wireless printer server for trotec?

[David Somers]

Kev,

That is what I have been talking about all along. Simple remote control of the PC with Remote Desktop or any of 2 dozen other such systems.

Dave

[Scott Shepherd]

So....you got me curious enough to go look Scott.

Trotec is using a product called TeamViewer to remotely control your computer if you ask for it or if the tech agent thinks that is the more expedient way to resolve the problem. It is the equivalent of Microsoft Remote Desktop and its variants, Cisco Webex as used to do remote tech support by various companies like Dell, Gotomypc, etc. They all do the same thing. Take over the keyboard, mouse and monitor of the target computer. In the case of tech support Trotec would take over the computer you have connected to your Trotec and running the JCL. (of course, we are assuming that computer is internet accessible) It is just like having them sitting right in your shop in front of your computer, except they are sitting out in Canton, MI or where ever their tech call center is located.

I am familiar with TeamViewer and if it works, so will Webex or Windows Remote Desktop or Gotomypc or other programs like them.

I think the reason you aren't seeing it done is that for the average user or business this is not something they are exposed to other than to have it done to them by tech support. It isn't thought of as a solution to this type of problem on your local business network or even your home network beyond the tech support options if offers. But it certainly could be.

For example, at Hawaii Volcanoes NP we had a bunch of seismic and air quality monitors that were too far from the US Geologic Survey's network to be connected to them directly. So we allowed them to connect it to our system which was within range. We had a computer dedicated to this that polled and collected data from these sensors. Whenever they wanted, USGS could remotely take over the computer and change the way individual sensors operated, cause data to be sent to USGS systems, update the firmware of the sensors, and generally control each device through its software. It wasn't a sharing like you would do with printers or files, and it wasn't a client server operation, it was simply a remote control operation using Windows Remote Desktop.

So.....this does appear to be possible with the JCL and Trotec.

If you are interested in something like that I would be happy to help you Scott. Someone local who deals with networks or who offers remote support to you is going to be familiar with this though and could certainly help you use it for this purpose if it would help you.

One way you might be able to make use of it in your business might be to help operators who are having problems with some process and you are not on site to help. If you can get to the internet, then you will be able to use something like Remote Desktop to take over the computer attached to the device they are having issues with and see what they are doing. That might be enough for you to quickly help them without having to drive back to the office. And you don't have to spend time trying envision what their screen looks like and guide them. You can see exactly what their screen is, and even take it over if needed to show them where the problem is.

I hope this helps! It is a cool tool that can do more for you than just tech support. And as I said, if Trotec is using the package called Teamviewer other similar tools will operate as well.

Dave

Dave, I use TeamViewer all the time. It's a great way to remotely run a computer, but not a good way to run a laser.

If what they want to do would work, you could have 100 designers doing nothing but designing and hitting the print button and all the jobs would go into a queue and then someone would be dropping them all on plates on the laser and optimizing them by materials. Neither work like that, that I am aware of.

[Don Corbeil]

Thanks to everyone for their help.
I spoke with the trotec tech today for some time. The result is that there are a couple ways to do what I'm looking for, but both of them will require having a 'slave' computer hardwired to the laser. It won't work with one of the 'wireless print servers' that I have seen around.
One interesting solution the tech explored with me involved setting up the trotec spooling file (located in the hidden files of trotec program files) to be shared by both systems on a home network. In this way, the print jobs would go to this file and be able to be sent through to the laser through the slave pc. The other way is (as has been mentioned here) is by remote desktop control. And the tech recommended that the most troublefree way to do this is by using trotec's 'teamviewer' software, as referenced by Dave in an earlier post. It's the same software that enables remote access whenever a customer calls in and the tech accesses their system remotely to troubleshoot. Having used it with trotec a couple times, it is pretty easy. We were doing this today to go through my two computers as we explored ways to connect the two. I don't have a strong knowledge of networks, so I will opt to try this route to see how it goes.

In any event, it appears that to do this, I will have to have a slave pc cabled directly to the laser. No way around it. Although the tech did say that they're exploring adding an ethernet port in the future, which would eliminate the need for a slave PC on these longer runs.
In the meantime, my wife is good enough to let me 'borrow' her i7 laptop until I spring for my own

[Jerome Stanek]

You could get a cheap netbook and use that. I have one hooked to my laser like that and run it from my design computer that is hooked up to my CNC

[Scott Shepherd]

Thanks for the update Don, that's about what I expected, no easy way to do anything of value. It'll end up being more trouble than it's worth using team viewer like that.