I wondered if there was any way we could set up a booking system for the laser cutter? Maybe by booking time slots in the calendar? Alternatively having something by the laser cutter where you put your name to use the laser cutter with a maximum time of something like 1.5 hours?
What are people’s thoughts?
I bring it up because there are more and more occasions where I come down with the aim to use the laser and either have to wait until pretty late (early hours) to get access or not at all. Would anyone be against having something like this?
What about a blackboard/whiteboard list so when you turn up at the space to use the laser cutter, if there is somone on it you put your name up.
The benefits will be twofold
The current user will be aware there are people waiting. (So will hurry up, or let you know how long they are going to be. Or stop if they are not doing anything important, or can do something else and come back later)
Will let the next person on the list know that the cutter is available when they are finished.
It worked for years in pubs with pool tables, I don’t see why it cannot work here.
The blackboard seems like a sensible solution. Perhaps your name and an estimate of how long you need on the machine so people can see, at a glance, approx how long they’ll need to wait to use it.
A nice addition later down the line might be a logger to see when the machine is used most frequently (by day/time of day). An AC mains ammeter could be modified to recognise when the machine is drawing high current (i.e. is being used to cut) and these data could be logged and processed to display regular busy times and / or if someone is currently using the machine.
It’s a bit of a toss-up, isn’t it, between a low tech system that might actually work in practice and a high tech remote system that might avoid Chanelle’s wasted trips to the space.
Could there be certain time slots that are bookable and some that are free-for-all?
Problem with a blackboard is that members likely want to plan their visits – last time I did some lasering I came in the morning as I guessed it wold be free. I could just have easily turned up to find 3 other members queuing.
Why not have an online booking system? Booking and then failing to turn up without good warning would count against you.
It’s a good idea, but Chanelle raises an interesting point that this quick n easy solution wouldn’t solve.
Specifically: People traveling to the space to use the machine and not knowing if the machine will be free.
I think in this case we need to have an online calendar (there are lots of free solutions available).
You can book your slot in the morning or before you leave with the knowledge that there are free slots. Or that there are no slots available today so I’ll come another day.
It’s basically an online editable chalk board.
I can see two issues with this. Not insurmountable but:
Set up: Like all things at makerspace, just discussing it doesn’t make it happen. Some one would need to spend time implementing it. Probably needs to come from lasertechs or someone with their backing. “Release early, release often”
Bedding in: as the new system beds in there’ll be conflict (of the eye brow raising kind not fisty cuffs) between people using the calendar and people not using it. Person A gets to space to find a free laser cutter and starts using the machine to make a replica of the Mary Rose. Person B is having breakfast at home and books a slot, travels an hour to space knowing it’s free and finds person A in the middle of a 3 hour marathon cutting session. Solution: I think you’ld have to book a slot even if you’re the only person in the space. But we could make that easy by putting a link on the pc and a reminder on the LC.
Long term.
An online calendar, hooked in to membership system, and access control so it can monitor how much you use it. When peak times are. Book slots Etc.
I raised the same issue at Hackspace, the whiteboard works well but the maintainers who are not in the space as often as the lasercitter users couldnt see the benefit of a booking system. Although they have the added benefit of a AC node system so you can at least see if the laser is currently in use. Which is ok if you’re local.
I will bring in a whiteboard for the short term, and of an online booking system is an option that would be amazing.
I niavely thought it could be attached to the calender on discourse.
Having looked into this before for both work and Makerspace while there are lots of calendar systems which work well if someone manages bookings, they quickly break down when lots of users want access to add and remove their booking, and if someone can’t book they’ll just use it anyway citing that they couldn’t get the system to work.
I agree with your point that early/often… On this basis a doodle poll might work well as you can offer up slots for people to book, but it does require a bit of a faff to set it up once a month until the system can be properly implemented.
The laser cutter was the first and so far only tool that was on tool control, but it got removed when we moved it out back because we didn’t have ethernet for a while, I’m not sure where @courty and @jonathanjo are at, but we’re planning to start working together on the membership system again soon so this should be a way forward for things like tool status and possibly booking.
To be honest the benefit of a tool control system for the user is it will allow you to know if the tool is operational or not operational. Which is obviously still useful, but im not sure that out weighs a white board system or online booking.
Makerversity have a self managing booking service that seems to work without much hassle. Its used daily they have approx 150 members. The ethos is bookings takes priority. So although you are welcome to use the laser if no one is using it, if someone comes along who has booked a slot during the period you are using the laser you will have to kill your session.
but a biokibg system in ghe near future i ghink would be useful, hopefully not just for me.
