The same agent represents a vehicle reached through Ground Agent, an intermediate mesh hop and a separate backup control link. Identity belongs to the drone, not to the route used by the operator to reach it.
KairOS defines the transitive model; KairOS radio/mesh and control lanes require hardware validation.
KairOS repository ↗On this page +
Behind a ground node, the vehicle remains an independent node
Mission Control first connects to Ground Agent over LAN. A drone seen by Ground Agent over radio is enrolled behind it as a separate fleet node, with its own name, telemetry state, video stream and badge explaining the current reach path.
Mission Control
Connects directly to the ground node over the local network.
Ground node
Handles radio reception and acts as a relay, not as the owner of the drone’s identity.
Drone Agent
Enrolls transitively and publishes its own state and feed.
Path upgrade
If a direct LAN path to the same drone later appears, the existing node is updated in place; no duplicate is created.
A second radio turns a drone into an intermediate hop
The range of any antenna is limited by line of sight and the radio link budget. A closer vehicle with a second radio can receive a distant vehicle’s stream and forward it to the ground node. If a hop disappears, the mesh selects another available route without creating a new fleet node.
- The far drone publishes video and telemetry to the local mesh.
- The near drone receives the stream through a separate radio interface and forwards it.
- The ground node exposes each source separately in Mission Control.
- Routing state changes while the vehicle’s identity and mission context remain intact.
- Loss of all hops must put the UI into an explicit degraded/lost state instead of hiding stale data.
The command link need not be the video link
A low-bandwidth control lane over ELRS/CRSF uses a separate radio. It can carry conventional RC channels or a MAVLink command/telemetry stream, depending on flight-controller capabilities. Its purpose is to preserve a limited control path when the primary HD link is congested or unavailable.
| Element | Role |
|---|---|
| Ground node | Acts as a programmable transmitter and owner of the physical interface |
| Control radio | Carries RC or MAVLink separately, without competing with video transport |
| Flight controller | Receives channels or commands and applies its own failsafe/pre-arm rules |
| Authority arbiter | Ensures a single command holder and enables full control in stages |
Four states of one agent
Reached
The drone is reachable and controlled through Ground Agent or a closer vehicle while retaining its own node.
Relaying
A second radio carries a more distant vehicle’s stream and telemetry as an intermediate hop.
Backup
A separate low-bandwidth link preserves a minimal command path when the main link degrades.
Last mile
A small vehicle without a companion computer can be the final hop, receiving RC/MAVLink through the nearest node.
Drone, ground node and relay use one agent codebase with different profiles. Their roles and enabled services differ, not their telemetry format, lifecycle or observability models.