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Archive: Open source hardware

January 13, 2010

From the EFF - 12 Trends to Watch in 2010

From the EFF - 12 Trends to Watch in 2010, Tim Jones writes -

It's the dawn of a new year. From our perch on the frontier of electronic civil liberties, EFF has collected a list of a dozen important trends in law, technology and business that we think will play a significant role in shaping online rights in 2010. In December, we'll revisit this post and see how it all worked out.

Woo!

4. Hardware Hacking: Opening Closed Platforms and Devices

An increasingly active hobbyist community is figuring out how to make a range of devices more useful and open. They are learning how to install new software or make third-party parts, devices, and services work with proprietary high-tech products like video game consoles, printers, portable audio players, home entertainment devices, e-book readers, mobile phones, digital cameras, and even programmable calculators. And, oh yes, contending with restrictions on both cars and garage doors.

Frequently, indignant manufacturers are threatening these tinkerers with legal troubles. Often, these threats are legally baseless -- but this hasn't stopped manufacturers from bullying hobbyists into keeping quiet about their innovations.

It confirms the prediction that EFF board member Ed Felten made in 2006: that the rationale offered for "Digital Rights Management" was shifting away from hard-to-defend claims that DRM could stop copyright infringement, and toward uses of DRM to control the functionality of objects in general (often in ways only tenuously connected to copying anything).

In 2009, EFF asked the Copyright Office to protect hobbyists who unlock and jailbreak their smartphones, and we stood up for developers who figured out how to load new operating systems onto TI programmable calculators. EFF's panel of judges also chose to honor Limor Fried of Adafruit Industries with a Pioneer Award in part to encourage the hardware hacking community to continue their good work.

In 2010, phone jailbreaking will become even more mainstream, and the concept will be routinely applied to other sorts of devices. EFF's Coders Rights Project will have no shortage of work to do defending users and developers who want to make their hardware do more than it was designed for.

Ok makers, post up your top trends to watch in 2010 in the comments!

Posted by Phillip Torrone | Jan 13, 2010 08:00 PM
Open source hardware | Permalink | Comments (2) | Email Entry | Suggest a Site

Tiny printable Dremel-powered lathe

While small lathes are of relatively limited value in my opinion, I've gotta give it up to Thingiverse user cathalgarvey for designing and uploading the parts to print this motor-tool-powered, printable micro-lathe. Would love to see some video of it in operation!

More from cathalgarvey:

• Dremelfuge is a 3D printable centrifuge
• Laboratory centrifuge attachment for your Dremel tool

Posted by Sean Michael Ragan | Jan 13, 2010 02:00 PM
3D printing, Open source hardware, Toolbox | Permalink | Comments (2) | Email Entry | Suggest a Site

Intern's Corner: Makey robot's sonar and maiden voyage

Every other week, MAKE's awesome interns tell about the projects they're building in the Make: Labs, the trouble they've gotten into, and what they'll make next.

By Kris Magri, engineering intern

How I designed Makey, Part III: The Ping sonar rangefinder and maiden voyage

As we return to our robot design saga, making Makey the Robot for MAKE, Volume 19 ...

The actual robot is still just a prototype with 2 wheels and motors and no sensors, electronics, or brains inside. The better body exists only in the computer. Maker Faire is looming. I've been tapped to give two "Make Your Own Robot" workshops, and I reckon that having a working robot would be a very good idea.

I'm trying to get the Arduino into the robot body. Suddenly I learn a profound lesson regarding computer-aided design. In real life, circuit boards cannot morph through walls into their desired resting place. In the computer, it happens all the time. With a simple motion of the mouse, the Arduino circuit board has glided into place, right through the aluminum robot body ... but in real life, it won't fit. There is no possible angle or tilt that will get the Arduino into the robot. Out come the Vise-Grips and hacksaw. I saw, bend, and twist off the offending aluminum tabs. This is reality-aided design.

The battery pack doesn't fit because it hits the nuts and bolts that hold the motors in. It fit just fine in the computer model, since I didn't bother including the nuts and bolts. I'm ready to toss the computer out the window.

