Just wondering if GF is ever going to update software to allow for remote starts? We have our machine in a far back room to avoid the noise and one of the most annoying things is constantly walking back and forth to push the button. Would be nice to have an update to allow remote access to start your piece after the alignment is set.
Am I alone here? lol
Others have made the same complaint, but I doubt it will ever happen. Thereâs a safety and liability issue that GF has to protect themselves against, and weâve already seen some instances where machines caught fire while unattendedâeven briefly. Imagine if that happens while itâs unattended for a longer period of time.
I hope that you do not plan on running that machine w/o direct, in person presence?
There are several examples of machines left unattended for mere moments, cutting material that caused excessive fire and needed immediate attention.
To put it bluntlyâŚyou want to always keep an eye on the machine while it is running. Fires can happen if you donât.
Probably. 
The machine is not to be run without constant supervision.
Iâm not saying that I practice that, but thatâs how itâs designed to operate. Plus there are too many unanswered questions with remote triggering⌠Did it hit the material in the exact spot I expected it to? Is the laser firing properly? Heck⌠Did the job start at all?
It would nice my arm gets tired reaching over 6 inches to hit the start button. 
I would not want it any other way for me personally. It is good for me to walk over to the machine, make sure everything is in order and hitting the start button after I checked it. Then watch to make sure everything is starting out well. Even then I donât the leave room when the machine is cutting. If something would go wrong I have it in a safe place, but why wouldnât stop a disaster before it happens?
as others have said, itâs a safety issue. i doubt glowforge will ever enable remote starting, itâs a liability issue for them. iâm sure there will be people who find ways to work around it, but it will never be official.
Though my house is very small, my GF is still 3 rooms away, so I have decided that traveling back and forth to âpush the buttonâ is at least a very mild form of extra exerciseâŚwhich I most certainly can use. We owned a Segway for a relatively short time and one of our favorite spoof ads we saw was âSegwayâŚbecause your ass just isnât big enoughâ. 
I like to make stuff made a video tutorial on automating this:
Why not put the computer in the room with the GF, so you can verify the set up is good while youâre at the machine (and tweak any material placement and hold downs), and then you can âwalk awayâ after it starts running?
Though as noted, the SAFETY issue of not being at least in the same room are high, and as manufacturer cannot provide a means to operate the machine remotely without a lot of legal risk (e.g. get their pants sued off by someone whose material does start to burn & wasnât there to see it & hit CANCEL to stop the machine and use a fire extinguisher before the fire consumed their unit/room/house). So remote start will never be an option from them. Though I love the remote finger device (and his whole shop!), still canât overcome the safety risk, and prefer the little extra bit of exercise physically having to move to press the button gives me.
Wait a minuteâwhy didnât he USE his GF to create a finger and the holder/base for the switch?? Loved his idea & process, but of course the safety factor, should be present when your laser is running.
Same answer different threadâŚ
I get the liability aspect we are just mainly running simple engravings and rarely have been cutting things. When we are cutting I do stay close to keep an eye on things. But when weâre running an hour long engraving I go back into the living room to work on graphics for the next project.
Se La Vie, I guess we are getting some exercise going back and forth 40-50 times a night hahaha
-Andrew
Clearly itâs not realistic to closely observe a 3 hour engrave task, but I canât tell you the number of times I thought I was âall setâ to start and something wasnât quite set right. For instance I always watch the first few lines of engrave to make sure the material is exactly responding the way I expect. For some reason an engrave last night which is the gazillionth run of the same job with the same settings, same material started charring the hell out of the piece, so canceled and raised the speed (manual engrave, non-proofgrade piece).
The one big laser cutter fire I was involved in, ironically we were right next to the machine but after a while we all zoned out, and an entire square foot of 6mm acrylic burned before we realized.
Iâm having a hard time understanding why some consider it such a chore watching the laser do itâs job so it doesnât catch fire. I have my computer right next to my GF and sit right here while it working. Yes, even on the long 3 hr jobs, if I have use the facilities or get something to drink I have someone watch it for me or do it all before I hit print. To me itâs just simple common sense so I donât burn the house down
I mean I could sit in my basement for 3 hours, so itâs A) a walk across the house and down the stairs and down a hallway, and B) nobody else in the family is down there.
Iâm pretty much the same. I have my small studio set up so that I donât mind spending some time in there at all. I have heat, AC, a TV, my iPadâŚmy pantry of food and the liquor cabinet. Iâm sure not everyone is so lucky, but it sure makes my âwatchâ time much more tolerable. And like you, if I need to step away, my husband doesnât mind watching it for me.
My Glowforge is midway in the house with nothing near by but the path to the kitchen. I do look in on it frequently but I also keep a sharp ear out for expected and unexpected noises.
As the head fan clogs up you can see the extra charring as the smoke catches fire more and longer but at the worst so far is charring like charcoal as the head fan fans and heats the same place for a long narrow engrave but goes out quickly when the blast of heated air ceases.