DragonSync (WarDragon Edition)

A lightweight gateway that turns WarDragon’s drone detections into Cursor on Target (CoT) for TAK/ATAK, and (optionally) publishes per‑drone telemetry to Lattice as well as to MQTT for Home Assistant. This README focuses on the WarDragon kit where everything (drivers, sniffers, ZMQ monitor) is already set up—so you mostly just configure and run DragonSync.

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Features

• Remote ID Drone Detection:
  Uses DroneID to detect Bluetooth Remote ID signals. Thanks to @bkerler for this fantastic tool. WiFi Remote ID is currently handled by an esp32.
• DJI DroneID Detection: Uses Antsdr_DJI to detect DJI DroneID signals.
• System Status Monitoring:
  wardragon_monitor.py gathers hardware status (via lm-sensors), GPS location, and serial number.
• CoT Generation:
  Converts system and drone data into CoT messages.
• ZMQ Support:
  Uses ZMQ for communication between components.
• TAK/ATAK Integration:
  Supports multicast for ATAK or direct TAK server connections.

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Requirements

Pre-installed on WarDragon Pro:

If running DragonSync on the WarDragon Pro kit, all dependencies are pre-configured, including hardware-specific sensors and GPS modules.

For Other Systems:

If you install DragonSync elsewhere, ensure the following:

• Python 3.x
• lm-sensors: Install via:

  sudo apt update && sudo apt install lm-sensors

• gpsd (GPS Daemon):

  sudo apt install gpsd gpsd-clients

• USB GPS Module: Ensure a working GPS connected to the system.
• Other necessary Python packages (listed in the requirements.txt or as dependencies).

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TL;DR

• WarDragon already runs the sniffers and the system monitor that feed ZMQ.
• You only need to edit config.ini in the DragonSync repo, then run dragonsync.py.
• Optional: enable MQTT + Home Assistant and/or Lattice export.
• When a drone times out, DragonSync marks it offline in HA, preserving last‑known position in history.

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How it Works (on WarDragon)

Sniffers (WiFi RID / BLE RID / DJI)  --> ZMQ 4224 ----\
                                            --> DragonSync --> CoT: multicast or TAK server
WarDragon Monitor (GPS)    --> ZMQ 4225 ----/                 \-> MQTT (Home Assistant)
                                                               \-> Lattice (optional)

• ZMQ 4224: stream of decoded Remote ID / DJI frames.
• ZMQ 4225: WarDragon system/GPS info from wardragon_monitor.py.
• DragonSync merges streams, rate‑limits, and outputs:
  • CoT to ATAK/WinTAK via multicast or TAK server (TCP/UDP, optional TLS).
  • MQTT (per‑drone JSON + HA discovery) for dashboards and a live map in Home Assistant.
  • Lattice export for Anduril Lattice, if configured.

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Quick Start (WarDragon)

1. Clone/update DragonSync on the WarDragon (sniffers/monitor are already there):

git clone https://github.com/alphafox02/DragonSync
cd DragonSync
pip3 install -r requirements.txt

2. Edit config.ini (see example below). Most defaults work out‑of‑the‑box on the kit.

3. Run it:

python3 dragonsync.py -c config.ini

4. (Optional) Enable systemd service so it starts on boot:

sudo systemctl enable dragonsync.service
sudo systemctl start dragonsync.service
journalctl -u dragonsync.service -f   # tail logs

The WarDragon kit already includes sniffers and the ZMQ monitor; you do not need to run those manually unless you customized the setup.

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config.ini (WarDragon‑tuned example)

[SETTINGS]

# ZMQ inputs (WarDragon defaults)
zmq_host = 127.0.0.1
zmq_port = 4224          # Drone telemetry stream
zmq_status_port = 4225   # WarDragon monitor (GPS, system)

# TAK Server output (optional). If blank, TAK server is disabled.
tak_host =
tak_port =
tak_protocol =           # "tcp" or "udp"
tak_tls_p12 =
tak_tls_p12_pass =
tak_tls_skip_verify = true

# Multicast CoT to ATAK (simple zero‑server option)
enable_multicast = true
tak_multicast_addr = 239.2.3.1
tak_multicast_port = 6969
tak_multicast_interface = 0.0.0.0
multicast_ttl = 1

# Runtime behavior
rate_limit = 3.0         # min seconds between sends per drone
max_drones = 30
inactivity_timeout = 60.0
enable_receive = false

