Running a session

Hand this page to members. It assumes the controller is installed, online and paired with a machine.

The controller decides who may start the machine. It is not a safety device: the machine’s own e-stop, guards and your space’s safety rules still apply every time.

Start a session

1. Scan the QR. The idle screen shows the machine’s name and a QR code under SCAN TO START. Scan it with the MakerOps app. The platform checks your credentials right away. If something is missing, the app tells you what. (Staff: what each message means.)
2. Press GREEN. On most machines the screen then says PRESS GREEN TO START. Your time starts when you press, not when you scan, so scanning from across the room doesn’t use up your session. If you don’t press within a minute, the request expires. Your space can set a different time. RED cancels it.

Depending on how staff set up the machine, you might also see:

• A checklist. A short safety checklist appears (CHECK 1 OF 3, and so on). Move through it with UP / DOWN and confirm each item with GREEN. If an answer shows the machine isn’t ready, the start is cancelled. Power comes on after the last item.
• A countdown. The screen shows POWER ON IN with a countdown and STAND CLEAR OF THE MACHINE. Step back. Press RED if you’re not ready.
• TURN THE MACHINE SWITCH OFF. The machine’s own switch was on when power came on, so the controller cut power again. Turn the machine’s switch off, then press GREEN.
• Immediate start. Some machines power on as soon as the scan is approved, with no button press.

Machines that need a second person

Some machines need a second person present. After your scan, the screen shows SECOND PERSON NEEDED and a QR code. Someone else who is allowed on the machine scans it from their own phone and confirms. Then the start continues as usual.

During the session

The screen shows who is running the machine and the time left.

• Ending soon. Near the end the screen turns amber, shows ENDING SOON and chirps. By default that happens at five minutes, one minute and thirty seconds. To get more time, extend from the app or press UP on the panel. If the machine is booked through reservations, extensions depend on the calendar.
• Still there? On some machines the screen asks STILL THERE? now and then. Press GREEN. If nobody answers, it sounds an alarm or ends the session, depending on your space’s settings.

End a session

Any of these ends the session and turns the machine off:

• Press RED on the panel.
• Check out in the app.
• Staff end it from the platform.
• Time runs out. The screen turns red and shows TIME UP. Depending on the machine, power goes off right away, or stays on for a limited time so you can finish or hand off.

When the internet is down

If the controller can’t reach MakerOps, members who are trained on the machine can still start it over Bluetooth.

Before an outage: open the MakerOps app now and then while you’re online. It saves offline passes for the machines you’re trained on, and they last 24 hours.

For staff: tell members this before they need it. Offline unlock only works for someone whose app has been online in the last 24 hours, so a member who just installed the app, or hasn’t opened it in a day, can’t use it. Keep a paper sign-in sheet at the desk for the outage itself.

During an outage:

1. Open Offline unlock in the app. It’s under More, and there’s also a link on the Scan screen (“Internet down? Offline unlock”) and the sign-in screen (“Internet down? Offline unlock a machine”).
2. Stand near the machine. The app lists nearby controllers you have a pass for.
3. Tap Turn on, then follow the controller’s screen. Usually that means pressing GREEN.

No pass for a machine? A nearby controller in your space that you have no pass for is listed by its machine’s name, marked “no pass”, with the credentials you need first. Under each credential are the trainings that grant it; tap one to open it (opening a training needs the internet). Controllers the app can’t name, such as a machine that’s out of service or a controller staff have disabled, are only counted: “2 other controllers nearby you don’t have a pass for.” The names arrive with your passes, so if your app last saved passes before it learned to show them, you see just the count until it next refreshes them online.

Offline sessions last a fixed 60 minutes and can’t be extended. The controller’s STOP button ends one early. Machines that need a second person can’t be started this way. The session is reported to MakerOps once the controller is back online.

Screens you might see

Screen	Meaning
DOWN FOR MAINTENANCE / OUT OF SERVICE	Staff have taken the machine out of service. The QR is hidden until it’s back in service.
DISABLED	An admin has turned this controller off.
RESERVED FOR … UNTIL …	A group has the machine booked. Only people in that group can start it until the time shown.
OPEN ACCESS	The machine is open for a class. No scan needed.
OVERTEMP	The controller is too hot and won’t start new sessions until it cools down. Tell staff. ENCLOSURE HOT is an earlier warning; starts still work.
RELAY FAULT	Firmware 0.9.62 and later. The controller couldn’t confirm it switched the machine off, so the machine may still have power. Stop it with the machine’s own emergency stop or disconnect, not the controller, and tell staff. New sessions can’t start until it clears. See Troubleshooting.
SYNCING TIME…	The controller is setting its clock. The QR appears in a moment.
SERVER UNREACHABLE	Firmware 0.9.54 and later. The controller is on Wi-Fi but can’t reach MakerOps, so it can’t take scans. It keeps retrying on its own. Members with an offline pass can still start it (see above). Tell staff. See Troubleshooting.
OFFLINE / WIFI LOST - OUTPUT OFF	The controller lost its connection during a session with no end time and cut power. See Troubleshooting.
FIRMWARE UPDATE	The controller is installing an update. Leave it powered. It restarts on its own. If it says FAILED, nothing changed and it goes back to normal.
Dark screen, green light winking	The screen is asleep (if your space turned that on). Press any button to wake it. That press does nothing else.