Additional Lockouts on Printers (RFID?)

I’m opening this thread as a dialogue/brainstorm to help improve 3D Fabrication and decrease the amount of maintenance needed on the Poly Printers.

Recently, I’ve noticed an increase in traffic in 3D Fab. Much of this traffic is coming from unfamiliar, new faces. I have begun to question the membership status of some these new faces or their authorization status on the Poly Printers.

Case in point, I just had to stop two people from using the Polys. One claimed to be a member but admitted he wasn’t authorized to use the printers. The other claimed to be a former member with printer authorization. I made sure the 3D Fab computers were locked out. But, this won’t stop an actual member without authorization.

These newer people–whether authorized or not–are causing increased issues with the Polys. The machines are going down at a higher-than-expected rate, much as the result of clogging. I’ve been performing much more frequent maintenance on the machines, as have others (shout out to @themitch22 and @maxk68 and the others doing the same).

So, I wanted to float the idea of putting additional lockouts on the printers, possibly RFID (though, I’m not sure how that would work). Anyone have any thoughts on this?

I’m just tired of having to constantly unclog the machines.

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@Team_3D_Fab

Hey Tim, while I’m not one of the new members you’re referring to, I am in a similar boat in that I’ve passed the online course but haven’t seen an Instructor signoff event or any sort of “here’s how the space actually works now that you know basics” class. I would love to print stuff but I don’t want to cause clogs/misplace something/any of the many faux pas that are possible. I don’t know if a class or event like that is something that there’s interest in but if it helps get this influx of members and issues, might be worth considering. I would be happy to help unclog printers once someone has taught me how :slight_smile:

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On one occasion, years ago, I caught a group of five college students (nonmembers) using our 3D printers because “their professor told them it was OK.” I let them finish their print, made them pay for the filament, and kicked 'em out.

It would have been nice to have a way to surreptitiously verify their membership status.

By the way, you should get a green dot. :grinning:

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That doesn’t surprise me one bit. And good work! A few years ago, I had some of my work stolen from 3D Fab by a college-age guy whom I’m pretty sure wasn’t a member. No one could identify him.

Haha. Good point. I’ll get on that. I’ve been a member for about 6 years and, though I follow Talk, this is the first I’ve posted. So, I never knew I needed a green dot. Not sure if I’m missing access to any posts though…

Instructor sign offs are no longer required unless that changed within the past few months. (Paging @themitch22 )

As for the RFID, the printers were being configured with LDAP login for the Octoprint interface which would check the 3d printing group. This doesn’t require any extra hardware to maintain. @skyspook was finishing that last I heard.

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That’s my understanding as well. The online class is great. I don’t think we need to go back to instructor sign-offs. I’m more concerned about the non-members and members who haven’t taken the class.

Awesome. If that’s the case, that should address the issue (other than someone piggybacking off an already-signed-in account).

The woodshop RFID interlocks would work if you are looking for a hardware solution. But it would likely be better to follow laser and just use AD permissions on who can login to the PC.

Yep, auto-add for the 3d printer class is working, and has for the last couple of months. I’m not aware of a requirement to have and instructor sign off, but I’ve helped a few people get comfortable with the machines.

I think the easy path would be to disable the trusted login on octoprint and force folks to sign in.

I know @themitch22 has been investigating some rfid with attached controllers, but don’t think they got very far yet

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I’m referring to the LDAP check on Octoprint. That’s operational isn’t it? Is the one computer that’s whitelisted to bypass it that’s not checking AD groups still doing so? If the LDAP is working that IP whitelist should probably be disabled.

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Yep, exactly. The LDAP is working as well, and I believe there are a few of the workstations whitelisted. Easy enough to remove.

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There is a lack of one on one training due to covid and volunteers (myself included) and I do believe some online trained members can be inexperienced causing issues. We have talked about relay power control on the polyprinters so they aren’t left idle between users and sometimes left hot causing clogged nozzles and hotends. It would be a octoprint plugin we would probably have to customize (even generic wifi plug switches). For now the LDAP and computer AD logins should keep honest people honest.

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Not sure where this goes but I think a lot of people leave their computers logged in so that they can quickly check status of a print while doing other work in the makerspace. So maybe a logout timer would also help.

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a timer to shut off the relay heat if forgotten would be the single biggest thing to improve the print stations uptime imho. let me explain my reasoning:

I come in at 3 am etc a lot and pretty much routinely see abandoned prints and hot tips. I can’t pledge wenther or not I’ve made the same mistake, as i’ve often had to fight against Gcode signal that kept cranking the temperature back up or back down to zero.
gcodes can get corrupted even with an experienced person working the print, leaving temperatures hanging around.

on top of that, often nozzles get clogged from being left idle too long without a print job and filment loaded, someone comes along and catches it and shuts it down, leaving the plastic to cool in the tip, creating a more complex clog at room temperature that takes more effort. etc etc.

There used to be a secondary optional 3d print class teaching basic maintenance (ie gentle unclogging methods with a acupuncture needle without detaching the entire nozzle, squeezing through filament manually, replacing surface tape if damaged, etc) but by the time I get the nozzle unclogged in the witching hours the damage has already been done.

One of us can walk you through anything you need with the 3D printers to help you get accustomed to the rules. Next time you see me in ceramics, throw some clay at me and tell me to help you. :wink: :joy:

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The most important posts on Talk are in the “members only” category. I’m not sure you can even view their titles to know what you’re missing.

You definitely need a green dot.

https://talk.dallasmakerspace.org/t/about-the-member-access-green-dot-category/42006

Thanks! Proud to say that, after 6 years, I have my green dot! Lol.

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