Open Source Ecology - User contributions [en]

OS Fab Lab Proposal

2009-11-22T08:24:44Z

Atman: /* skdb */ Added content relating skdb to RepLab, deleted content replicated in links and not RepLab specific

=Introduction=

Fabulous Friends Smari, Kyrah, Olle, Erik, Edmund, Henri, and James X. Jones:

I would like to follow up on the concept of the OS Fab Lab. You have expressed interest in it, and I'd like to take a moment to see how you might want to participate. After you read this, please let me know your level of interest. In particular:

# Who else should we recruit for the organizational team?
# Who and how to contact others to find more collaborators?
# How much time could you devote to this?
# Can you serve on the organizational team?
# Can you set up a website for this?
# How can we enlist communicators, PR people?
# Besides the crowds, who can we tap for funding?
# Etc, etc.

The basic concept is that a set of advanced tools like the MIT Fab Lab – deployed at 1/10th the cost and ten times the functionality – could be a great boon to liberating Industry 2.0. This means the simple concept of: global design collaboration towards local fabrication. Transformative economic potential is huge, as personal fabrication takes over the work of large factories and slave labor. This is around the corner in the 21st century – if we want to make it happen.

The facts are that we are likely to get 10-fold cost reduction over the standard Fab Lab price of $100k. We've already proven 10-fold cost reduction with The Liberator (CEB press), and the same could be done with the MIT Fab Lab – which would include laser cutting at 100W, an induction furnace (20kW, 300 lb metal melt per hour), metal casting and rolling, plus heavy machining (mill, drill, press with 20 hp interchangeable hydraulic motor), metal press (also shears and punches holes). To top it off, let's add a robotic arm. Also, include technologically-recursive development of OS high power supplies for welder, induction furnace, and plasma cutter. Here's a summary of the tools included in the OSFL, their description, and their Bill of Materials (not including labor). This strategy involves a hydraulic power source for high torque and power applications, and 20kW of shop power.

These tools can get you from melting scrap steel, casting and rolling for parts, cutting, machining, lasing, routing, 3D printing, metal working, and circuit fabrication. This gets to all electromechanical devices known to humans, and can get us to just about all technology up to about 1980 or so. Combined with Arduino, it gives you automated control of CNC fabrication. The goal here is all the capacity of the MIT Fab Lab - plus much more: metal melting from scrap, heavy duty fabrication, and robotics. This is just a suggested approch. If OS, I don't see trouble getting to the prices mentioned.

I am hoping we could fund it by crowdsourcing from those who gain access to the designs. We can motivate donations by offering use of the developed equipment for making copies of the machines at ridiculously low costs. I would support this myself if I were to gain access to fabrication facilities and training.

=Toolset=

{| class="prettytable"
| '''TOOL'''
| '''DESCRIPTION AND DEPLOYMENT STRATEGY'''
| '''WT'''
| '''COST ($)'''

|-
| 3D printer
| RepRap printer in plastic; plans available; self-replicating for all of its joints and plastic parts; head interchangeable for a small router for circuit fabrication
| 1 m3, 50 lb
| 300

|-
| CNC torch table, router
| RepTab prototype available – results indicate that it can be scaled successfully to router applications with 280 lbs of moving torque by using 4 stepper motors on the x and y axis; high power router can use hydraulic motor (3000 RPM, 10-20 hp); self-replicating for all structural parts;

use RepRap motor drivers and controls
| 300 lb
| 1500 for

280 lb torque version

|-
| Drill-mill-lathe
| Interchangeable hydraulic motor (0-650 rpm, 20 hp, $250); off-shelf chuck ($150) and off-shelf x-y table ($200); off-shelf spindle and collet ($200); true drill press – hydraulic cylinder ($100) moves spindle up and down; large motor can handle drilling up to 1.5”; mill funcionality via x-y table; CNC drive can be retrofitted onto x-y table; use RepTab motor drivers and controls
| 500 lb (welding table serves as base for added wt)
| 1100 plus CNC

|-
| Welding table
| Sheet of 1/2”, 4x8' mild steel
| 640 lb
| 300

|-
| MIG Welder
| This involves opensourcing the power supply, and using a commercial gun/wire feeder
| 200 lb
| 400

|-
| Plasma Cutter
| This involves opensourcing the power supply, and using a commercial gun
| 50 lb
| 300

|-
| Induction Furnace
| 20 kW, water-cooled coils; involves opensourcing the power supply; the rest is a melting container, pouring mechanism, and insulation
| 1000 lb
| 2000

|-
| Metal casting, rolling
| Casting involves simple molds; rolling involves high power rollers, using 20 hp hydraulic motors above; start by rolling bars from hot billet
| 1000 lb
| 2000

|-
| CNC laser cutter
| Utilize existing x-y table, and use a stationary laser; build a laser from a $500 CO2 laser engraver tube of 80W; sufficient to cut ¼ inch wood and acrylic, and thin metal – perhaps up to 1/8” in a large number of passes; larger laser may be built from scratch by creating a tube at later phases of recursion
| 300 lb
| 2000

|-
| Metal press, shear, and hole puncher
| Up to 1” holes in 1” metal; shears 3” wide 1” metal; relies on a large cylinder ($260)
| 1000 lb
| 1000

|-
| Cold cut metal saw
| Uses existing hydraulic motor
| 100 lb
| 100 plus blade

|-
| oscilloscope
| Develop OS computer oscilloscope
| 10 lb
| 50

|-
| Robotic arm
| 6 degree of freedom robotic arm for welding or other applications; use hydrauilic motors ($900) with encoders
| 500 lb
| 2000

|-
| Spectroscope
| Microwave/X-Ray spectroscopy tool
| ?
| ?

|-
| '''TOTAL'''
|
| '''5500 lb'''
| '''$13,100'''

|}
One note – the laser seems like the most difficult item here. However, given access to laser tubes from laser engravers, this is not that difficult. Many amateurs even blow glass to make their own tubes. On the robotic arm – I haven't searched yet – but there must be tons of people knowledgeable and interested in it.

