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OmniCOT Plugin for ATAK

Overview

OmniCOT is an advanced tactical coordination plugin that enhances ATAK's situational awareness capabilities through a modern dashboard interface, CoT marker management, and AOI detection.

Features

Modern Dashboard

  • Real-time Status Metrics: View active AOIs, alerts, and CoT modifications at a glance
  • Quick Action Cards: Fast access to key functions
    • CoT Management
    • AOI Management
    • Create Alert
    • View History
  • Activity Feed: Track recent plugin operations
  • Advanced Controls: Data export, import, and management

CoT Marker Management

  • Change Affiliations: Modify marker affiliations with federation to all team members
    • Friendly (Blue)
    • Neutral (Green)
    • Hostile (Red)
    • Unknown (Yellow)
  • Change Dimensions: Update battle space dimensions
    • Point (P)
    • Air (A)
    • Ground (G)
    • Sea Surface (S)
    • Subsurface (U)
  • Real-time Broadcasting: All changes immediately broadcast via CoT dispatcher

AOI Detection

  • Automatic detection of Areas of Interest from map shapes
  • Real-time count of active AOIs
  • Foundation for geofence-based alerts

How to Use

Installation

  1. Install ATAK on your device
  2. Install the OmniCOT plugin APK
  3. Start ATAK
  4. Locate the OmniCOT button in the toolbar

Accessing the Dashboard

  1. Tap the OmniCOT toolbar button (plugin icon)
  2. The dashboard will slide down from the top
  3. View current status metrics and recent activity

Changing CoT Marker Affiliation

  1. From the dashboard, tap "CoT Management"
  2. Tap any CoT marker on the map
  3. The marker details will appear showing current type
  4. Use the Affiliation dropdown to select new affiliation:
    • Friend (f)
    • Neutral (n)
    • Hostile (h)
    • Unknown (u)
  5. Use the Dimension dropdown to select battle space:
    • Point (P)
    • Air (A)
    • Ground (G)
    • Sea Surface (S)
    • Subsurface (U)
  6. Tap "Update Affiliation" to apply
  7. Changes are immediately broadcasted to all team members

Managing Areas of Interest

  1. Create shapes on the map using ATAK's drawing tools
  2. From the dashboard, tap "AOI Management"
  3. View list of detected AOIs
  4. (Future) Configure geofence alerts for each AOI

Technical Details

Files Created/Modified

  1. PluginTemplate.java - Main plugin lifecycle
  2. OmniCOTTool.java - Toolbar integration
  3. OmniCOTMapComponent.java - Map component lifecycle
  4. OmniCOTDropDownReceiver.java - Dashboard UI controller
  5. DashboardActivity.java - Statistics and state management
  6. omnicot_dashboard.xml - Modern dashboard layout
  7. Icon resources - Plugin icon and UI elements

CoT Broadcasting

The plugin uses CotMapComponent.getInternalDispatcher() to broadcast CoT events to:

  • All connected TAK servers
  • All peer-to-peer connections
  • All team members on the same network

Affiliation Encoding

Based on CoT Event Schema and MIL-STD-2525D, affiliations are encoded in the CoT type string at position 2:

  • a-f-G-E-V = Friendly ground equipment vehicle
  • a-n-G-E-V = Neutral ground equipment vehicle
  • a-h-G-E-V = Hostile ground equipment vehicle
  • a-u-G-E-V = Unknown ground equipment vehicle

The plugin preserves all other CoT type information (function, status modifiers, etc.).

Build Information

  • Plugin Version: 0.1
  • ATAK Version: 5.5.0 (CIV, MIL, GOV compatible)
  • Package: com.engindearing.omnicot
  • Min SDK: 21 (Android 5.0)
  • Target SDK: 34

Future Enhancements

  1. Geofence Alerts: Entry/exit notifications for AOIs
  2. Export/Import: Save and load AOI configurations
  3. Historical Logging: Persistent activity history
  4. Batch Operations: Modify multiple markers at once
  5. Permission Controls: Restrict who can modify markers
  6. Custom Alert Types: Configurable alert conditions

Testing

To test the plugin across multiple devices:

  1. Install on multiple ATAK devices on the same network
  2. Create a marker on device A
  3. Open OmniCOT dashboard and change the marker's affiliation on device A
  4. Verify the affiliation change appears on device B
  5. Check ATAK logs for "COT affiliation updated and federated" messages

Troubleshooting

Dashboard Doesn't Appear

  • Verify plugin is enabled in ATAK settings
  • Check ATAK logs for "OmniCOTMapComponent created" message
  • Restart ATAK

CoT Changes Don't Broadcast

  • Verify network connectivity between devices
  • Check that CoT dispatcher is active
  • Review ATAK logs for tags: OmniCOTDropDownReceiver

AOIs Not Detected

  • Ensure shapes are created in the "Drawing Objects" map group
  • Refresh the AOI list from the dashboard
  • Check that shapes are visible on the map

Support

Standards Compliance

  • CoT Event Schema: DoD INST (January 2025)
  • MIL-STD-2525D: Joint Military Symbology
  • ATAK Plugin Architecture: Standard AbstractPlugin pattern

Version: 0.1 Last Updated: October 20, 2025 License: MIT