In FabLab Spinderihallerne in Denmark, we would like to change from certification courses (which grant equipment access when passed) to a more flexible “assisted training”. So Ana Cabral suggested a new feature where Fabman could keep track of x number of hours logged in to a certain machine of BOTH the user under training (“trainee”) and another person who has “Trainer status” (ie who has already access to the machine/bridge in question). When x reaches a preset value in Fabman - the user is automatically granted access to that machine/bridge with only their own key (or if not possible at least logged).
Would the bridge firmware allow this feature of “double chip-in”?
We think the feature would be of interest to many Labs because it favors Peer learning.
it’s an interesting idea. At first glance, it seems like it would complicate things quite a bit:
As a trainer, you’d need a way to tell the bridge whether you’d like to allow the previously denied user to turn on vs. turning on yourself instead.
You’ll need an interface to see how long each member has already trained on which machine.
You’d need to configure what kinds of machines are considered equal with respect to training time, e.g., you’ll need 20 hours on any of these machines to gain access to all of them.
But it’s an interesting concept. I’ll think about it some more, maybe we can come up with a solution that can be implemented in reasonable time without making the access system much more complicated than it already is.
Very interested in something like that. Peer learning is a big thing for us.
Maybe:
Experienced peer un-locks machine by taping their card on the bridge.
Un-experienced and untrained peer taps within 10 seconds.
Fabman records the second tag as a failed attempt. Because the time frame is less than 10 seconds it sets up a timer.
End of the session untrained member taps on the bridge.
Experienced peer taps within 10 seconds. Fabman does the clever thing again and stops the timer.
Time is logged in a time plot with a new machine called NameOfPeer-NameOfMachine
I would not want the “Automatic grants access” part. Because would still want a 3rd person to agree to what is enough and do an assesment, different people different speeds of learning, etc.
It sounds like an interesting idea, but I have the feeling that the requirements vary so much by space that I doesn’t make much sense to implement it as part of Fabman.
That being said, it is definitely possible to set up such a system via a custom webhook:
It’s straightforward to identify usage sessions where an admin (or a particular trainer) started a machine right after a new member tried to turn it on.
You can keep track of the total usage time (even per equipment type, etc.) in each member’s metadata field – so you don’t even need an external data store.
You could automatically re-assign such training sessions to the new member to automatically charge the correct member (even thought the admin turned on the machine for them).
You can then either automatically grant new members permission, eg., after a certain number of training sessions or a certain amount of machine time. Or you can do it manually by looking at each member’s accumulated information in their metadata field.