Other model tool sets:

* [http://adl.serveftp.org/skdb/doc/BOMs/ultimate-tool-buying-guide.yaml ultimate tool buying guide]
* [http://adl.serveftp.org/skdb/doc/BOMs/electronics-workbench electronics workbench]
* [http://adl.serveftp.org/skdb/doc/BOMs/comparison/fablab.yaml fablab inventory]
* [http://adl.serveftp.org/skdb/doc/BOMs/comparison/techshop.yaml techshop inventory]
* [http://adl.serveftp.org/skdb/doc/BOMs/comparison/emachineshop.yaml emachineshop inventory]

=Proposal Outline=

Here is an Outline of a more complete proposal which could deploy this campaign.

# Introduction to the Open Source Fab Lab (OSFL)
## Problem Statement
## OSFL Collaboration Concept
### Downloading open source hardware over the web
### Collaborating with [http://adl.serveftp.org/dokuwiki/skdb SKDB] (it's basically this project except Marcin doesn't know about it)
## Industry 2.0 Problem Statement
### Design repositories – SKDB, Smari's work, Thingiverse, Google 3D warehouse,
### Local fabrication – Fab USA, Fab (Your Country) program
## Universal Constructors
### Examples – RepRap, [http://www.cubespawn.com/ CubeSpawn], OSE work, Erector Set, Box Beam, Makerbot, Fab@Home, CandyFab, P3P, [http://www.contraptor.org/ Contraptor], MIT Fab Lab, [http://bildr.org/ Bildr]
## Design Specifications
### Low cost, multipurpose, robust, OSE spec
### Scope of production covered
### Size, cost, and weight of equipment set
### Open Standards
## Applications of OSFL
# Required Functions
## Fabrication functions
## Scope of production covered
# Proposed Components and Their Functions
## Fab Lab template
### Scope of application
### Missing functions
## OS Fab Lab template
## Technological recursion level
### Off-shelf components
### OS power electronics
# Proposed implementation
## Utilization of hybrid electric and hydraulic drive
## Power sources – grid and generator
## Bill of materials for OSFL
# Bill of Materials for the OSFL
# Proposed collaboration
## Hackerspaces
## Fab Labs
## Economic development organizations (1st and 3rd world)
## Other libre and open source, universal constructor programs
# Funding, PR, Resource Development
## Website and funding basket
## Allocation procedure
## Resource development
## Required PR materials
## Donation strategy - based on use of FeF facilities for low-cost replication
# Inventory of Existing Hackerspace Equipment
## FeF collaboratory equipment inventory
## Available Fab Lab facilities and equipment
## Hackerspaces
# Available design and engineering resources
## Encyclopedias - Fabripedia, mechanisms, industrial processes, chemical processes, food processing, agricultural equipment, equipment design, how things work (collections of mechanisms)
## Engineering and formula handbooks in all fields
## Available free software
## List and Evaluation of collaborative engineering platforms
## OSE Dedicated Project Visits
### Nature of visits
### Infrastructure development
# Organizational Team
# Summary

=skdb=

RepLab will need a robust way to represent and track designs, builds, edits, forks and all the other information management challenges of an open-source distributed hardware project.

Ben Lipkowitz and Bryan Bishop, among others, have put significant work into a system called SKDB. SKDB is a method for sharing hardware over the internet. "Hardware" means not just designs for circuit boards, but also biological constructs, scientific instruments, machine tools, nuts and bolts, raw materials, and how to make them. SKDB simplifies the process of searching for free designs, comparing part compatibility, and building lists of materials and components and where to get them. You could even say SKDB is "apt-get but for real stuff".

In SKDB, hardware is organized into packages. Packages are a standard and consistent way for programs to find data. Packages may contain CAD files, CAM parameters, computer-readable descriptions of product specifications, product-specific code, and bill of materials. For each part in a package there are a number of interface definitions, which describe how the part can connect with other parts, even parts from other packages. Each package also lists dependencies which have to be bought or built in order to successfully carry out a project. For example a drill press is required to make holes with a certain level of accuracy. SKDB downloads all of the dependencies automatically and compares them to your existing inventory, and generates instructions for your CNC machinery if you have any.

* git repository: [[http://adl.serveftp.org/skdb.git/|skdb.git]]
* [[http://adl.serveftp.org/git/gitweb.cgi|code]] (web view) http://adl.serveftp.org/skdb/
* presentation: http://adl.serveftp.org/lab/presentations/updates-from-austin.pdf
* email: openmanufacturing@googlegroups.com
* IRC: #hplusroadmap on irc.freenode.net
* main wiki: http://adl.serveftp.org/dokuwiki/skdb

SKDB is new but extremely promising. Sites like Thingiverse are a great beginning, but 90% of the designs are for a RepStrap or a laser cutter, which both have the virtue of being reasonably 'plug and play'. With multiple tools displaying dependencies and requiring non-trivial human interaction, something more robust is clearly needed.

RepLab needs a representation format, and SKDB needs a meaningful test case to develop its functionality. At a minimum, all data for the projects should be described in YAML wherever possible.

=Team=
==[http://www.nycresistor.com/ NYC Resistor] response==
*contact@nycresistor.com
*date Wed, Nov 18, 2009 at 10:45 PM

We are not currently working on an opensource laser cutter. Some of our members are active with open source 3D printing, namely the RepRap and the Makerbot.

I do know that hacklab.to rebuilt a broken epilog and then taught it to sing (http://hacklab.to/archives/another-musical-variation/). They might have a couple of folks interested in opensourcing a laser cutter design.

Best,
Max

=Comments=
Comment here. Click edit on top.

