2014 Summer of Extreme Design-Build

Introduction

OSE carries out most of its overall development at its headquarters - Factor e Farm - a 30 acre facility in the Kansas City area of Missouri.

Development happens most intensively during our Summer of Extreme Design/Build. In 2014, we will emphasize swarming – working with a group of 24 dedicated developers on a single machine or module design/build each week. In this way, rapid development and prototyping occurs on the time scale of a week – harnessing a weekly effort on the order of 1000 development hours. Areas include machine prototyping, infrastructure-building, and testing our machines in agriculture. Our summers are focused on University students – though anyone can join.

Program

Our program involves design, build, and documentation. While engineering is the core aspect of our work - our program is intended for anyone interested in transitioning from zero to maker. We will focus on teaching the hands on skills from welding to computer design to physical computing to construction to agriculture to video production to graphics design to carpentry to energy systems to hydraulics to natural building to management. We emphasize practical, interdisciplinary training that may otherwise be difficult to obtain at a traditional school or university.

Because we will work as a team, everyone will be exposed to a wide variety of skills, and our approach focuses on each person teaching another about their specific areas of expertise. Our approach is to provide a powerful, integrated platform for learning by doing - an immersion program. You will not only design, but also build the things that you are designing.

The 2014 summer will center around the Compressed Earth Brick (CEB) brick press, construction using CEBs and other methods, CNC torch table, and tractor. Because our program takes the module-based, construction set appraoch, we will be exploring many variations of the above. We will be using 3D printers and laser cutters for rapid prototyping. The tractor involves Microtractor, Bulldozer, Power Cube, and agricultural implements.

In August, we will run an Extreme Manufacturing workshop where we build the Tractor in a single day. That means that we will spend a lot of time perfecting our documentation and testing various prototypes. In order to achieve the 1 day build, we will finish developing the CNC Torch Table to automate steel cutting.

We will also build our new Electronics Workshop - using our CEBs. We will also have other construction projects and remodeling of our natural building huts.

Tentative Schedule, 24 people:

June

• Week 1 - Carpentry 101 + Microhouse Workshop + Pool Build + Cabins Rebuild.
• Week 2 - Digital Fabrication 101 CNC Torch Table Build; Agriculture Plantout; Water Line Trenching with Open Source Trencher; Brick Press Workshop; New Workshop Documentation
• Week 3 - Design Sprints + Tractor Build; Backhoe Build; Microhouse Documentation
• Week 4 - New Clean Workshop Build; Brick Press Manual Publishing

July

• Week 1 - Microtractor Build - Biogas 5kW Electric System; Microcar Build; CNC Torch Table Manual Production
• Week 2 - Microhouse Workshop - Stove + Well; Agricultural Implements Build; well connection
• Week 3 - CEB Press Workshop; Backhoe Build
• Week 4 - Trucktor/Bulldozer Build; Trucktor Design
• Week 5 - Micro Power Cube Workshop; Biogas-Electric System Design-Build

August

• Week 1 - Tractor and Microhouse Documentation
• Week 2 - Backhoe Build
• Week 3 - Tractor Workshop
• Week 4 - One Day Microhouse Build

September

• Week 1 - Microhouse Build - Modules 4 and 5 - Workshop
• Week 2-4 - TBD

Inspiration

Now if you observe the schedule above, it is unreasonable. It's an Apollo Program for open development: a significant prototype every week. We think that with 24-36 people swarming on the design, documentation, planning, and build - this is possible. 24 people is 1000 development hours every week. For reference, the complete brick press itself takes 40 hours to build - so our experience tells us that our ambitious program is possible - by a module-based, parallel design-build process. Our learnings on documentation and extreme design from over the last few years are encouraging. But we do recognize this takes a significant team to accomplish, and the challenge will be running a collaborative, social process that makes everyone happy and productive. Join us to make this happen. Build yourself. Build your world.

Requirements

You may ask: do I have the skills to do this? The answer is - if you are willing to learn, then you have the proper mindset. It is necessary that you can keep a positive attitude and be open to learning. We favor those individuals who are open to new learning on a subject, rather than those who think they know a lot already. This project is highly experimental, and our approach is innovative and different. While we build on industry standard procedures and techniques - these are just a starting point. We do not like to see standard procedure get in the way of innovation.

Schedule

The schedule for the summer will be design work in the morning, followed by lunch, and builds/hands-on in the afternoon. The morning design session will take place from 9 AM to 1 PM, followed by lunch. The build work will go from 2 PM to 6 PM. Dinner will be served at 6 PM sharp.

The work week is Monday - Friday, a total of 40 hours per week. Weekends are off.

Typically, a prototype build will take place all day Friday. The time leading up to that will include design, documentation, and build preparation. During the build, we will take pictures and video, and update our documentation. Every Thursday, we will work with remote contributors in a Design Sprint setting - where in the morning session from 9-1, remote collaborators join us on specific development points.

Apply Now

To apply, see the Dedicated Project Visit (DPV) page. The cost during the summer and other breaks is $15 per day, and $10 per day during other times. An additional benefit of participating for a month or longer is that you get to participate in any Workshops taking place at Factor e Farm during the time of your stay. We may consider financial assistance to those in need.

Setting up OSE Presence at Universities

If you can help us set up OSE presence at your university – such as a summer internship, alternative break program, or as a course for credit – please contact us at info at opensourceecology dot org.

Links

Read more about OSE's overall Development Process.