To complete the product, we need to add a control system that uses sensors and actuators to monitor and control the state of the machine, ensuring that it is always in a safe state and shutting down the laser beam if necessary. This means protecting access to each of the following three sections:

The cutting beam is usually generated by a CO₂ laser, a type of gas laser that was invented in 1964. The application of a high voltage causes current flow and thereby excitement of the gas molecules in the bore that make up the gain medium, ultimately resulting in the formation of a coherent beam of long-wavelength infrared (LWIR) or IR-C, light at a wavelength of 9.4 or 10.6 µm.

One characteristic of LWIR is that it is strongly absorbed by a large number of materials, so that it can be used for engraving, cutting, and even surgery on tissues as the water in biological tissues efficiently absorbs the laser beam. This also makes it obvious why even brief exposure of one's skin to a CO₂ laser's beam is extremely dangerous.

To achieve safe operation, exposure to laser light must be inhibited by locking the enclosure during normal operation, deactivating the laser power supply, and closing a beam shutter or preferably a combination of these measures when any of the interlocks is opened or any other safety condition is no longer satisfied.

For example, temperature limits have to be upheld: most CO₂ lasers comprise of water-cooled gas discharge tube, which can quickly crack or bend in case of a cooling fault. What's more, the cutting process creates irritating or toxic fumes that need to be continuously removed from the enclosure so as not to contaminate the optics and exit into the environment when the lid is opened.

These requirements necessitate that we monitor cooling water flow and temperature, air flow for the exhaust, and the air flow resistance (pressure drop over mass flow) of over the exhaust filter.

Finally, we also want to make it convenient to use the laser cutter and avoid having to "bring your own device" to process the design in a machine-specific way, then convert it and upload it to the stepper motion controller board via USB. Instead, we want to load the design project from an SD card or USB stick and use a simple LCD and buttons to set options.