ThoughtsOnOpenSourceHardware

= Thoughts On Open Source Hardware =

Most open source hardware projects today are reworks of solutions to old problems

= Arduino Auto-Pilot =
 * auto-pilot systems have been around for decades
 * patents governing the system-level have long-since expired
 * commercial MCUs used encapsulate any new processor-related IP.
 * commercial sensors (MEMS accelerometers and gyroscopes) encapsulate any new position and orientation related IP.
 * board designs are protectable IP, but they're so easily reverse engineered and copied that protection is a waste of time and money.
 * The firmware is simple software IP.

= MakerBot and RepRap =


 * The first additive rapid prototyping machines started appearing in the late 1980s
 * patents governing these implementations will have expired by now.
 * Subtractive CNC machines have been around much longer.
 * Printer technology has been around longer than RP
 * Reverse-engineering of ink cartridges to provide 2nd-source established.
 * Strength is in breadth of coverage
 * different feed-stock
 * different implementations
 * design enhancements
 * distributed workshop

= Opportunities of Scale =


 * Industrial technologies of the past century have succeeded on the basis of their ability to scale.
 * For every one advance that survived, several likely did not due to their inability to scale to the same degree.
 * With personal fabrication technologies entering the home, now is the time to mine the past for those missed opportunities of lesser scale.