Starting an OSE Project

If you are willing to make a serious commitment to the OSE project, you might consider starting up a project that hasn't been tackled yet (or perhaps has languished for various reasons). We all have different skills, experience, and levels of competencies. You should be aware that even if you start up an OSE project, you might not be the one to manage it as time goes on. The project manager has specific duties and responsibilities (as defined in Project Manager Duties) that not everyone is prepared to assume. Also, that person will need to work closely with the OSE Executive Director (Marcin Jakubowski).

That said, any contribution towards starting up a GVCS or other OSE project is a useful contribution, so don't be afraid to dig and get things going. Before you start, check to make sure that the project you are interested in hasn't already been started. Check the Development Team page for defined projects. Next, send a message to the OSE Project Coordinator letting him know that you intend to start up an OSE project. OSE is actively looking for a Project Coordinator, so best to send a note to Marcin Jakubowski. He may have recent information that can be of help getting started and might point you to some existing material.

Before diving into the actual work of starting up a project, you should be familiar with an important document:

OSE Specifications Like other open source projects, OSE has a set of shared values and ethics. These core valves are described on this page. It explains what open source means and mentions values like modularity, user friendliness, ecological design, systems design, lifetime design, scalability, etc. All of these will have bearing on every OSE project. OSE specifications also includes a description of the methods and strategic approaches we use in project development and the components of an OSE project. There is a way to measure how well an OSE measures up to our shared values using the OSE Project Metric Score, which is a set of 42 question worth 1 point each. A perfect score is thus 42 (Hitchhiker Guide to the Galaxy references are purely coincidental).

Once you are familiar with our shared values, you can have a look at the preferred approach to project development.

Development Strategy The Development Strategy page describes how OSE projects should be developed. The development cycle, at a simplistic level consists of:

• Design Rationale
• Drawings and BOM
• Review / Bids
• Prototyping and Testing
• Production

After a describing the basic approach (including some nice diagrams) a Development Work Template is included. This is basically a list of things that need to get done on the project. It's not really a template for what needs to be written, exactly, or how the pages should be organized, but it is a very good set of things that need to get done. Working on any one of these tasks for a particular OSE project would be a major contribution.

While new projects don't necessarily have to follow the OSE development strategy, they will be expected to shift towards it as the project advances through the different project stages (see below). As such, it makes sense to organize and name your project wiki pages appropriately. Documentation standards are emerging and can also be used to guide your early efforts.

Systems Engineering Breakdown Diagrams

Needless to say, some of the GVCS tools are pretty complicated. It's even more complicated when you consider how they relate to each other and how they might be used to build a local economy. The systems engineering breakdown diagrams is a way to describe the components of a technology and how it relates to others. This approach is still in the early stages of being worked out but should add a degree of organization that will serve us well later.

There are other pages and documents that relate to or comment on the OSE project development process. These include:

• Project Flow - comments on project management.

Managing an OSE Project

Once you've got things up and running, you might want to have a look at this document, which contains helpful hints and tips on running an OSE project. It explains the duties of an OSE project manager and describes so of the various support roles in the project.

OSE Project Stages

Not all (in fact, most) OSE projects will be instantly spun-up into a mission-critical, fully staffed project. For this reason, OSE recognizes that projects can advance through several 'stages'. These are:

1. Idea - kicking around ideas, gathering data, etc.
2. Incubation - research, designs, initial plans, etc.
3. Development - build plans, CAD, CAM, prototyping, etc.
4. Support - a mature proven product focused on incremental improvements, support, marketing, etc.

OSE Idea Project

At the very earliest stage of an OSE project, one or more people come together with an idea for a new project. To be considered an OSE Idea Project, it should be aligned with the mission and goals of the Open Source Ecology project. It should contribute, in large part or small, to advancing our shared goals of creating the support technology and tools for OSE villages. It might be an idea central to energy or food production, it might be a project that contributes to one of the existing GVCS projects (like developing a open source stepper motor, for example), it might be a process improvement, etc.

Regardless of scope, the idea phase is intended to allow information to be gathered, examined, and assessed for use in accomplishing the project goal. Collection of information should be done in the OSE wiki. Check first to see if anyone has already started up pages related to this idea. If so, it gives a good place to start from. If previous contributors are not part of your new idea project, contact them and invite them to participate - building a team is essential to the success of any OSE project.

Idea Project Resources

• Wiki Space - information on the idea project should be gathered and documented in the OSE wiki

OSE Incubated Project

At some point, the new OSE project becomes a serious development effort. Usually this happens when the focus of the project shifts from research and information gathering to design and early development. Projects many apply to the OSE Project Coordinator to become an incubated project. It is in the best interest of OSE and its members to establish new projects and requests for incubation status are likely to be granted, but projects must meet the following requirements:

1. A designated project leader
2. A team of two or more committed contributors
3. A project proposal in the wiki that describes the goals of this project
4. Background information, research, relevant links, etc. documented in the wiki.

Incubated Project Resources

• Wiki Space - product documentation is expected to start organizing wiki information according to OSE project and documentation standards.
• Forum - on request, an OSE technical forum can be created to discuss topics related to this new project.
• Pivotal - a project tracking space is created for the team to use for planning and tracking purposes.
• GitHub - a document and software management system can be created on request to store key project documents and software (if any).

OSE Development Project

Eventually, the OSE project team will reach a point where prototyping and product development is ready to start. While experimental prototyping can be done during the incubation phase, implementation in the development phase is expected to be done according to OSE development standards. This means that parts are fully described and sourced. They are documented in 2D technical drawings and 3D CAD renders. Detailed build instructions are developed that explain parts fabrication or modification and instructions on product assembly is provided. As prototyping is conducted, it is documented with pictures and videos needed to create a final set of build instructions.

Advancement to becoming an OSE Development Project is done through application to the OSE Project Coordinator, who will consult with the OSE Executive Director. With approval, the project becomes a full OSE project. While it may not be included in the GVCS list(depending on focus and other factors), it will be included in the larger list of established OSE projects. Advancement to the development phase requires:

1. A designated project manager
2. A established team of contributors
3. A detailed project proposal that includes system engineering breakdown, product ecology, and other documentation requirements.
4. A preliminary product design
5. A project development plan laid out in Pivotal

Development Project Resources

• Wiki Space - product documentation is expected to conform to OSE project and documentation standards.
• Forum - on request, an OSE technical forum can be created to discuss topics related to this new project.
• Pivotal - a project tracking space should be used by the team to coordinate project planning and tracking.
• GitHub - should be used to store key project documents and software.
• OSE Specialists - access to OSE development specialists such as CAD/CAM experts, ergonomic designers, fabrication experts, etc.
• Funding Support - access to OSE funding sources and guidance in how to raise funds for project development.

OSE Support Project

After an unspecified amount of time, the OSE project transitions from being a development project to being a support project. This happens after the product moves into regular development in OSE fabrication facilities and starts to be built by external facilities, shops, and organizations. The focus becomes one of customer support, resolving problems, improving the quality of the documentation, developing "build kits", promoting the product at Maker Faires and similar events, etc.

Support projects will have:

1. An established project manager
2. A customer support manager
3. An experienced support team
4. Solid assembly and fabrication documentation including photos and videos.
5. Proof of concept and successful implementation storis

Support Project Resources

• Wiki Space - product documentation is expected to conform to OSE project and documentation standards.
• Forum - an OSE technical forum can be created to discuss topics related to this new project.
• Pivotal - a project tracking space should be used by the team to coordinate project planning and tracking.
• GitHub - should be used to store key project documents and software.
• Bug Tracking - an issue management system should be used to track, resolve, and report product issues.