Introduction

Why an Electronic Tool Access System

• Enforcing & tracking tool checkouts - currently we have no means of tracking who has actually been checkout out on a tool beyond individuals being vouched for. As our membership in now around ~170 (as of 2020/05/17) we have out grown that model. What those tool checkouts entail and who will be responsibility for providing them is up to the individual workshop workgroups.

• Maintenance lockout - although this can be achieved manually with signs and unplugging tools this has not stopped individuals in the past from trying to put those tools back into service despite this. The RFID system will make this type of behaviour much more difficult to engage in and therefore discourage it.

• Better tool use tracking and statistics – this will help guide maintenance and funding focus for the various workshops

• A backbone for further automation/tracking - the hardware employed in this project will have plenty of room for expansion in the future for things such as: monitoring “fullness” of the dust collector bins