There was an awesome chart in SR4A that showed you what stat+skill to roll for various common drone actions depending on how you were controlling that drone. I'm trying to figure out how a rigger would control drones in SR5, and was thinking it might be a good idea to recreate that chart. Drones acting on their own are pretty straightforward: Pilot+applicable Autosoft acting on the drone's initiative (Pilotx2+4d6).

Jumping in seems pretty straightforward, too, with stat+relevant skill being rolled for the test, acting on the jumped in character's VR matrix initiative. However, remote controlling drones without jumping in is where I'm having trouble figuring things out. Who's initiative do they act on? Whose stats+skills do you use?

Lastly, in the Matrix chapter it lists command device as varying in action type depending on what kind of action you're commanding the device to do. However, on the section detailing RCCs, it says that issuing commands to drones is a simple action. I assume, that since an RCC is a specially designed piece of hardware, it would override the general rules for issuing orders from a commlink/cyberdeck, right?

When you controll drones remotely you give them commands and the drone follows the command on its next initiative step. The example story in the book, where a rigger and a decker (spike?) battle each other a bit, shows that. I think it is at the end of the rigging chapter.

I assume the different actions for the command device matrix action are for when you have to actively control the device (like the underwater welder in the example). Like it is a remote controlled machine, not a drone that can receive a command and then act via pilot.
In any case, issuing commands to drones that you control is a simple action.

I've been tempted to make a few rigger/vehicle charts, but one thing stopping me is that the book actually contradicts itself on a lot of this. In particular, the exact skill + ability for operating a weapon is messy. The skills used for active sensor locks are a bit messy with the text and examples not matching. Oh and the basic rules for what your initiative and matrix action bonus is when rigging in hot VR is implied to be different from standard hot VR.

The complexity on some of this is really wonky even if the rules didn't contradict themselves:

A vehicle/drone weapon can be operated manually if it has a manual operation modification.
A vehicle/drone weapon can be operated via remote control in AR or VR.
A vehicle/drone weapon can be operated while jumped in rigging, which makes it count as a matrix action and gain some benefits from Control Rigs.
A vehicle/drone weapon can be operated by the vehicle/drone's pilot if it has an autosoft for that specific weapon and instructions to use the weapon.
All of the above can be done with passive sensor lock or "standard" accuracy rules (which are altered when rigging and/or using a smartlink.)