3588-class edge AI device running Frigate + supporting services. Tier-1 compute.
Core	Tier-2 coordinator (e.g. Jetson Orin) federating multiple Cells. Optional.
Hub	Remote multi-site control plane operated by the customer or by Blocao Labs.
Operator	End user of the console (security investigator, ops).
Installer	Field technician deploying a site.
Tier topology	Notation `R+1`, `R+3+C` etc. indicating router plus N Cells plus optional Core.
Sovereignty layer	The set of policies in MQTT, GitOps and storage that control what data leaves the site.

Mockups

The mockups/ folder contains self-contained HTML files that work offline. Open them in any modern browser:

index.html — the unified operator console. Aterriza en SYNOPSIS (SCADA-style live diagram). Rail izquierdo navega entre vistas Engineering, Operator, System.
transcript-forensics.html — audio transcription forensics panel: query, waveform, speaker diarization, topic search, audio player.
forensics-only.html — earlier standalone version of the video forensics panel.
gitops-only.html — earlier standalone version of the GitOps panel.
frigate-config.html — Frigate integration mockup with cameras list and config.
palette-comparison.html — classic LCARS vs complementary palette toggle.
router-ui-original.html — the very first sketch of the router console. Kept for historical reference.

The visual language is LCARS-inspired with a complementary palette (cyan-dominant instead of orange). The decision and the rationale are in decisions/0001-paleta-complementaria.md.

Sprint readiness

The backlog in backlog/ is structured into 8 epics mapping to ~19 weeks of work to first demoable product. The plan, dependencies, and risk register are documented. Stories are tagged BL-XX.Y for Blocao and WDM-T-XX.Y for transcript-specific items, with a third file (shared-stories.md) listing items that cut across both products.

Sprint 0 (foundation) should be closed before any UI work starts — it covers the monorepo, CI, OpenWrt Image Builder and Balena fleet provisioning. From sprint 1 onward, each sprint produces a demoable increment.

MVP demo readiness: end of sprint 4. The full hub + multi-site experience: end of sprint 6. Legal-grade evidence chain: end of sprint 7.

Decisions

Major design decisions are recorded as lightweight ADRs in decisions/. They are numbered, dated, and never edited after acceptance — superseding decisions get a new number. Current set:

Complementary palette over classic LCARS.
Tier hierarchy (Router / Cell / Core / Hub).
MQTT as the spine of the system.
GitOps as source of truth.
Sovereignty over hyperscaler convenience.
Router serves the console shell, Cell provides APIs.
Evidence chain is a separate workstream, not blocking demo.
Default 30-day retention for Argentina deployments.
No redundant titles in the UI (rail + topbar + ctx-strip pattern).
SYNOPSIS as the landing view.

Status

This repository is in design phase. No production code is referenced yet. When the first companion repos are created (apps/console, apps/router-luci-app, apps/cell-services, apps/hub), they will be linked from WIKI.md.

Issues raised here track design decisions and backlog grooming. Implementation issues should be opened in their respective code repositories with a back-reference to the relevant BL-XX.Y story.

License & confidentiality

Internal Blocao Labs material. Not for distribution outside the team. Licensing for the open-source components will be decided per-repository when code starts shipping.

Last reviewed: see commit history. Maintained by Blocao Labs.