I show up at the Make: Labs with my fail robot. Our crew has been working like demons for weeks getting ready for Maker Faire -- preparing demos, packing everything under the sun, buying materials -- the lab is a madhouse. Eric, myself, and Steven are practically tripping over each other. I'm frantic to get the Arduino into the body and get the sonar sensor mounted somehow. Eric suggests double-stick tape. I refuse. Tape and glue, I assert, are for people who don't know about bolts and rivets. Eric manages to cram the Arduino in sideways. It barely fits, actually, it doesn't quite fit, it sticks up a little. When I drill a mounting hole, 1/3 of the hole isn't there. But the bolt manages to hold.

At this point I only have a vague idea of what motor will be turning Makey's "eyes" or how to fit it inside. We zoom off to the local hobby shop and pay way too much for the smallest servomotor they have in stock.

Steven offers to take on the servomotor/sonar sensor mounting problem. He's making detailed measurements and calculations, trying to figure out how much space there is and where the servomotor will fit into this 3D space without hitting the electronics. He marks everything and explains his calculations to me. I can't follow them, but it sounds good and looks like it might just fit. I drill the holes, we put the servo in, then close up the robot. It fits! There is much rejoicing.

Read full story

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From MAKE magazine:

In MAKE, Volume 19: Robots, Rovers, and Drones, learn how to make a model plane with an autopilot and a built-in robot brain. We'll also show you how to make a comfortable chair and footstool out of a single sheet of plywood, a bicyclist's vest that shows how fast you're going, and projects that introduce you to servomotors. All this, and lots more, in MAKE, Volume 19! Subscribe here. Buy the issue in the Maker Shed.

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Read full story

Posted by Keith Hammond | Jan 13, 2010 09:33 AM
Arduino, Intern's Corner, MAKE Projects, Open source hardware, Robotics | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email Entry | Suggest a Site

January 12, 2010

Arduino vs. Maple - early impressions

For those that haven't heard, LeafLabs' Maple board is an Arduino-compatible microcontroller platform based on an STM32 ARM Cortex-M3 chip. The full feature list includes -

• Microcontroller: STM32 F103RB
• Clock Speed: 72 MHz
• Operating Voltage: 3.3V
• Input Voltage (recommended): 3.0V-18V
• Digital I/O Pins: 39
• Analog Input Pins: 16
• Flash Memory: 128 KB
• SRAM: 20KB
• 64 Channel nested vector interrupt handler (including external interrupt on GPIO's)
• Integrated SPI/I2C and 7 Channels of Direct Memory Access (DMA)
• Supplies up to 800mA @ 3.3v
• Support for low power and sleep modes (<500uA)
• Dimensions: 2.05"x2.1"

I recently got my hands on one of these new boards, and although a fully-functioning version of the Maple IDE has yet to be released, I compiled available source files from the project's repository, allowing me to upload a sketch from Windows XP (via Parallels on OS X).

My example sketch uses the shiftOut function to create a sine waveform via an MCP4921 DAC chip. I also ran the same test setup on an Arduino Duemilanove (ATMega328p) and superimposed the two resulting signals for the sake of comparison -

Arduino Duemilanove (ATMega328p) in blue, LeafLabs Maple (STM32F103RB) in green
Note - differing voltage ranges due to difference in DAC VREF (5V, 3.3V)

As expected, Maple's STM32 (running @ 72MHz) updates the DAC a whole lot faster than Arduino's ATMega328p (@ 16MHz) - in fact about 9 times faster! This was a bit of a surprise to me as I'd only expected a 4.5x speed boost considering the difference in clock speeds. Definitely good news for Arduino users in need of extra clock cycles, but for most, the Duemilanove still offers big advantages - specifically:

• Maple IDE software still in prerelease development stage
• ATMega328p available in easily replaceable DIP package
• Lower-level code (i.e. - port manipulation, timer interrupts) used with Arduino would need to be rewritten for the STM32
• Arduino widely available in multiple forms, great big user community

In any case, it's very cool to see more options (and speed!) made available to the Arduino community. It'll definitely be interesting to see how things progress with the Maple and its slated relatives.

