FRIDAY / AFTER HOURS
Did the job keep running?
A stopped machine and a lost view need different responses. Both deserve attention before Monday morning.
CNC shop softwareIn development
The next step.
Right at the
machine.
Read the control screen. Pull the right manual page. Keep a service record the next shift can pick up. Marcel starts with the phone in your pocket and is moving onto the display itself.
Phone prototypes working today. Display bridge and technician alerts in testing.
MARCEL / SERVICESample record
NEEDS REVIEW
MILL 03
CASE 024Intermittent stop during warm-up
SCREEN OBSERVATION08:42
DEMO-01
Alarm visible. Cause unconfirmed.
- Observation added to the case
- Confirm controller and manual revision
- Record checks and hand off to the next shift
Fictional machine and alarm. Marcel observes; your team operates the machine.
ONE MACHINE. A CONTINUOUS RECORD.
Built around the machines you already ownOBSERVE / UNDERSTAND / HAND OFF
AT THE CONTROL
Where is the right information?
The controller revision, the manual page, the last service note. Useful together, right where the question comes up.
NEXT SHIFT
What have we already tried?
Give the next technician the observation, the checks and the open questions so the investigation can continue.
§ 01What Marcel is
One machine record.
Built up one piece at a time.
What works today, what is in testing, and what comes next. Every piece builds on the same machine and service history.
/01Working prototype
Start with a photo of the screen.
Photograph a control screen. Marcel reads the visible alarm, identifies the controller family, and pulls the manual page where it has the documentation. Unconfirmed identity or missing documentation stays visible instead of being papered over.
Screen reading and machine identification/02Working prototype
Service cases
Keep the investigation together.
Record observations and work, review linked manual references, and download a service handoff. A technician records the outcome. The next shift picks up where the last one stopped.
Notes, case history and shift handoff/03In testing
Display bridge
Watch the screen, not the photo.
A small capture device on the control's display lets Marcel read the screen continuously, so an alarm is seen the moment it appears. Read-only by design. Proven on synthetic displays; now being tested against real controllers.
Continuous screen reading on real machines/04Built, integrating
Technician alerts
Reach the right person.
When an alarm is read, the diagnosis goes to a technician by message, routed by severity, with quiet hours for what can wait. The alert system exists today and is being connected to the display bridge.
Severity routing and shift-aware delivery/05Planned
Passport
The machine is the starting point.
Scan a machine QR code to reach its approved documents, setup information and service history. Access and document revisions belong with the record.
Machine QR pages and approved documentsStatuses are current as of this revision. Results from the display bridge on real controllers will be posted as they come in.
§ 02Explore Marcel
The next shift should not
have to start over.
Explore a sample observation, open a service case and leave a useful handoff. Try a lost view or an unfamiliar controller, too.
DEMOFictional machines, alarms and documents. This browser example illustrates the workflow; it does not diagnose or connect to equipment. Changes reset on reload.
MARCEL / SAMPLE CASEOBSERVATION ONLY
MILL 03
Intermittent stop during warm-up
Training controller / Revision A
DEMO-01
Alarm observedThe sample screen shows an alarm. Its cause and the machine's physical condition are unconfirmed.
View sample source reference
Fictional training worksheet · Revision A · Sample page 2
Record the visible message and the time it was observed. Record technician checks separately from the screen observation.
Original demonstration text. This is not a vendor manual or repair procedure.
§ 03From screen to service record
Keep the context.
Through every shift.
- 01
Observe
Start with a phone photo. A capture device on the display is the next path, now in testing, so the screen is watched continuously instead of on request.
- 02
Confirm
Check the machine, controller and document revision. A familiar brand name alone does not establish the right manual.
- 03
Investigate
Keep the alarm, source references and technician checks together. Unanswered questions stay part of the case.
- 04
Hand off
Record what was done and the reported result. Download the context the next shift or service technician needs.
Your team stays in control.
The observer is read-only. It sends no machine commands. An alarm disappearing is an observation; a repair outcome is a separate technician report. When an alarm is read, the alert goes to a person, not to the machine.
§ 04Where it stands
The screen is the common interface.
We checked at IMTS 2026.
Walking the floor at IMTS, the controls we looked at share the same three things. That includes current FANUC controls and OnLogic-based industrial PCs, and it very likely holds for other industry-standard panels. It means the display bridge does not depend on a network drop, a licensed protocol, or a builder integration.
Windows-based HMI
The operator interface runs on a standard PC layer, not a closed panel.
USB keyboard and mouse
Standard input, which is what a KVM-style capture device speaks.
Standard display connection
An interchangeable monitor on a common video interface, so a capture device sits inline without modification.
This is what makes the approach reach the machines other tools cannot. Monitoring products built on a builder's protocol only see the machines that have the option installed and a network cable. The screen is on every one of them.
FANUC 0i Model D
Manual set indexed
Controller manuals indexed for cited diagnosis. Every line of an answer traces to a manual page, or it is not shown.
Haas NGC / Siemens 828D
Documentation research
Selected, edition-specific manuals are available for page search. Screen and controller identification works today; validated diagnosis support is next.
Display bridge
Testing on real controllers
Screen reading is proven on synthetic displays with zero false alarms across blurred, low-resolution and skewed captures. The next results come from real controllers with the capture bridge attached.
Synthetic-display results are not real-machine results, and a readable screen does not by itself establish repair guidance. That comes from the manual for the confirmed controller, cited page by page.
Further ahead: guided recovery
The standard USB input on the controls we saw makes narrowly defined, technician-approved actions technically possible on those machines. We are exploring this only in isolated simulation. Live use would need a specific machine integration and engineering validation, and the technician stays in charge of every step. It is not a capability of the current bridge, which sends nothing to the machine.
§ 05Small shop. Larger operation.
Start at one machine.
Build around your team.
/01
The small shop
A phone at the machine, useful documentation and a record of what happened. Start with a single workflow worth returning to.
/02
The maintenance team
Keep an investigation understandable across technicians and shifts. Review observations, reported work and outstanding questions together.
/03
The service organization
Prepare a clearer handoff before the support call. Keep one consistent record across customers, sites and service teams.
Get in touch
Tell us what you run.
We'll tell you where Marcel stands.
Marcel is built around FANUC controls first and is being tested against real equipment now. If you run something different, or want to see the display bridge on your floor, reach out.
A short conversation is enough to start. You will get a straight answer on what works today and what is still in testing.
Get in touchOpens your email app. hello@marcelcnc.com