RustDesk Setup

Requirements

You will need a dummy HDMI dongle if you want to use the Stretch robot with a remote desktop without a physical monitor connected.

Note: You do not need the HDMI dongle during the RustDesk installation. For installation, you must first connect the robot to your host computer using a regular HDMI cable. The dummy HDMI dongle is only required after RustDesk has been installed.

Install RustDesk

1. Download RustDesk on both your host machine and the robot.

   1. For your host machine, downloads are available for Windows, macOS, and Ubuntu.

   2. For the robot, download the x86-64 (64-bit) Ubuntu version. Once downloaded, install it with:

   cd ~/Downloads/
   sudo apt install ./rustdesk-1.4.4-x86_64.deb

2. Make sure an HDMI cable is connected between your host computer and the robot. Open RustDesk on the robot, either from the applications menu or by running:

   rustdesk

3. Note the ID shown in RustDesk—you will need it later.

4. Set a Permanent password:

   1. Click the edit icon:

      

   2. Click Security on the left-hand side, then select Unlock security settings:

      

   3. Click Set permanent password and set your password:

      

5. Close RustDesk on the robot. Disconnect the HDMI cable, connect the dummy HDMI dongle to the robot, and open RustDesk on your host machine. Enter the robot’s ID and permanent password.

   That’s it—you now have a remote connection to the robot using RustDesk:

   

Acknowledgments

This setup was inspired by prior work from Bharadwaj Chukkala. Thanks for laying the groundwork.