Posted by Collin Cunningham | Jan 12, 2010 03:30 PM
Arduino, Electronics, Open source hardware | Permalink | Comments (5) | Email Entry | Suggest a Site

January 11, 2010

Digital clock with no ICs

The Transistor Clock is made using only discrete components--194 transistors, 566 diodes, 400 resistors, 87 capacitors, and absolutely no integrated circuits. It's available as an open-source kit from KABtronics. [via Hack a Day]

Posted by Sean Michael Ragan | Jan 11, 2010 04:08 PM
Electronics, Kits, Open source hardware | Permalink | Comments (3) | Email Entry | Suggest a Site

January 5, 2010

10 Sci-Fi Weapons that actually exist @ Wired's Danger Room

10 Sci-Fi Weapons that actually exist @ Wired's Danger Room...

Sure, the gear may look like it came straight out of Avatar or Battlestar Galactica. But all of the laser weapons, robots, sonic blasters and puke rays pictured here are real. Some of these weapons have already found their way onto the battlefield. If the rest of this sci-fi arsenal follows, war may soon be unrecognizable. Read on for a look at some of these futuristic weapons being tested today.

The Bedazzler is in there (a project I worked on in 2009, yay).

Posted by Phillip Torrone | Jan 5, 2010 08:00 PM
Open source hardware | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email Entry | Suggest a Site

MAKE visits MicroRAX HQ

In November, I had the opportunity to travel to Seattle for a Magic: The Gathering tournament. While I was there, I visited the headquarters of TwinTech, a small company run by identical twin brothers, Steve and Chris Burrows, who manufacture a small rack-building set called MicroRAX. At the time, a similar set, called MakerBeam, was hot in the news for its innovative funding angle -- getting capital via the microfunding site KickStarter. I was intrigued because MicroRAX was a nigh-identical product, lacking only MakerBeam's marketing moxie. But also unlike MakerBeam, it was a product already on the market, with starter sets available from TwinTech's online store.

Chris Burrows picked me up at my hotel and we drove to TwinTech's workspace. The company works out of a small warehouse, sharing it with other small industrial firms. Set up in one corner of the space, the workshop was gloriously messy, filled with a variety of machinery and half-finished projects.

TwinTech's core business is making couplers that let you connect multiple tubes at once, however, it was the MicroRAX that interested me. Obviously they had tons of beam lying around. In addition to boxes of beam waiting to be cut -- both plain aluminum and their awesome black anodized version -- there were numerous examples of the MicroRAX used for practical purposes. The Burrows' rule is that they won't build anything for the shop (e.g., shelves or an iPod stand) using any other material besides MicroRAX.

Unlike some systems where you're expected to use the sizes of beams you're given, MicroRAX fully assumes you're going to hack off specific lengths off the standard .9-meter beams available from their store. This also means that if you had a need for larger pieces, the guys can cut it special for you -- I saw lengths of MicroRAX beam in the 5-10' range used for practical purposes around the shop, as well as huge cardboard boxes holding uncut 12' beams they'd gotten back from the extruder.

I asked Chris about the open-source angle. One aspect of MakerBeam which appealed to potential donors was their claim to be open source, though this is not the case thus far -- still in alpha, it lacks the documentation, user-contributions, and open standards that are the hallmarks of open projects. A better example might be Contraptor, a fantastic VEX-esque building set that sets the benchmark for openness and community cooperation.

While MicroRAX isn't open, Chris told me that when you deal with engineers, you can't hold anything back. A company can't really have an industrial product like TwinTech's multi-tube couplers or MicroRAX without divulging everything to a potential customer. They'll want to know the precise dimensions and characteristics of your product before they'll buy it. From an end-result standpoint, how is that really different from publishing your 3Ds?