What happened to using the Multimachine design?

[[Category:OS Fab Lab]]
[[Category:RepLab]]

OS Fab Lab Proposal

2009-11-22T08:10:52Z

Atman: /* Toolset */ model rather than proposed

=Introduction=

Fabulous Friends Smari, Kyrah, Olle, Erik, Edmund, Henri, and James X. Jones:

I would like to follow up on the concept of the OS Fab Lab. You have expressed interest in it, and I'd like to take a moment to see how you might want to participate. After you read this, please let me know your level of interest. In particular:

# Who else should we recruit for the organizational team?
# Who and how to contact others to find more collaborators?
# How much time could you devote to this?
# Can you serve on the organizational team?
# Can you set up a website for this?
# How can we enlist communicators, PR people?
# Besides the crowds, who can we tap for funding?
# Etc, etc.

The basic concept is that a set of advanced tools like the MIT Fab Lab – deployed at 1/10th the cost and ten times the functionality – could be a great boon to liberating Industry 2.0. This means the simple concept of: global design collaboration towards local fabrication. Transformative economic potential is huge, as personal fabrication takes over the work of large factories and slave labor. This is around the corner in the 21st century – if we want to make it happen.

The facts are that we are likely to get 10-fold cost reduction over the standard Fab Lab price of $100k. We've already proven 10-fold cost reduction with The Liberator (CEB press), and the same could be done with the MIT Fab Lab – which would include laser cutting at 100W, an induction furnace (20kW, 300 lb metal melt per hour), metal casting and rolling, plus heavy machining (mill, drill, press with 20 hp interchangeable hydraulic motor), metal press (also shears and punches holes). To top it off, let's add a robotic arm. Also, include technologically-recursive development of OS high power supplies for welder, induction furnace, and plasma cutter. Here's a summary of the tools included in the OSFL, their description, and their Bill of Materials (not including labor). This strategy involves a hydraulic power source for high torque and power applications, and 20kW of shop power.

These tools can get you from melting scrap steel, casting and rolling for parts, cutting, machining, lasing, routing, 3D printing, metal working, and circuit fabrication. This gets to all electromechanical devices known to humans, and can get us to just about all technology up to about 1980 or so. Combined with Arduino, it gives you automated control of CNC fabrication. The goal here is all the capacity of the MIT Fab Lab - plus much more: metal melting from scrap, heavy duty fabrication, and robotics. This is just a suggested approch. If OS, I don't see trouble getting to the prices mentioned.

I am hoping we could fund it by crowdsourcing from those who gain access to the designs. We can motivate donations by offering use of the developed equipment for making copies of the machines at ridiculously low costs. I would support this myself if I were to gain access to fabrication facilities and training.

=Toolset=

{| class="prettytable"
| '''TOOL'''
| '''DESCRIPTION AND DEPLOYMENT STRATEGY'''
| '''WT'''
| '''COST ($)'''

|-
| 3D printer
| RepRap printer in plastic; plans available; self-replicating for all of its joints and plastic parts; head interchangeable for a small router for circuit fabrication
| 1 m3, 50 lb
| 300

|-
| CNC torch table, router
| RepTab prototype available – results indicate that it can be scaled successfully to router applications with 280 lbs of moving torque by using 4 stepper motors on the x and y axis; high power router can use hydraulic motor (3000 RPM, 10-20 hp); self-replicating for all structural parts;

use RepRap motor drivers and controls
| 300 lb
| 1500 for

280 lb torque version

|-
| Drill-mill-lathe
| Interchangeable hydraulic motor (0-650 rpm, 20 hp, $250); off-shelf chuck ($150) and off-shelf x-y table ($200); off-shelf spindle and collet ($200); true drill press – hydraulic cylinder ($100) moves spindle up and down; large motor can handle drilling up to 1.5”; mill funcionality via x-y table; CNC drive can be retrofitted onto x-y table; use RepTab motor drivers and controls
| 500 lb (welding table serves as base for added wt)
| 1100 plus CNC

|-
| Welding table
| Sheet of 1/2”, 4x8' mild steel
| 640 lb
| 300

|-
| MIG Welder
| This involves opensourcing the power supply, and using a commercial gun/wire feeder
| 200 lb
| 400

|-
| Plasma Cutter
| This involves opensourcing the power supply, and using a commercial gun
| 50 lb
| 300

|-
| Induction Furnace
| 20 kW, water-cooled coils; involves opensourcing the power supply; the rest is a melting container, pouring mechanism, and insulation
| 1000 lb
| 2000

|-
| Metal casting, rolling
| Casting involves simple molds; rolling involves high power rollers, using 20 hp hydraulic motors above; start by rolling bars from hot billet
| 1000 lb
| 2000

|-
| CNC laser cutter
| Utilize existing x-y table, and use a stationary laser; build a laser from a $500 CO2 laser engraver tube of 80W; sufficient to cut ¼ inch wood and acrylic, and thin metal – perhaps up to 1/8” in a large number of passes; larger laser may be built from scratch by creating a tube at later phases of recursion
| 300 lb
| 2000

|-
| Metal press, shear, and hole puncher
| Up to 1” holes in 1” metal; shears 3” wide 1” metal; relies on a large cylinder ($260)
| 1000 lb
| 1000

|-
| Cold cut metal saw
| Uses existing hydraulic motor
| 100 lb
| 100 plus blade

|-
| oscilloscope
| Develop OS computer oscilloscope
| 10 lb
| 50

|-
| Robotic arm
| 6 degree of freedom robotic arm for welding or other applications; use hydrauilic motors ($900) with encoders
| 500 lb
| 2000

|-
| Spectroscope
| Microwave/X-Ray spectroscopy tool
| ?
| ?

|-
| '''TOTAL'''
|
| '''5500 lb'''
| '''$13,100'''

|}
One note – the laser seems like the most difficult item here. However, given access to laser tubes from laser engravers, this is not that difficult. Many amateurs even blow glass to make their own tubes. On the robotic arm – I haven't searched yet – but there must be tons of people knowledgeable and interested in it.

