Hey all,
I have been lucky enough to have been using a Form 2 over the past few months but one key feature I feel is missing is the ability to set a password on the printer. This does not need to be a long set of phrases but a simple 4 digit pass-code would suffice.
This stems from printing in an open laboratory where any lab user could plug their laptop in, upload a job to the 3D printer and print from it straight away. Unfortunately, we have no way to control the access to the 3D printer and short of hiding the power cable after every print, there is little that can be currently done currently.
One suggestion was to block the USB and Ethernet ports which could lock to the Kensington Lock port on the back side of the printer but someone could connect over Wi-Fi.
Many thanks,
Matt_688
Locks only keep honest people out. They’re as effective as a sign saying “please do not come in”. Same thing would apply here, I think. Put a sign inside the printer that says “do not use without permission”, something that would have to be removed in order to run a job. Someone ignore is, revoke their lab privileges.
Hey Randy_Cohen,
Thanks for your reply, good ideas and I agree locks keep honest people out but I feel it would be far more laborious for someone to find out the password/pass-code to access the UI of the printer than to remove the “please do not come in” or “do not use without permission” sign. Additionally, if an unauthorised user did find out the printer code and print something, the code could be updated and a re-evaluation could occur as to who the code is disseminated to.
Ideally, yes someones lab privileges could be revoked but the volume of people who have access to this lab would mean a large mandate and review of all users with access which would affect work being carried out and unless someone was witness to an unauthorised user using the printer, it would be very difficult to prove.
Thanks,
Matt_688
Where I live, we have see an increased amount of people going door-to-door in the middle of the day. On two occasions my wife has witnessed these people attempting to open the door to our house, as have neighbors. So similar to @Randy_Cohen I put up 2 new signs on my porch saying “smile, you’re on hidden camera!”
Of course I don’t have a camera (yet) but in the 6 months we have had the signs up my wife has reported not one person coming to the door, yet neighbors have!!! I’ll bet a similar sign would deter any wrong-doings with your printer!
Two ideas assuming FL does not implement a software solution.
Lockup the tanks. Form2 won’t print without a tank unless in openmode. If open mode is a concern lockup the trays too.
I have a FDM printed dust cover I put over the window when I don’t have a tray installed.
Put lock out on the power cord. makerspaces use the latter a lot to keep untrained members from using machines they shouldn’t.
Great ideas @greenlee In my case I have about a dozen trays and tanks, but just one build platform. You could also hide/lock that up. Absolutely cannot print without the build platform, no matter the mode you are in!
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I always used to argue with our CIO (who insisted on doing things like locking down the desktop wallpaper on everyone’s workstation) that network security only had to be good enough that it was harder to break in electronically than to just toss a rock through a window. The message being, don’t burden everyone with unnecessary restrictions out of an unrealistically low assessment of the trust you can place in your user base. The ones you can trust aren’t going to bother anyway, and the ones you can’t trust aren’t going to be dissuaded by these restrictions.
A “Please don’t use this printer without authorization” sign doesn’t do it, I’d argue that passwords won’t either. You want to keep the printer from being used, you need to install some kind of physical interlock (you could hide the build platform, but someone who’s motivated enough can go buy their own). Something that requires destroying the printer in order to remove the lock.
The bottom line is that any system can be subverted. It’s simply a question of motivation. >90% of people will simply not try if asked not to. The remaining will with varying degrees of skill attempt to or succeed in subverting your restraints no matter what.
But remember, most print jobs on a Form2 take hours to complete. You’d have to have some serious “intestinal fortitude” to sit in front of the printer for a few hours if you don’t have permission to use it. All you need to do is take a walk past the printer every hour or so. If a job is running on an unattended printer that you suspect is unauthorized, the printer tells you how much time remains in the print. Come back when it is supposed to be finishing and you can catch the perpetrator red handed (or any time in the 20-30 minutes after the print finishes, when the criminal will be cleaning the print) and cancel their lab access.
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