The brothers are thinking about taking MicroRAX open, but in the meantime, they published their core product design, the "snowflake" cross section of the MicroRAX beam, to Thingiverse, potentially allowing anyone to extrude their own beam.

Read full story

Posted by John Baichtal | Jan 5, 2010 05:00 PM
LEGO, Open source hardware, Robotics | Permalink | Comments (3) | Email Entry | Suggest a Site

January 4, 2010

Open source is terrifying!

Here come the open source culture = piracy articles... from CNN.

"With the open-source culture on the Internet, the idea of ownership -- of artistic ownership -- goes away," Alexie (novelist and poet Sherman Alexie) added. "It terrifies me."

It's more terrifying when someone groups open source with piracy. In my experience, as an artist at times and helping to run an electronics company, open source and open source hardware actually give the maker more control and more artistic ownership.

Posted by Phillip Torrone | Jan 4, 2010 08:00 PM
Open source hardware | Permalink | Comments (16) | Email Entry | Suggest a Site

Bluetooth Ericofon

SQNewton didn't just crack open a bluetooth headset and cram it into a cool retro handset casing; he developed his own hardware to produce a fully-functional, self-contained phone that uses the Ericofon's original rotary dial, gives dial and busy tones, mimics the original Ericofon ringer, and has voice-recognition dialing to top it off. [via Hack a Day]

Posted by Sean Michael Ragan | Jan 4, 2010 01:47 PM
Cellphones, DIY Projects, Electronics, Mobile, Mods, Open source hardware, Wireless | Permalink | Comments (2) | Email Entry | Suggest a Site

December 28, 2009

Fab radio looks fabulous

David Mellis, of Arduino fame, wrote in to share this radio that he built with Dana Gordon. Noting that most personal fabrication projects seem to be aimed at niche markets, they designed a radio that could be enjoyed by anyone. Their hope is to enable individuals to produce and sell small-scale products profitably. They have an excellent write-up on their website, complete with schematics, board designs and drawings.

Posted by Matt Mets | Dec 28, 2009 10:30 AM
Arduino, Furniture, Open source hardware | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email Entry | Suggest a Site

December 23, 2009

USB Hourglass random number generator

This is my new, favorite random number generator (old favorite: lava lamps):

It watches falling sand in an hourglass with an optical sensor. That data is sent via the Arduino USB output to the PC where it's analyzed. This entropy is useful for all your random number needs. My favorite part: when the hourglass runs dry a servo motor flips it over and it starts again.

Says maker Peter Allan:

With the USB Hourglass, the user can look at the sand falling through the center of the hourglass and monitor the randomness in the USB output data. And one can read the code line-by-line, compile it, and upload it to the microcontroller using only open-source and widely supported tools.

USB Hourglass

[Thanks, Scott Burris!]

Posted by John Park | Dec 23, 2009 09:30 AM
Arduino, Computers, Electronics, Open source hardware | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email Entry | Suggest a Site

December 22, 2009

An open source... restaurant?

To be honest, I'm not really sure what is going on here, but it looks fun. Arne Hendriks and Bas van Abel have collaborated to create the Instructables Restaurant, an eatery where everything inside it- including food, furniture and entertainment- have been constructed from designs available for free on Instructables. They are still in the trial phase of the project, so they don't have a permanent location, but their inaugural event appears to have gone quite well.

Of course, if you would like to make your own, there is an Instructable for that.

Posted by Matt Mets | Dec 22, 2009 01:00 PM
Instructables, Open source hardware | Permalink | Comments (4) | Email Entry | Suggest a Site

December 18, 2009

Futurepicture, a homebrew light field camera

Ever take a photograph, and realize after the fact that you focused on a tree in the background instead of your subject's face? Wish you could go back and fix it? Well, unfortunately you can't if you used a regular camera, however if you had a plenoptic camera it would be no problem. Instead of capturing a flat, 2D array of pixels, a plenoptic camera uses an array of microlenses to capture 4D lightfield data. This data can then be processed to create a final image that is focused on any part of the scene.