Other model tool sets:

* [http://adl.serveftp.org/skdb/doc/BOMs/ultimate-tool-buying-guide.yaml ultimate tool buying guide]
* [http://adl.serveftp.org/skdb/doc/BOMs/electronics-workbench electronics workbench]
* [http://adl.serveftp.org/skdb/doc/BOMs/comparison/fablab.yaml fablab inventory]
* [http://adl.serveftp.org/skdb/doc/BOMs/comparison/techshop.yaml techshop inventory]
* [http://adl.serveftp.org/skdb/doc/BOMs/comparison/emachineshop.yaml emachineshop inventory]

=Proposal Outline=

Here is an Outline of a more complete proposal which could deploy this campaign.

# Introduction to the Open Source Fab Lab (OSFL)
## Problem Statement
## OSFL Collaboration Concept
### Downloading open source hardware over the web
### Collaborating with [http://adl.serveftp.org/dokuwiki/skdb SKDB] (it's basically this project except Marcin doesn't know about it)
## Industry 2.0 Problem Statement
### Design repositories – SKDB, Smari's work, Thingiverse, Google 3D warehouse,
### Local fabrication – Fab USA, Fab (Your Country) program
## Universal Constructors
### Examples – RepRap, [http://www.cubespawn.com/ CubeSpawn], OSE work, Erector Set, Box Beam, Makerbot, Fab@Home, CandyFab, P3P, [http://www.contraptor.org/ Contraptor], MIT Fab Lab, [http://bildr.org/ Bildr]
## Design Specifications
### Low cost, multipurpose, robust, OSE spec
### Scope of production covered
### Size, cost, and weight of equipment set
### Open Standards
## Applications of OSFL
# Required Functions
## Fabrication functions
## Scope of production covered
# Proposed Components and Their Functions
## Fab Lab template
### Scope of application
### Missing functions
## OS Fab Lab template
## Technological recursion level
### Off-shelf components
### OS power electronics
# Proposed implementation
## Utilization of hybrid electric and hydraulic drive
## Power sources – grid and generator
## Bill of materials for OSFL
# Bill of Materials for the OSFL
# Proposed collaboration
## Hackerspaces
## Fab Labs
## Economic development organizations (1st and 3rd world)
## Other libre and open source, universal constructor programs
# Funding, PR, Resource Development
## Website and funding basket
## Allocation procedure
## Resource development
## Required PR materials
## Donation strategy - based on use of FeF facilities for low-cost replication
# Inventory of Existing Hackerspace Equipment
## FeF collaboratory equipment inventory
## Available Fab Lab facilities and equipment
## Hackerspaces
# Available design and engineering resources
## Encyclopedias - Fabripedia, mechanisms, industrial processes, chemical processes, food processing, agricultural equipment, equipment design, how things work (collections of mechanisms)
## Engineering and formula handbooks in all fields
## Available free software
## List and Evaluation of collaborative engineering platforms
## OSE Dedicated Project Visits
### Nature of visits
### Infrastructure development
# Organizational Team
# Summary

=skdb=

* git repository: [[http://adl.serveftp.org/skdb.git/|skdb.git]]
* [[http://adl.serveftp.org/git/gitweb.cgi|code]] (web view) http://adl.serveftp.org/skdb/
* presentation: http://adl.serveftp.org/lab/presentations/updates-from-austin.pdf
* email: openmanufacturing@googlegroups.com
* IRC: #hplusroadmap on irc.freenode.net
* main wiki: http://adl.serveftp.org/dokuwiki/skdb

SKDB is a method for sharing hardware over the internet. By "hardware" we mean not just designs for circuit boards, but also biological constructs, scientific instruments, machine tools, nuts and bolts, raw materials, and how to make them.

You don't need to reinvent the wheel every time you begin a new project. Someone out there has probably already done most or all of the work for whatever you are trying to do, and then released the plans on the internet. There are many common tools and parts involved in making things. If only we could just "get" everything automatically from the web, DIY manufacturing would be much easier. Essentially we want to do something like "apt-get" for [[http://debian.org/|Debian]] or "emerge" for [[http://gentoo.org|Gentoo]], the Linux software package managers. SKDB simplifies the process of searching for free designs, comparing part compatibility, and building lists of materials and components and where to get them. You could even say SKDB is "apt-get but for real stuff".

In SKDB, hardware is organized into packages. Packages are a standard and consistent way for programs to find data. Packages may contain CAD files, CAM parameters, computer-readable descriptions of product specifications, product-specific code, and bill of materials. For each part in a package there are a number of interface definitions, which describe how the part can connect with other parts, even parts from other packages. Each package also lists dependencies which have to be bought or built in order to successfully carry out a project. For example a drill press is required to make holes with a certain level of accuracy. SKDB downloads all of the dependencies automatically and compares them to your existing inventory, and generates instructions for your CNC machinery if you have any.

With [[occ|OpenCASCADE]], an open source CAD geometry kernel, parts can be visualized and combined in real-time to show new assemblies and constructions. The next steps are automatically generating instructions for assembling these parts and projects, with human-readable as well as robot-readable instructions (i.e., g-code). Also in the pipeline is a [[djangit|wiki-like frontend]] to SKDB with a git revision control back-end, which could be used as a free alternative to instructables or thingiverse, but better. With proper distributed revision control tools, anyone can publish and share their modifications with the rest of the world, and seamlessly merge those changes back into the main line. These tools are vital to the success of do-it-yourself collaborative and free manufacturing. Without a solid base for sharing and building upon each other's work, the movement will continue to flounder.

