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StellarMate is an embedded computer that runs Linux Operating System and software tailored for astronomical equipment control and data aquisition. It is mainly used to control telescopes and capture images of the night sky.

The principle behind StellarMate is simple:

1. Connect your equipment (Mount, DSLR/CCD, Focuser, Filter Wheel..etc) to StellarMate via USB/Bluetooth or Network.
2. Connect to StellarMate from either your Mobile, Tablet, or Laptop/Desktop Computer.
3. Start controlling your observatory and imaging from any major platform.

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To control equipment, StellarMate utilizes Open Astronomy Instrumentation protocols (INDI).  As illustrated above, the INDI Driver is what communicates with and controls your device. All INDI Drivers are managed from INDI Server, the central hub of communication between you and your equipment. Anything that connects to INDI Server is considered an INDI Client. There are many clients including Ekos, SkySafari, PHD2, PixInsight, and many more. Each client offers different levels of functionality to the user. The officially supported client with StellarMate is Ekos.

After plugging your equipment in StellarMate and powering them on, you need to run INDI Server with the appropiate INDI Drivers. Once an INDI Server is established, you can connect to it from a number of Clients. There are three primary methods to run INDI server:

1. Ekos: From Ekos, you do not have to worry about INDI drivers and INDI server, you simply select your equipment and then set the hostname (or IP address) of StellarMate and let Ekos manages the rest, it's that easy!

2. StellarMate Web Manager (SWM): The SWM provides a web interface to select equipment profiles and drivers associated with it. By default, you will see the Simulators profile that includes Telescope, CCD, and Focuser simulators. You can add a new device profile and then select the appropiate drivers for your equipment.

3. Console: Starting INDI Server from the Console is an advanced topic which requires either direct access via HDMI or SSH connection. It is described in detail in INDI documentation.

Now that INDI server is established, you can connect to it from any client. Of course, if you used Ekos to start the server, then Ekos is already one client connected to it, but you can connect any number of additional clients (e.g. SkySafari) to the same server.