Daniel Reetz and Matti Kariluoma wanted to experiment with light field photography, but you can't really buy one of these cameras, so they built one themselves. Instead of using a single camera and microles array, however, they decided to use rapid prototyping equipment and a bunch of point&shoot; Canon cameras loaded with the SDM firmware, and the result is the Large Light Field Camera Array. Plans aren't available yet, however they are pledging to release the whole thing as an open source/hardware project. Looks great, guys! [via teamdroid]

Posted by Matt Mets | Dec 18, 2009 10:00 AM
Computers, Open source hardware, Photography | Permalink | Comments (3) | Email Entry | Suggest a Site

December 12, 2009

Ask an Engineer chat with SparkFun, Adafruit and MAKE tonight! 10PM ET

There's a massive LIVE video chat tonight for hardware makers!

Tonight is our weekly "Ask an engineer chat" 10pm ET. It's a special night, we will have a guest! Nathan Seidle from SparkFun will be joining us! Limor [Adafruit] and Nathan will answer all your engineering, biz and kit questions for one hour! Tonight's topics will also include the open source hardware list of 2009, over 125 projects in 19 categories. Currently SparkFun is one of the top producing open source hardware companies in the world! Stop in and say hi!

Chat details!

• Visit our new "chat" section on Adafruit at 10pm ET, Saturday nights
• Or visit our Ustream page
• For old schoolers, you can use IRC, you'll need a Ustream log/pass, check out the Ustream IRC how-tos here and here
• We are #adafruit-industries6796 on IRC server chat1.ustream.tv
• There will be a trivia question at the end of the night as always!
• Lastly, if anyone can save a log we'd appreciate it

Posted by Phillip Torrone | Dec 12, 2009 08:12 AM
Events, Open source hardware | Permalink | Comments (2) | Email Entry | Suggest a Site

December 11, 2009

Open source hardware 2009 - The definitive guide to open source hardware projects in 2009

Welcome to definitive guide to open source hardware projects in 2009. First up - What is open source hardware? These are projects in which the creators have decided to completely publish all the source, schematics, firmware, software, bill of materials, parts list, drawings and "board" files to recreate the hardware - they also allow any use, including commercial. Similar to open source software like Linux, but this hardware centric.

Each year we do a guide to all open source hardware and this year there are over 125 unique projects/kits in 19 categories, up from about 60 in 2008, more than doubling the projects out there! - it's incredible! Many are familiar with Arduino (shipping over 100,000 units, estimated) but there are many other projects just as exciting and filled with amazing communities - we think we've captured nearly all of them in this list. Some of these projects and kits are available from MAKE others from the makers themselves or other hardware manufacturers - but since it's open source hardware you can make any of these yourself, start a business, everything is available, that's the point.

This year, I am asking for your help - the Open source hardware page on Wikipedia is missing more projects that it actually has total at the moment. If any readers out there want to help out, review all the projects we've listed and please add them to the Wikipedia page so it's a more complete resource. Also, many projects on the Wikipedia page are not "Open source hardware" but that will likely be debated, at the least - all of the projects in this guide are considered open source hardware by those who actually does open source hardware it seems.

In this version of the guide on MAKE I will link to the product page and if it's sold in the Maker Shed there is an additional link to the Maker Shed if you'd like to support OSH and get a kit or project. For 2009, this guide became so large that it cannot fit in to one post on MAKE so it will be divided up in to sections, 18 of them:

• 3D printing - Open source hardware is now making things. Physical things you can print out, over the last few year 2-3 projects have really gained momentum and made some wonderful advances in low-cost desktop 3D printing. Projects include Fab@Home, MakerBot and RepRap. A new project was also added this year, s DIY open source construction set for experimental personal fabrication (view projects).


• Arduino - Arduino is an open-source electronics prototyping platform based on flexible, easy-to-use hardware and software. It's intended for artists, designers, hobbyists, and anyone interested in creating interactive objects or environments. Perhaps one of the most successful open source hardware projects to date. Dozens of projects are included in the guide (view projects).