SKDB is just getting started, but a number of important pieces are already functional:
* units conversion and equations
* formalized descriptions of several manufacturing processes
* a simple example package describing a typical screw from the hardware store
* the screw has a set of requirements for being manufactured
* a set of packages it depends on to work right (threads package)
* metadata such as homepage URL, author, copyright license
* a more complex package describing several lego bricks and how they go together
* run packages/lego/demo.py to demonstrate interface compatibility
* run paths.py to demonstrate making a lego assembly
* generate an assembly graph by choosing 'save'

We need your help in converting open designs to a standard, freely-accessible format. If you have access to expensive proprietary CAD software such as Solidworks, CATIA, or AutoCAD, and wish to help, please contact us at openmanufacturing@googlegroups.com

If not, we also need people with programming talent and engineering knowledge for converting manufacturing knowledge and product data into a computer readable format. If you're good with a text editor and know what "feeds and speeds" means, you can certainly help us out.

=Team=
==[http://www.nycresistor.com/ NYC Resistor] response==
*contact@nycresistor.com
*date Wed, Nov 18, 2009 at 10:45 PM

We are not currently working on an opensource laser cutter. Some of our members are active with open source 3D printing, namely the RepRap and the Makerbot.

I do know that hacklab.to rebuilt a broken epilog and then taught it to sing (http://hacklab.to/archives/another-musical-variation/). They might have a couple of folks interested in opensourcing a laser cutter design.

Best,
Max

=Comments=
Comment here. Click edit on top.

What happened to using the Multimachine design?

[[Category:OS Fab Lab]]
[[Category:RepLab]]

OSE Proposal Product Selection Metric

2009-11-19T22:06:07Z

Atman: /* THE METRIC */ on a campaign against antisinestrous sentiment :-D

=III. PRODUCT SELECTION METRIC=

The chosen product line is selected to be a robust set of tools of great economic significance. It is useful to motivate the value of the particular product line that is chosen for the economic base of the Global Village. To this end, we have created a prioritization metric for collaborative development of open source technology for localization and transformation. Product choice is prioritized simply by the product's measured score.

The economic base for the facility is a small but robust and sufficient economic package of fundamental significance and wide markets. The products include major categories, and are essential to a Global Village infrastructure. Some of the key products are:

# Food - turnkey SolaRoof greenhouses, orchard, edible landscaping
# Power - solar turbine, fuel alcohol, compressed gas, power electronics
# Housing - compressed Earth Block (CEB) press, sawmill, extruder for glazing
# Transportation - hybrid car, hybrid electric tractor
# Flexible and digital fabrication
# Materials - aluminum from clay

Flexible and Digital Fabrication requires special attention. It is a facility, a Fab Lab, for fabricating: machined parts, rotors<ref> These include pumps, vacuum pumps, compressors, rotating disks (boundary layer turbines); low-speed, high-torque electric motors; and electric generators
</ref>, heavy machinery<ref>Includes CEB, Sawmill, tractor, skid loader, cars, and agricultural machinery such as a microcombine and spader.
</ref>, electronic devices<ref> These include battery chargers, DC-AC inverters, grid intertie inverters, DC-DC converters, AC-AC transformers, solar charge controllers, PWM DC motor controllers, multipole motor controllers.</ref>, cast metal parts<ref> Cast parts such as bushings, rods, pulleys, etc.</ref>, and plastic extrusion<ref> This is for advanced greenhouse glazing and molded plastic objects.</ref> products. These components and devices are essential to the other products in the Global Village economy, especially from the standpoint of Factor 10 cost reduction of infrastructure capitalization. The Fab Lab can also perform various grinding operations to sharpen blades, in particular those for chainsaws and sawmills. Basic workshop hand and power tools, though essential, are not specified here. The major items in the OSE Fab Lab are:

# CNC Multimachine - Mill, drill, lathe, metal forming, other grinding/cutting. This constitutes a robust machining environment that may be upgraded for open source computer numerical control by OS software, which is in development. <ref> Open source CNC code is being developed by Smari McCarthy of the Iceland Fab Lab, http://smari.yaxic.org/blag/2007/11/14/the-routing-table/</ref>
# XYZ-controlled torch and router table - can accommodate an acetylene torch, plasma cutter, router, and possibly CO2 laser cutter diodes
# Metal casting equipment - all kinds of cast parts from various metals
# Plastic extruder - extruded sheet for advanced glazing, and extruded plastic parts or tubing
# Electronics fabrication - oscilloscope, circuit etching, others - for all types of electronics from power control to wireless communications

This equipment base is capable of producing just about anything - electronics, electromechanical devices, structures, and so forth. The OS Fab Lab is crucial in that it enables the self-replication of all the 16 technologies.

==METRIC DEVELOPMENT==

We are interested in a metric for selecting products with a particular emphasis on localization - feasibility of production by means of small, local enterprise. We are interested in enterprise with one or few highly skilled, rapid-learning workers. We are interested in a scenario where these workers are capable of producing equivalent technological complexity of yesterday's megacorporations. To this end, the metric for product selection is defined by the properties listed below.

The score should reflect the economic feasibility of Open Source Flexible Fabrication (OSFF) as a means of production. A high score indicates a feature that is conducive to OSFF. Thus, low entry barriers and good market access are conducive to this end. It should be noted, however, that such barriers - in the pre-Open Source Economy phase of human evolution - are high. It is precisely the goal of our work to reduce those barriers - by developing the enabling open source know-how and flexible fabrication capacity to attain Factor 10 reduction in cost.

The metric scores the 16 infrastructure products. Each product may be used in several applications - such as the boundary layer turbine being used in electrical power generation systems, cars, and other hybrid electromechanical devices. The scores reflect the sum of all the applications for a given product.

