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WinTAK Installation

WinTAK provides integration with TAK (Team Awareness Kit) servers for situational awareness and coordination with ground teams. It runs in a Windows 11 VirtualBox virtual machine.

Overview

WinTAK is configured to auto-start on boot and connects to the AirLab TAK Server. This integration enables:

  • Sharing robot positions and status with TAK-enabled teams
  • Receiving waypoints and mission data from TAK clients
  • Coordinating multi-agent operations across air and ground assets
  • Integration with existing TAK infrastructure

WinTAK Setup

Installation

The recommended way to install WinTAK is using the AirStack CLI tool:

# From the AirStack root directory
airstack install --with-wintak

This will:

  1. Download the necessary files from airlab-storage
  2. Install VirtualBox
  3. Import the WinTAK virtual machine
  4. Configure the necessary credentials and settings

Manual Installation

Alternatively, you can run the setup script directly:

# Move to the GCS installation directory
cd gcs/installation

# Execute the setup script
./setup_gcs.sh

Usage

Starting and Stopping WinTAK

Once installed, control WinTAK using the AirStack CLI:

# Start WinTAK virtual machine
airstack wintak:start

# Stop WinTAK virtual machine
airstack wintak:stop

First Boot

Password Reset

If prompted to reset the password on first boot, choose your own memorable password.

WinTAK Interface

System Requirements

Host Machine:

  • Virtualization: VT-x/AMD-V enabled in BIOS
  • RAM: Additional 4GB for VM (8GB total recommended)
  • Storage: Additional 20GB for VM disk
  • Network: Internet access for TAK server connection

Software:

  • VirtualBox: Installed automatically via airstack install --with-wintak
  • OS: Windows 11 (provided in VM image)

Configuration

TAK Server Connection

WinTAK is pre-configured to connect to the AirLab TAK Server. To modify the connection:

  1. Start WinTAK VM
  2. Open WinTAK application
  3. Navigate to Settings → Server Configuration
  4. Update server address, port, and credentials as needed

ROS 2 Integration

The ros2tak_tools package bridges ROS 2 topics to TAK protocol:

Location: gcs/ros_ws/src/ros2tak_tools/

Key topics:

  • Robot positions → TAK CoT (Cursor on Target) messages
  • TAK waypoints → ROS 2 navigation goals
  • Mission data synchronization

Troubleshooting

VM won't start:

  • Verify VT-x/AMD-V enabled in BIOS
  • Check VirtualBox installation: vboxmanage --version
  • Ensure sufficient RAM available (4GB+ free)

TAK server connection issues:

  • Verify network connectivity to TAK server
  • Check firewall settings
  • Confirm TAK server credentials in WinTAK settings

Performance issues:

  • Allocate more RAM to VM in VirtualBox settings (recommended: 4GB)
  • Allocate more CPU cores (recommended: 2 cores)
  • Close unnecessary applications on host machine

Learn More About TAK

For background on TAK systems:

TAK Overview Video

See Also