• Arduino shields - This is a new category mostly because there are so many open source hardware shields in 2009. These "shields" add music, internet, GPS and additional functions (view projects).


• Blinky projects - Open source hardware tends to have a lot of projects that blinky, pulse, and light up. It's a hard category to define exactly, so I'm calling it blinky projects. From a "Larsen scanner" (cylon) to making your bicycle spell words in the air, all of these projects are filled with LEDs (view projects).


• Clocks and watches - This year there are some really timely additions to the list, clocks! From a retro Russian tube clock to an open source watch. These time pieces are open and timely (view projects).


• Culture jamming - These projects are not only open source hardware, they aim to open ours minds a bit. A cell phone jammer, a universal device that turns off TVs and an open source homeland security non-lethal weapon (view projects).


• Development platforms and tools - These are tools and platforms, a wide category - but filled with chip programmers, mini-computers, debugging hardware and tons of project to - make other projects! (view projects).


• Energy, Power and Green - These open source hardware projects power things or have something to do with powering devices, saving the planet and monitoring power/energy in some way (view projects).


• Fun, games and entertainment - These open source hardware projects that are more fun than anything else, from net connect set top boxes to fun games (and gaming systems) you can make yourself (view projects).


• Imaging - There's only project, but it's a great start. Open source cameras for everyone aren't here yet, but there's one project that is pioneering the field... of vision! (view projects).


• Medical and bio - The open source hardware projects are medical or biological. While this category only has a few I expect this to be the largest category in 5 years or less. Open sourcing medical equipment around the world seems like the most logical step in the evolution of open source hardware, check out some of the first projects! (view projects).


• Music - Music is one of the largest categories: synthesizers, guitar amps, MP3 players to an arcade MIDI device. These projects not only are open, they're musical (one of the old forms of "open information") so that's twice the goodness rolled in to one (view projects).


• Processors - You can actually make and fabricate your own chips, I have met anyone who does this but there are a couple huge projects that openly share CPUs and on-chip interconnections. Living room chip fabs are a few years away (well, Jeri has one) but here's a glimpse (view projects).


• Religious - Open source hardware has made inroads in to religious from an LED menorah to a blinky Christmas card. These projects almost belong in the "Blinky projects" category, but I thought they should get their own. I suspect more religions will be open sourcing their hardware soon (view projects).


• Robotics - From controlling motors to a robot arm you can make yourself, robotics is a new and growing category in open source hardware. While there's not a ton of projects many robotics groups are using Arduinos (FIRST is now) so I think we'll see this category double and triple in 2010, here are some of the early pioneers (view projects).


• Telecommunications - These projects use the telephone system in some way or are related to cell phones (or in one example, are cell phones). It's popular to open source the software on phones now, and slowly but surely we might see more phone systems go this way to if there are benefits for the companies and the customers (view projects).


• Transportation - There's just one in the transportation category, an electronic fuel injection project. While there is always talk of an "open source" automobile, there mostly design projects and not a project with downloads, files, software, etc - in a few years we might see a physical open source hardware car however, there seems to be a lot of interest (view projects).


• UAVs - A Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) is an aircraft that has the capability of fully autonomous flight, without a pilot in control. Amateur UAVs are non-military and non-commercial. They typically fly under "recreational" exceptions to FAA regulations on UAVs, so long as the pilots/programmers keep them within tight limits on altitude and distance. Usually the UAV is controlled manually by Radio Control (RC) at take-off and landing, and switched into autonomous mode only at a safe altitude (view projects).


• Wireless and GPS - From an open GPS tracker to a small wireless device that works with the Arduino, this is a fairly new category and likely one that will grow as more spectrum frees up (view projects).

Some of the projects are likely "open source hardware" but the files aren't all up yet, at the time of this writing the maker was contacted to make sure they put a license up for clarification, this will be noted and updated. There will undoubtably be a few mistakes in a collection this large, hit refresh, we'll be updating it all weekend. Also, there's a very good chance we missed something, post them up in the comments and we will add them if they're OSH. When we release this article each year there are always a few days of adding, removing and editing.