==THE METRIC==

The metric is:

# Market size - This the value created in US dollars. This is measured by either: (1), the value of goods and services themselves, or (2), the value of goods and services displaced by the given product. This reflects the starting volume of production that may be substituted via localized, flexible production. If the market is large and distributed, then ubiquitous business opportunity exists from localization. Score: 3 points for a billion dollar market, 6 points for 10 billion, and 10 points for a 1 trillion dollar market and higher, and values in between. Note that most of the products chosen fall into the score of 10, because they are essential.
# Livelihood creation - Number of livelihoods worldwide that can be created if localization occurred. Score: 0 point for 1 new job per 100,000 people, 5 points for 1 in 1000, and 10 points for 1 or more in 100, and values between. See Appendix D: Metric Notes, for discussion on Livelihood Creation, to understand why all products manifest the highest score.
# Liberatory potential - This is the fraction of peoples' time that may be freed due to elimination of particular costs of living, by using the specified product.<ref> This is a step from ‘making a living’ to ‘making a life:’ http://www.yourmoneyoryourlife.org/fom-about-why.asp
</ref> This is due to features of: long product lifetime, items that allow production for self-sufficiency, and Factor 10 cost reduction of the product. Score: This is based on the 9-5 workday standard, which is really 8-6 for travel and recuperation inherent to benign crap jobs. This is essentially 10 hours per day, 5 days per week. Thus, 0 points corresponds to insignificant work time reduction, 5 points is 15 minutes reduction in work time, and 10 corresponds to 1/2 hour liberated per day. If all products contribute 1/2 hour, then they add up, essentially, to the elimination of the need to work, outside of minor expenses. Note that this leaves only the economy of leisure - ie, engagement in only voluntary activity beyond one's need to make a living - as the only valid pursuit in life. This program assumes self-sufficiency in physical needs, and also in political needs (self-governance), security (believing in peace but sleeping with a gun under one's pillow), education (augmented self-learning), and health (via diet, preventive health and fitness practice, and a quality lifestyle). Note also that such a program is unrealistic for many today, but may become feasible for many people in the future. The need to work to make a living will be insignificant if localization contributes significantly to healthful lifestyles.
# Population affected - Fraction of the world's population, outside of indigenous cultures, that uses the product. Score: 0 points for every 1 person per 100,000 that uses the product, up to 10 points for every person on the planet using the product. This includes the industrialized and non-industrialized world.
# Localization potential - The measure of how much likelihood exists that production will be localized, as opposed to produced via global supply chains by large corporations. This is determined by a number of features:
## Fabrication infrastructure cost - Fabrication equipment and tooling required for producing the specified product. The lower the infrastructure cost, the higher the chance of small enterprise startup success. Score: 0 for >$10k capitalization cost, 1 for >$5k, and 2 for =$5k. This reflects the capitalization barrier.
## Labor value - Marketable value contained in labor of production, indicating earning potential in a local economy. This value also includes efficiency - if production takes too long, then the item in question becomes too expensive, and a product becomes unmarketable. Thus, only efficient production, such as utilization of manufacturing automation, has a high labor value. Score: 0 for unskilled labor, or <$10/hour; and 1 for >$10/hour, and 2, $50 and up per hour.
## Material costs - Product cost embodied in materials and wearable supplies involved in the production process. The lower the material costs, the higher is the potential for small enterprise to succeed by virtue of minimizing capital risks of supply chain management. Score: 0 for >$10k material costs, 1 for <$5k material costs, and 2 for <$1k material costs.
## Technological complexity - The number of distinct components or parts that are required for a product. The lower the complexity, the more durable and serviceable the product. Design optimization is based on reducing the complexity to the absolute minimum without sacrificing performance. Low complexity means that the enterprise may be learned readily by producers. Score: 0 for high complexity - requires a year or more of full time training to acquire the skill. 1 for medium complexity - requires months. 2 is for low complexity, such that only a 1-4 weeks are required to learn the enterprise. Note that all products chosen carry the highest score, by design. For example, we choose a Boundary Layer Turbine as the product of choice for power conversion - as opposed to solar cells- which are much more complex to manufacture from scratch in a one or few person operation. We are assuming the training of skilled workers, not naive, clumsy or mobility-impaired individuals.
## Sourcing localization - Local feedstocks reduce cost and enable a secure supply. This is critical for robust supply chain management strategies. At best, feedstocks are to be found on-site - such as solar energy, earth, wood, metal, etc. If they are found within a land-based facility, then they are essentially free. Score: 0 for remote feedstocks, 1 for mixed feedstocks, and 2 for predominantly local feedstocks. Note that in our product list, all products display the lowest score at present - simply because there are no local metal, semiconductor, or other materials producers - as these are procured via global supply chains. Note that this localization may exist in the future - as small scale metal extraction (aluminum from clay), semiconductor purification, biplastics production - may occur on the bioregional or local scale.
## Ecological design - integration of a particular production system with nature (as in a land-based Global Village) and other enterprises in the set of 16 technologies. This ecology is covered in its own section below, IV, Product Ecology. Score: 0 for limited integration, 1 for good integration, 2 for excellent integration.
## Design for Disassembly (DfD) & lifetime design - Durable products are favored for purposes of localization, in so far as they contain maximum value. If true cost accounting is considered, then lifetime products add value based on product lifetime increase. For example, a lifetime car may have the value equivalent to 5-10 disposable (planned obsolescence) cars. Score: 0 for planned or perceived obsolescence, 1 for significant DfD and lifetime features, and 2 for nearly complete DfD and lifetime design.
## Scaleability - The facility with which larger (or smaller) products or yields may be produced, without major design changes, via modularity, and with proportional (as opposed to nonlinear) increase (or decrease) in price. If a flex fab device is highly scaleable by design, then it has a wider range of applicability, and can capture a wider market. Score: 0 for non-scaleability, as in the whole system must be redesigned; 1 for scaleability with nonlinear price increase; 2 for full scaleability and linear price increase.
## Cost of Waste - The fraction of competing product cost embodied in waste, such as intellectual property (IP) and competitive waste. IP spans product, process, and organizational design - which is deemed as waste here because it is generated redundantly by each market player, while costs are passed on to the consumer. The lack of access to product blueprints and design rationales is the most common reason why many producers hold a competitive advantage. This is also the reason for high entry barriers to new economic players - thus fostering centralization. Flexible fabrication is favored when a large fraction of competing product cost is embodied in waste- simply because there is a great business opportunity in reducing this waste. Open source products have the advantage of eliminating the entire cost of said waste, and land-based flexible fabrication facilities owned or co-funded by stakeholders may reduce costs even further. This score is measured qualitatively as: 0 for little or no waste in the mainstream product, 1 for about 25% of the price in waste, and 2 for =>50% waste.<ref> A particular example of waste, one with which the authors are familiar – is the CEB, where it is being demonstrated that a comparable machine may be fabricated at $1k in parts and $3k in total – whereas the competition charges $25k for their product. That represents about $22k of waste that constitutes a business opportunity for agents of the open source production method.</ref> In our list of products, the only ones that score low here are alcohol production and metal casting<ref> Band sawmill fabrication would be on this list, but we have switched our technology choice to a swing-blade sawmill, for which designs are not available. See Sawmill Concept under Enterprise Models in this paper.
</ref> - for which IP is available in the form of widely available or purchased plans.
## Feedstock abundance - The worldwide distribution and supply of feedstocks involved in using particular products- such as abundance of clayey soil worldwide for compressed earth block production. The greater the distribution, the more wealth can be distributed to various communities. Score: 0 for centralized availability, 1 for bioregional availability, and 2 for local availability.

