Specific question: When will the mazda be out of the lift?
General question: Is there an established way to find out if it is in use without driving to the space?
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I canāt answer your question but would like to mention that the one time I asked to leave my car on the lift late at night so the engine would cool before I worked on it early in the morning - I was emphatically told ānoā - but I have yet to see the lift unoccupied by someone elseās car that isnāt being worked on. It is irritating to say the least.
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Tuesday 8/30/16 10:00AM
The Mazda is currently in the air on the lift with both front wheels off.
No idea what his ETA is.
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I do not know who told you you could not let it cool down but they were wrong. First come first serve.
@Brandon_Green could we possibly set up a que board at the space for those who are physically there and waiting for the lift or bay to open? This has been an issue more often recently.
I think part of the issue is that itās not a usual practice, and it may also not be entirely something approved by the auto squad.
Donāt be upset! Iām glad this was brought up, because maybe we can come up with a system that works a little better than what weāre doing now.
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So, by this logic, I can bring my car in at 6pm, leave it on the lift all night, and then come in to change the oil at 10am the next day?
That seems ā¦ selfish.
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There was/is a sign in the automotive area stating leaving a car overnight is a ban worthy offense. If that sign is gone it needs to be replaced, perhaps it was lost in the shuffle of the new shelving.
@ke5bud, first come first serve is correct but your attitude towards it is a bit off. Iāve seen you come and park in the bay for hours before doing any work. Projects Iāve wanted to work on could have been completed in the time you were there parked and doing whatever in the common room. Come to use the bays by all means but please donāt just squat in them. Be respectful of the reality that we have limited resources that others want to use as well.
Back to the original post, the Mazda and the member associated with it will be dealt with appropriately. I donāt have an ETA for when the repairs will be complete but I have the feeling the vehicle will be leaving soon regardless of itās state. The organization has grown tired of it and the messes among other concerns. I woke up to several emails regarding this so itās on the radar. In case he hasnāt read it yet, weāre talking about @semaphore1999.
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General question: Is there an established way to find out if it is in use without driving to the space?
LiftCamā¢ needs to be installed. 
One pic snapped per minute, uploaded to the wiki automatically.
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Maybe a side facing camera. Or like a 16 pixel one just enough to determine there is a car there.
I do believe a queue board might be the thing that automotive needs. At least to tell ppl that others are waiting. Yes its 1st come 1st served but others may be ready after you. @Brandon_Green please consider it? I have a small board you can have in 3d fab on one of the shelves. Might help.
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A down-sample to 320x240 could take care of that, yeah?
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For the record no it is not acceptable to leave a vehicle overnight (or unattended for any non insignificant amount of time), we are working through procedures to deal with the current situation.
I am not a fan of the queue board (people donāt use it, donāt know about it, arenāt forced to respect it, it becomes immediately out of date, general non deterministic time it may take to fix something in auto, etc), I will look into a solution to automatically post a low res picture of the area to wiki, so you could check visually to see if someone is currently using lift. Without an employee / attendant to manage access to lift with reservations I donāt know if there is a good solution to manage access to it.
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I could see one of the environmental monitoring piās mounted over the lift with a web cam facing down. Canāt read license plates and generally not recognize people from above.
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Sounds like an opportunity for Brandon to build a device checking that the lift is up in the air, posted to the web site.
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I have something similar already if you want me to do it or want to take a look. It currently takes a small snapshot of all cameras once a day and sends it to admin to make sure cameras are all functioning. Having it automatically upload to a wiki wouldnāt be too big of an addition. How often would you want it to run?
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Every 2 minutes getting a downscaled picture from the auto security camera uploaded anywhere would be perfect.
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Hereās another vote for a āTotally-unofficial-&-unenforced-Iād-like-to-be-next-on-the-lift-if-itās-not-too-much-of-a-bother-but-I-understand-that-the-lift-is-still-first-come-first-served-name-&-contact-boardā.
It would allow for others to know that you have a project waiting and even allow us to better utilize the lift. If Iām planning to swap a motor and tie up the lift for the better part of a day, but someone wants to change their oil quickly before I do my all-day swap, Iād be perfectly fine with that, but there does not currently exist a way to even know that someone would have liked to do so.
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Honest question: Do we care?
Itās not like anyone can do anything with a license plate
Or if someone is feeling adventurous and has ample time on their handsā¦http://www.openalpr.com
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