A great year for OSH, have fun reading the guide!

Posted by Phillip Torrone | Dec 11, 2009 06:20 PM
Open source hardware | Permalink | Comments (42) | Email Entry | Suggest a Site

3D printing and fabrication: Open source hardware 2009 - The definitive guide to open source hardware projects in 2009

Part of The definitive guide to open source hardware projects in 2009

3D printing - Open source hardware is now making things. Physical things you can print out, over the last few year 2-3 projects have really gained momentum and made some wonderful advances in low-cost desktop 3D printing. Projects include Fab@Home, MakerBot and RepRap. A new project was also added this year, s DIY open source construction set for experimental personal fabrication.

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Contraptor

Contraptor is a DIY open source construction set for experimental personal fabrication, desktop manufacturing, prototyping and bootstrapping.
Price: See site
Visit project page

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Fab@Home

Fab@Home is a project dedicated to making and using fabbers - machines that can make almost anything, right on your desktop. This website provides everything you need to know in order to build or buy your own simple fabber, and to use it to print three dimensional objects. The hardware designs and software on this website are free and open-source. Once you have your own fabber, you can also download and print various items, try out new materials, or upload and share your own projects. Advanced users can modify and improve the fabber itself
Price: $2,700 and up
Visit the project page

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MakerBeam

MakerBeam is a project to build a toy and tool for the open source imagination. Based on Mini-T, a new open source standard, MakerBeam will develop a construction toy for our times: open source precision hardware equally at home doing desktop fabrication or serving as a drawbridged castle for action figures.
Price: See page for details
Visit the project page

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MakerBot

MakerBot is an affordable, open source 3D printer. It makes almost anything up to 4" x 4" x 6" using ABD plastic.
Price: $750 and up
Visit the project page

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RepRap

RepRap is short for Replicating Rapid-prototyper. It is the practical self-copying 3D printer shown on the right - a self-replicating machine. This 3D printer builds the parts up in layers of plastic. This technology already exists, but the cheapest commercial machine would cost you about €30,000. And it isn't even designed so that it can make itself. So what the RepRap team are doing is to develop and to give away the designs for a much cheaper machine with the novel capability of being able to self-copy (material costs are about €500). That way it's accessible to small communities in the developing world as well as individuals in the developed world.
Price: Various
Visit the project page

Posted by Phillip Torrone | Dec 11, 2009 06:19 PM
Open source hardware | Permalink | Comments (11) | Email Entry | Suggest a Site

Arduino: Open source hardware 2009 - The definitive guide to open source hardware projects in 2009

Part of The definitive guide to open source hardware projects in 2009

Arduino - Arduino is an open-source electronics prototyping platform based on flexible, easy-to-use hardware and software. It's intended for artists, designers, hobbyists, and anyone interested in creating interactive objects or environments. Perhaps one of the most successful open source hardware projects to date. Dozens of projects are included in the guide.

Arduino is an open-source electronics prototyping platform based on flexible, easy-to-use hardware and software. It's intended for artists, designers, hobbyists, and anyone interested in creating interactive objects or environments. Arduino can sense the environment by receiving input from a variety of sensors and can affect its surroundings by controlling lights, motors, and other actuators.

Here are all the flavors that are (or were) officially from the Arduino team...

• Duemilanove - This is the latest revision of the basic Arduino USB board. It connects to the computer with a standard USB cable and contains everything else you need to program and use the board. It can be extended with a variety of shields: custom daughter-boards with specific features. details
  
• Diecimila - This is the previous revision of the basic Arduino USB board. details
  
• Nano - A compact board designed for breadboard use, the Nano connects to the computer using a USB Mini-B cable. details
  
• Mega - A larger, more powerful Arduino board, shield compatible with the Duemilanove and Diecmila. details
  
• Bluetooth - The Arduino BT contains a bluetooth module that allows for wireless communication and programming. It is compatible with Arduino shields. details
  
• LilyPad - Designed for wearable application, this board can be sewn onto fabric, and is a stylish purple. details
  