Note that the Product Selection Metric must be considered not for individual products, but for products within a product ecology. Cascading Factor 10 cost reduction occurs when the availability of one product decreases the cost of the next product. This is visible particularly with energy production - the solar turbine electric generator, running on free solar energy, yields drastic cost reduction of any other product where fuel costs are the primary cost. As another example: wheel electric motors - or low-speed, high-torque electric motors are one of the enabling features for low-cost electric cars, tractors, or electrically-driven sawmills. Specifics of cost reduction must be examined on a case-by-case basis.

Note also that our context is a land-based facility. This allows for provision of local, natural feedstocks, and it helps to reduce operating overhead.

The metric score is the total of the 5 main sections, with 10 point maximum for the first 4 sections and 20 for the fifth. The score goes up to 60 for the perfect product.

The metric addresses: (1), Jefferson's formula for democracy by distribution of the means of production, (2), essential tenets of the localization movement, and (3), wide impact for economic transformation via decentralization. We challenge the reader to propose other products that should be on the list based on their score. We include a list of other 'sustainable' products that have attracted much human attention - but are beyond the scope of this discussion because of lower metric scores - in APPENDIX C.

==SPECIFIC PRODUCT SELECTION FOR THE GLOBAL VILLAGE CONSTRUCTION SET==

===COMPONENTS===

Here we present a list of products and ratings, where the products considered are primarily components. These components have many uses, as the building blocks for many other products. It is instructive to consider such building blocks as the generating set for a much larger economic process. In particular, special attention should go to products 12-16, which constitute the Fab Lab. The Fab Lab is used to produce all the other technologies, including the Fab Lab itself. These technologies are described at openfarmtech.org,<ref> See list of 16 technologies at http://openfarmtech.org/
</ref> and here a summary is given:

# Boundary layer turbine - simpler and more efficient alternative to most external and internal combustion engines and turbines, such as gasoline and diesel engines, Stirling engines, and air engines. The only more efficient energy conversion devices are bladed turbines and fuel cells.
# Solar concentrators - alternative heat collector to various types of heat generators, such as petrochemical fuel combustion, nuclear power, and geothermal sources
# Babington<ref> http://www.aipengineering.com/babington/Babington_Oil_Burner_HOWTO.html </ref> and other fluid burners - alternative heat source to solar energy, internal combustion engines, or nuclear power
# Flash steam generators - basis of steam power
# Wheel motors - low-speed, high-torque electric motors
# Electric generators - for generating the highest grade of usable energy: electricity
# Fuel alcohol production systems - proven biofuel of choice for temperate climates
# Compressed wood gas - proven technology; cooking fuel; usable in cars if compressed
# Compressed Earth Block (CEB) press - high performance building material
# Sawmill - production of dimensional lumber
# Aluminum from clay - production of aluminum from subsoil clays

Means of fabrication:

12. CNC Multimachine<ref> http://opensourcemachine.org/ </ref> - mill, drill, lathe, metal forming, other grinding/cutting

13. XYZ-controlled torch and router table - can accommodate an acetylene torch, plasma cutter, router, and possibly CO2 laser cutter diodes

14. Metal casting equipment - various metal parts

15. Plastic extruder<ref> See Extruder_doc.pdf at http://www.fastonline.org/CD3WD_40/CD3WD/INDEX.HTM </ref> - plastic glazing and other applications

16. Electronics fabrication - oscilloscope, multimeter, circuit fabrication; specific power electronics products include battery chargers, inverters, converters, transformers, solar charge controllers, PWM DC motor controllers, multipole motor controllers

It is useful to consider Figure 1, which lists Hardware for Living components, and the Resulting Capacities, or uses, for those components - to show the broad economic range of application for the given components.

[[image:Proposal_fig1.jpg]]

Figure 1. The 16 technologies and their resulting capacities are shown to describe the range of productivity that a small set of 16 elements can produce. All but Aluminum from Clay are proven localization technologies.