# MQTT / Home Assistant (optional)
mqtt_enabled = false
mqtt_host = 127.0.0.1
mqtt_port = 1883
mqtt_topic = wardragon/drones

mqtt_username =
mqtt_password =
mqtt_tls = false
mqtt_ca_file =
mqtt_certfile =
mqtt_keyfile =
mqtt_tls_insecure = false

# Needed for HA auto‑discovery (per‑drone topics)
per_drone_enabled = true
per_drone_base = wardragon/drone
ha_enabled = true
ha_prefix = homeassistant
ha_device_base = wardragon_drone

# Lattice (optional)
lattice_enabled = false
lattice_token =
# Either a full base URL:
lattice_base_url =
# or just the endpoint host (https:// will be prefixed):
lattice_endpoint =
lattice_sandbox_token =
lattice_source_name = DragonSync
lattice_drone_rate = 1.0
lattice_wd_rate = 0.2

Notes

• For ATAK on the same LAN/VPN, multicast is easiest (enable_multicast=true). In ATAK, add a Network feed for the same group/port.
• For a TAK server, fill tak_host, tak_port, and tak_protocol. Add TLS fields if required by your server.
• For Home Assistant, set mqtt_enabled=true, per_drone_enabled=true, and ha_enabled=true. DragonSync will auto‑create entities.

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Home Assistant (MQTT)

Broker

On the same machine as HA:

sudo apt install -y mosquitto mosquitto-clients
sudo systemctl enable --now mosquitto
# Optional user:
# sudo mosquitto_passwd -c /etc/mosquitto/passwd dragonsync
# and in /etc/mosquitto/conf.d/local.conf:
#   allow_anonymous false
#   password_file /etc/mosquitto/passwd
#   listener 1883 0.0.0.0
# sudo systemctl restart mosquitto

Entities created by DragonSync

• Device trackers: drone-<id> (main dot), pilot-<id-tail>, home-<id-tail> (if pilot/home known).
• Sensors: lat/lon/alt/speed/vspeed/course/AGL/RSSI/freq_mhz/etc.

Behavior on timeout: when a drone stops updating for inactivity_timeout, DragonSync marks the trackers offline (hidden on the map) but keeps last‑known location in HA history.

Verify MQTT traffic

mosquitto_sub -h 127.0.0.1 -t 'homeassistant/#' -v
mosquitto_sub -h 127.0.0.1 -t 'wardragon/#' -v

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Static GPS (if no live GPS)

If the kit doesn’t have GPS lock (or you’re indoors), set a fixed location with gps.ini next to dragonsync.py:

[gps]
# If use_static_gps is true, use the values below as fixed position
use_static_gps = true
static_lat = 39.1234
static_lon = -77.5678
static_alt = 220

wardragon_monitor.py will use GPSD if available; otherwise it falls back to gps.ini.

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TAK / ATAK Output

Multicast (no server)

• Use enable_multicast=true with the group/port above.
• In ATAK: add a “Network” multicast feed to the same address/port.
• Ensure your network allows multicast (IGMP snooping/firewall rules).

TAK Server (unicast)

• Set tak_host, tak_port, tak_protocol (tcp or udp).
• For TLS servers, set tak_tls_p12 and tak_tls_p12_pass.
• You can use tak_tls_skip_verify=true for testing self‑signed certs (turn off in production).

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Lattice (optional)

Enable with lattice_enabled=true and set either lattice_base_url or lattice_endpoint plus lattice_token.
lattice_drone_rate/lattice_wd_rate control update rates (Hz).

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Tips & Troubleshooting

• No dots in ATAK (multicast): same VLAN/VPN, Wireshark udp.port==6969, check switch IGMP snooping.
• No entities in HA: ensure mqtt_enabled=true, per_drone_enabled=true, ha_enabled=true. Watch homeassistant/# for discovery messages.
• Template warnings in HA: DragonSync uses resilient templates (e.g., | float(0)), so you should not see float/None errors. If you customized templates, prefer | float(0).
• Entities don’t disappear: your DragonSync DroneManager should call mark_inactive(drone_id) on timeout (the WarDragon repo includes this). That sets HA trackers to offline while preserving history.
• TAK TLS: verify .p12 path/password; try tak_tls_skip_verify=true for dev.

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License

MIT © 2025 cemaxecuter