CLIENTS

Four ways to connect.

A browser, a cable, a monitor, a phone. The ground agent serves all four at once, with explicit rules for who holds the sticks.
Client docs
4
Connect modes
1
Air link shared by all four
1
Pilot in command at a time

CONCURRENCY

One node. Four surfaces at once.

Telemetry and video flow to every connected client. The node handles the WebRTC fanout so a pilot, a spotter, and a remote observer can all watch the same stream.

Client fanout
ground node
WFB-ng receiveMediaMTX WebRTC fanout
HDMI kioskmonitor + gamepad
WiFi APlaptops, phones
USB-C tetherMac, Windows
Androidnative app
Every node serves all four client paths at the same time.

MODES

Every path in detail.

HDMI kiosk

A monitor and a gamepad.

The node runs its on-box cockpit full screen on the HDMI output: live WebRTC video, a HUD, and a telemetry strip. Stick input comes from any HID gamepad, mapped to MANUAL_CONTROL frames sent at 50 Hz over the WFB-ng uplink.

  • Any tier: bench, Lite and Pro all have HDMI out.
  • A monitor, an FPV goggle, or any HDMI display.
  • A USB or Bluetooth gamepad, no custom firmware.
WiFi access point

Any laptop or phone, any browser.

On first boot the node brings up a WPA2 access point with a passphrase generated for that unit. Read it from the installer summary or the on-box panel, which also shows a join QR code. Open a browser at the local address for the node dashboard and the on-box cockpit. Video and telemetry run locally with no cloud dependency.

  • Bench work on your own laptop, no cables.
  • A spotter on a phone while the pilot flies on HDMI.
  • A classroom or demo with a few observers on one AP.
my-ground-station.local:8080
The node dashboard served over the access point, with live receive, video, network and pairing statusThe node dashboard served over the access point, with live receive, video, network and pairing status
USB-C tether

A hardwired link for Mac and Windows.

The node exposes itself as a USB Ethernet adapter over the Type-C data link. macOS, Linux, Windows 11 and Android 11 or later see CDC-NCM; Windows 10 falls back to RNDIS. DHCP hands the laptop an address and the browser reaches the node at 192.168.7.1. Mission Control on the laptop connects over the same wire.

  • macOS and Linux: native CDC-NCM, no install.
  • Windows 11: native CDC-NCM. Windows 10: RNDIS fallback.
  • The lowest-friction path to rule out WiFi during a debug session.
command.altnautica.com
Mission Control on a tethered laptop, showing the fleet dashboardMission Control on a tethered laptop, showing the fleet dashboard
Native Android

The ADOS app, built for a phone.

The Android app finds the node over the USB-C tether or the WiFi access point and pulls video over WebRTC. It carries live video with a HUD, a map, mission planning, parameters, calibration, and a ground-station panel. It installs by sideloading an APK you build from source.

  • A spotter on a phone while a pilot flies on HDMI.
  • Android 10 or later on an arm64 phone or tablet.
  • A radio adapter on USB OTG for a direct link with no ground node.

The node's own screen.

Beside the four client paths, a node can drive an optional 480x320 SPI touch panel. A native dashboard draws four tiles at a glance: radio link, drone, mesh, and uplink.

The native dashboard on the node's touch panel, with radio link, drone, mesh and uplink tiles
Display walkthrough

PILOT IN COMMAND

Many viewers. One pilot.

All four modes can be live at once. Stick authority is arbitrated by a small state machine, so only one client holds the sticks at any time.

A node can serve the HDMI kiosk, a laptop on the WiFi access point, a Mac on the USB tether, and an Android phone at the same time. Telemetry and video flow to all of them, but MANUAL_CONTROL frames are single-master. A dedicated arbiter decides who has stick authority.

The Hardware tab in Mission Control shows who holds pilot in command. Any other client can press Take Control. The agent warns that the sticks are held, and the transfer goes through only when the taking client confirms within two seconds. A holder that stops sending heartbeats for 30 seconds loses the claim. If no client holds the role, every screen stays an observer and no stick input reaches the drone.

Claim lifecycle
observerclicks Take control
confirm takeovertaking client confirms in 2 s
pilot in command
heartbeat every 10srelease on disconnect
observerauto after 30 s silence
A heartbeat every ten seconds. The claim auto-releases after 30 seconds without one.

PATH LENGTH

What each mode adds after the radio.

Every mode shares the same air link and the same receive stage. What separates them is how many hops sit between the ground node and your screen, and whether the mode can hold the sticks.

HDMI kiosk

After receiveDecoded on the node, straight to the panel
Control authorityFull, gamepad on the node
Best forField pilot, no laptop

USB-C tether

After receiveOne USB network hop, browser decode
Control authorityFull
Best forBench engineer, Mac or Windows

WiFi AP

After receiveOne wireless LAN hop, browser decode
Control authorityFull
Best forAny browser, any device

Android app

After receiveOne wireless LAN hop, native decode
Control authorityFull
Best forPhone pilot or observer

Cloud observer

After receiveRelay round trip over the internet
Control authorityTelemetry only
Best forRead-only, remote operator

We publish no glass-to-glass latency figure for any of these paths, because we have not measured one end to end. See the video and data link page for what the in-tree probe does and does not cover.

RELATED

Take it further.

Distributed RXThree roles, self-healing mesh, cloud gateway electionLearn moreNetworkingUplink matrix: WiFi AP, WiFi client, Ethernet, USB, LTELearn morePhysical UIOLED status page and four buttons that drive the touch panelLearn more

One node. Many clients. One pilot at a time.

The public docs cover every mode with step-by-step pairing and troubleshooting.

Client docs
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