===PRODUCT RATING FOR COMPONENTS===

Here we present the ratings for the 16 technologies. Figure 2 shows products 1-16 on top, with product key at the bottom of the chart, and the respective categories on the left:

{| BORDER=1 CELLPADDING=7 CELLSPACING=0
| Product
| 1
| 2
| 3
| 4
| 5
| 6
| 7
| 8
| 9
| 10
| 11
| 12
| 13
| 14
| 15
| 16
|-
| 1. Market size
| 10
| 10
| 9
| 10
| 10
| 10
| 10
| 10<ref>A $1T market exists for diesel fuel in the united States alone, p.25, of Biodiesel Handbook, by G. Knothe et al.
</ref>
| 6
| 10
| 8
| 8
| 10
| 9
| 9
| 9
|-
| 2. Livelihood creation
| 10
| 10
| 10
| 10
| 10
| 10
| 10
| 10
| 10
| 10
| 10
| 10
| 10
| 10
| 10
| 10
|-
| 3. Liberatory potential
| 10
| 10
| 10
| 10
| 10
| 10
| 10
| 10
| 10
| 10
| 10
| 10
| 10
| 10
| 10
| 10
|-
| 4. Population affected
| 10
| 10
| 10
| 10
| 10
| 10
| 10
| 10
| 10
| 10
| 10
| 10
| 10
| 10
| 10
| 10
|-
| 5.a. Fabrication cost
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
|-
| b. Labor value
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
|-
| c. Material costs
| 2
| 1
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 1
| 2
| 2
| 1
| 2
| 2
| 2
|-
| d. Complexity
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
|-
| e. Sourcing
| 0
| 0
| 0
| 0
| 0
| 0
| 0
| 0
| 0
| 0
| 0
| 0
| 0
| 0
| 0
| 0
|-
| f. Eco-Design
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
|-
| g. DfD & lifetime
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
|-
| h. Scaleability
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 1
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 1
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
|-
| i. IP and overhead
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 0
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 0
|-
| j. Feedstocks
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 1
| 2
| 1
| 1
| 1
|-
| TOTAL
| 58
| 58
| 57
| 57
| 58
| 58
| 58
| 56
| 54
| 57
| 56
| 54
| 58
| 56
| 56
| 54
|-
|Key<ref>Key: BLT = Boundary Layer Turbine; Solar Conc = Solar Concentrators; Bab = Babington Burner; Flash = Flash Steam Generator; Motor = Wheel Motor; Gen = Generator; Elect = Electronics fabrication; Alcohol = Fuel Alcohol; Gas = Compressed Gas; CEB = Compressed Earth Block press; Extruder = Plastic Extruder; Al = Aluminum Extraction from Clays; CNC = Computer Numerical Control Multimachine; XYZ = XYZ Table; Casting = Metal Casting
</ref>:-----------
| BLT
| Solar Conc
| Bab
| Flash
| Motor
| Gen
| Elect
| Alcohol
| Gas
| CEB
| Sawmill
| Extruder
| Al
| CNC
| XYZ
| Casting
|}

Figure 2. Localization metric scores for prioritized technologies, on a scale of 0 to 60. Key: BLT = Boundary Layer Turbine; Solar Conc = Solar Concentrators; Bab = Babington Burner; Flash = Flash Steam Generator; Motor = Wheel Motor; Gen = Generator; Elect = Electronics fabrication; Alcohol = Fuel Alcohol; Gas = Compressed Gas; CEB = Compressed Earth Block press; Extruder = Plastic Extruder; Al = Aluminum Extraction from Clays; CNC = Computer Numerical Control Multimachine; XYZ = XYZ Table; Casting = Metal Casting

All scores are 54 or higher of 60. Note that a perfect score does not occur in Fig. 2 because material sourcing is generally global. Perfect scores may obtain if key industries, such as aluminum production or semiconductor purification, may be performed on a local basis.

To clarify the meaning of the metric as in the table, it is instructive to compare the metric score for a product from the mainstream economy. A good example is cars produced by the modern automobile industry. This is a clear example of a large industry, but its score according to the metric is low. The score for the type of centralized production looks like this:

{| BORDER=1 CELLPADDING=7 CELLSPACING=0
| 3 |
| Automobile Industry - Cars
|-
| 3 | 1. Market size
| 10
|-
| 3 | 2.Livelihood creation
| 6<ref> http://www.caw.ca/whoweare/ourhistory/cawhistory/ch1/p1c1_1.html states that there are 1/2 M car jobs in the USA</ref>
|-
| 3 | 3.Liberatory potential
| 0
|-
| 3 | 4.Population affected
| 10
|-
| 3 | 5. a.Fabrication cost
| 0
|-
| 3 | b. Labor value
| 0
|-
| 3 | c. Material costs
| 1
|-
| 3 | d. Complexity
| 0
|-
| 3 | e. Sourcing
| 0
|-
| 3 | f. Eco-Design
| 0
|-
| 3 | g.DfD & lifetime
| 0
|-
| 3 | h.Scaleability
| 0
|-
| 3 | i. IP and overhead
| 0
|-
| 3 | j. Feedstocks
| 0
|-
| 3 |
TOTAL:
| |
27
|}

The total score is 27 of 60. In this example, we observe that the auto industry<ref> Figures are extrapolated from the existing USA value.
</ref> scores well on market size and population affected, but relatively poorly elsewhere. Its existing livelihood creation is one job per 500 people. Its liberatory potential is nil, as car costs are a liability designed into a planned obsolescence pattern. Fabrication costs involve multi-billion dollar facilities, labor is largely automated, complexity is very high, sourcing is global, eco-design features small or nonexistent, scaleability is largely nonexistent, fuel feedstocks are a strategic resource, and the industry is largely proprietary. The material costs are approximately $5k per car, which is comparable to the open source variant. All in all, the localization metric score is 27, compared to the 50+ range of the 16 items in Fig. 1. Note that a car is not one of the technologies in Fig. 1, but it is a derivative of several of these technologies.

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Footnotes:
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