Development and Evaluation of a Fab Lab Management System
Persons
Short Description
A Fab Lab is an open workshop containing machines, which can be dangerous when used improperly. An open workshop means that a large number of people with diverse backgrounds and knowledge levels can work on different machines and work areas. Work safety and protection are important to protect users and machines. Users have to be instructed in the different work areas in order to use them. But how can you ensure that a user only works on machines he has been instructed to?
The equipment must also be serviced at regular intervals. IoT and modern technologies can enable machines to communicate and exchange data. Implications for the design and development of an infrastructure that makes workshops (such as Fab Labs, Makerspaces, Hackerspaces etc.) “smart” are to be found.
Core activities might involve either a technical or research focus:
Programming in Python (Django), C, front-end development, IoT, HTML5/CSS/JS, MqTT, Zigbee.
An ethnographic and participatory research approach can be applied in order to find design implications and conceptualize a system.
#python #arduino #iot #3d-printing #cswc #participatory-design #ethnography #opendash #industry40 #octoprint #mqtt #ziqbee
Formalities
The team will work closely with the supervisor. Regular meetings to track progress and especially tackle issues will need to be scheduled. At the end of the project a project report (including a guide on how to use the system) and possible source code, assets need to be handed in. Collaboration with other project teams might serve helpful.
Schedule
- 1. Clarify student idea and the concrete outcome based on student expertise (mock-up and/or programming implementation)
- 2. Workplan/Milestone planning
- 3. Iterative design
- 4. Continuous feedback from the supervisor
- 5. Submission project report
Notes
This project can be adjusted to fit option A, B, or C depending on the level of difficulty and specific interest of the student(s). This project can start as Project A and be continued as B, C and also lead to a Master Thesis.