Hi everyone,
So just wanted to introduce something I've been working on for last a couple of weeks (while waiting for clear skies). It is a mix of INDI-client and INDI-proxy so I thought I can post it here.
indihub.space
- this is a tool/service to simplify remote connection and equipment sharing for setups controlled by INDI-stack.
I was seating without clear skies 6+ weeks this winter and started experimenting with remote access. I decided to build something light weight which would allow me to open remote access easily, without any reverse-SSH tunnels, NAT modifications or VNC.
The idea is just to point KStars/Ekos to publicly available remote-endpoints and do regular imaging session. I have a friend who lives in another location - we did some testing and it actually worked pretty well!
So to open access to your INDI-server (and PHD2!) you would need to run INDIHUB-agent like this:
indihub-agent -indi-profile=my-remote -indi-server-manager=raspberrypi.local:8624 -phd2-server=localhost:4400
where:
- my-remote - your predefined profile created earlier via KStars/Ekos and you want to share it for remote imaging session
- raspberrypi.local:8624 - is my RPI with INDI-server and manager connected to home network
- localhost:4400 - is PHD2 running on my Mac (connected to camera and mount over INDI in my case) - this is optional but recommended as we need to keep guiding closer to mount
Then my agent outputs public endpoints which I need to send to my guest:
INDI-Server: us-east-1-node-1.indihub.io:55984
PHD2-Server: us-east-1-node-1.indihub.io:54869
So my guest will set remote connection in KStars/Ekos using these endpoints. All data goes via cloud so guest might notice some network lag time to time but that's Ok, it works pretty well.
Public endpoints are ephemeral, when you stop agent with CTRL+C - they are gone.
You might ask why do I need to share my equipment? I don't know tbh
![:) :)]()
I can say for myself, having a couple of clear sky nights remotely - motivated me and helped me a lot to move forward.
Also, you don't have to share your equipment - there is a solo-mode:
indihub-agent -indi-profile=my-remote -indi-server-manager=raspberrypi.local:8624 -solo
In this case agent won't open any public endpoints, it will act as a INDI-server reverse-proxy listening on localhost:7624 so you can point your KStars/Ekos to localhost:7624 and do imaging session as you usually do.
You might ask again - why do I need this?
I think we all can contribute to different science projects and still have great times while doing astro-photography.
For instance - I see INDIHUB as a resource of data for space sustainability projects. By 2030 the number of LEO satellites will reach 40,000. These “mega-constellations” will be up to 25 fold increase of what we are having at the moment. We can help to track them and prevent collisions.
Another example - processing huge amount images with applying synthetic tracking can reveal unknown NEO.
I believe that value of images we take are underestimated, they can can be a powerful scientific tool!