• Mini - This is the smallest Arduino board. It works well in a breadboard or for applications in which space is at a premium. It connects to the computer using the Mini USB Adapter. details
  
• Mini USB Adapter - This board converts a USB connection into 5 volt, GND, TX and RX lines that you can connect to the Arduino Mini or other microcontroller. details
  
• Pro - This board is designed for advanced users who want to leave a board embedded in a project: it's cheaper than a Diecimila and easily powered by a battery, but requires additional components and assembly. details
  
• Pro Mini - Like the Pro, the Pro Mini is designed for advanced users requiring a low-cost, small board and willing to do some extra work. details
  
• Serial - It's a basic board that uses RS232 as an interface to a computer for programming or communication. This board is easy to assemble even as a learning exercise. details (including Schematics and CAD Files)
  
• Serial Single Sided - This board is designed to be etched and assembled by hand. It is slightly larger than the Diecimila, but still shield compatible. details

Price: $20 and up
Visit the project page
Buy one @ Maker Shed

Keeping reading for more!

Read full story

Posted by Phillip Torrone | Dec 11, 2009 06:17 PM
Open source hardware | Permalink | Comments (2) | Email Entry | Suggest a Site

Arduino shields: Open source hardware 2009 - The definitive guide to open source hardware projects in 2009

Part of The definitive guide to open source hardware projects in 2009

Arduino shields - This is a new category mostly because there are so many open source hardware shields in 2009. These "shields" add music, internet, GPS and additional functions.

Arduino shields and add-ons, these are projects that enhance the Arduino by adding additional functionality such as music, GPS, internet and more. They are added on top of the Arduino and some can be stacked.

Here are the official shields from the Arduino team:

• Xbee Shield - This shield allows multiple Arduino boards to communicate wirelessly over distances up to 100 feet (indoors) or 300 feet (outdoors) using the Maxstream Xbee Zigbee module. details
  


• Motor Shield - This shield allows an Arduino board to control DC motors and read encoders. details


• Ethernet Shield - This shield allows an Arduino board to connect to the internet. details


• Arduino Protoshield - design for an Arduino protoshield that sits on top of the main Arduino board for prototyping. details

Keeping reading for a ton more...

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Posted by Phillip Torrone | Dec 11, 2009 06:16 PM
Open source hardware | Permalink | Comments (5) | Email Entry | Suggest a Site

Blinky projects: Open source hardware 2009 - The definitive guide to open source hardware projects in 2009

Part of The definitive guide to open source hardware projects in 2009

Blinky projects - Open source hardware tends to have a lot of projects that blinky, pulse, and light up. It's a hard category to define exactly, so I'm calling it blinky projects. From a "Larsen scanner" (cylon) to making your bicycle spell words in the air, all of these projects are filled with LEDs.

MiniPOV

The 3rd generation MiniPOV is perfect for beginners who are looking to learn how to solder, how to program microcontrollers, or make LED blinky toys. Because the programmer is built into the kit, you don't need a special "microcontroller programmer". This version can be used with PCs (Linux/Unix or Windows) and Macs (running MacOS X and with a USB/serial converter).
Price: $17.99
Visit the project page
Buy one @ Maker Shed

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Posted by Phillip Torrone | Dec 11, 2009 06:14 PM
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Clocks and watches: Open source hardware 2009 - The definitive guide to open source hardware projects in 2009

Part of The definitive guide to open source hardware projects in 2009

Clocks and watches - This year there are some really timely additions to the list, clocks! From a retro Russian tube clock to an open source watch. These time pieces are open and timely.

The Bulbdial Clock Kit

The Bulbdial Clock kit is based on an original design concept from IronicSans.com and developed at Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories. It works like an indoor sundial, but with three shadows of different length. You tell the time just like you do on a normal clock, by reading the positions of the hour, minute, and second hands.
Price: $65.00
Visit the project page

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Posted by Phillip Torrone | Dec 11, 2009 06:13 PM
Open source hardware | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email Entry | Suggest a Site

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