Hardware
Training in. Power out.
The MakerOps controller mounts at the machine and makes the access decision your paperwork already made: members scan a session QR with the app, the platform checks credentials and waivers in real time, and the relay does the rest. No fobs to manage, no interlock keys to lose, no list taped to the wall.
- daylight readable color display
- 2.8″
- daylight readable color display
- continuous load rated relay
- 15 A
- continuous load rated relay
- fully integrated with the app
- App
- fully integrated with the app
- compatible
- 120/240 V
- compatible
- firmware updates
- OTA
- firmware updates
- enterprise networks supported
- Wi-Fi
- enterprise networks supported
- Bluetooth unlock keeps working
- Offline
- Bluetooth unlock keeps working
How a session works
From walk-up to spinning in seconds
- 1
Walk up
The controller mounts at the machine and shows a rotating session QR on its built-in display.
- 2
Scan with the app
The member scans the code with the MakerOps app — no fobs to issue, no PIN pads to share.
- 3
The platform decides
Credentials, waivers, and membership status are checked in real time against the same records your trainers maintain. Not trained yet? The app says exactly which training is missing.
- 4
Power follows the answer
The relay closes and the session starts, with the member’s name on the display. When the session ends — timer, checkout, or staff action — power follows.
Built for how shops actually run
Credential-gated power
Each machine lists the credentials required to run it. Pass the training, the credential lands, the machine turns on — one chain from LMS to relay, nothing re-entered.
Session timers that fit shop reality
Optional default and maximum session lengths per machine. By default the device beeps 5 minutes, 60 seconds and 30 seconds before the end, then either cuts power or just keeps warning — your choice per machine. Members can self-extend from the app or the front panel, up to the cap.
Class & open-shop windows
An instructor can open a bank of equipment for a scheduled class, and staff can enable or disable any machine remotely — one tap from the office when something needs to stop.
Fails safe, works offline
If the network drops, the machine fails to a safe state — and members with the app can still start sessions over Bluetooth using short-lived, device-verified tokens issued while they were online. A Wi-Fi blip never strands a class.
Fleet health at a glance
Every controller reports its signal strength, firmware version, and last-seen time. Firmware updates roll out over the air from the admin console — staged, monitored, no ladder and no USB cable.
A real audit trail
Every session start, denial, extension, and power event is recorded with who, which machine, and when — the record you want after an incident, and the usage data you want at budget time.
Three ways to wire it
From benchtop printers to three-phase iron
Plug-through mains control
For benchtop and mid-size equipment: the machine’s cord plugs into the controller, and the internal 15 A continuous-rated relay switches the mains directly. Install is “plug it in”.
Interlock / contactor control
For big iron: the dry-contact relay wires into the machine’s interlock or enable input, or drives an external contactor — the controller decides, your electrician’s wiring does the switching.
Low-voltage series interlock
Big machines can also be controlled through their low-voltage control circuit: the controller’s low-voltage relays wire in series with the machine’s own interlock chain, so the machine can only start when the controller allows it — and every existing safety device stays in the loop.
Specifications
Under the panel
- Display
- 2.8″ daylight readable LCD, 240 × 320 — session QR, member name, timers, and status
- Front panel
- Membrane-switch panel (IP54): GREEN, RED (STOP), UP, DOWN
- Processor
- ESP32, purpose-built embedded firmware
- Connectivity
- Wi-Fi, including WPA2-Enterprise for campus networks (plus PSK/MPSK); encrypted MQTT/TLS to the platform (outbound to mqtt.makerops.ai, TCP port 8883)
- Mains switching
- Double-pole switching (line and neutral, two 30 A relays opened together) rated for 15 A continuous load, each pole fused, 120/240 V split-phase compatible — machine plugs in through the controller. AC control of an external contactor for heavy equipment
- Interlock switching
- Two dry-contact signal relays for a machine’s interlock or enable input.
- State sensing
- Sense 12–24 V and 120–240 VAC machine and sensor output signals to monitor machine state
- Security
- TLS-encrypted connection to your workspace’s message broker; per-device identity; signed short-lived tokens for offline Bluetooth unlock
- Updates
- Over-the-air firmware, released and staged from the platform’s admin console
In development
RoadmapThe same decision engine, on your doors and rooms
We’re developing an access control panel with built-in Wiegand reader support, and a room scheduling and access app that runs on a wall-mounted tablet at each room. It connects to your doors and turnstiles through the access control systems you already have, piggybacking on industry-standard hardware rather than replacing it. Facility entry will run on the same credentials, the same approved lists, and the same audit trail as the equipment inside — so “who was in the shop” and “who ran the saw” are one query, not two systems.
Access control panel with Wiegand support
One panel with Wiegand reader support built in. It connects to your existing door and turnstile control systems and rides on top of them. Entry is managed by the same MakerOps system for your whole makerspace or for individual rooms and spaces within it.
Your phone or your campus card
Members can open doors with the MakerOps app, or with the campus card they already carry. Card numbers synced from your identity system build the approved-entry lists, so the card students already carry can do more than one job on campus.
Room scheduling & access tablet
A wall-mounted tablet at each room runs the room’s reservations and access: room bookings, lab open-access hours, and one-time access for individual members or whole groups — all managed from the platform.
Door and room access are on the roadmap. Book a demo to see machine access today.
Put your training records in charge of the power switch
Book a walkthrough and we’ll wire the story end to end: a training, the credential it grants, and the machine that turns on because of it.