Tractor Design Rationale, Product Ecology

LifeTrac is a low-cost, multipurpose open source tractor. It satisfies many of the OSE Core Values OSE_Specifications#GVCS_Specifications.2FCore_Values

1. Open Source. The LifeTrac was designed from the ground up with the intention of making freely available not only the design, but also the education necessary to understand, use, and improve the design.

2. Low Cost. As compared to its commercial equivalent, the LifeTrac is 1/10 the cost to acquire. There are even more dramatic reductions in the cost to own.

3. Do-It-Yourself. Most of the components and sub-assemblies are held together with bolts. If you've got a wrench you've got a tractor.

4. Closed-Loop Manufacturing. Because the materials the LifeTrac is made out of require so little machining, they can be produced by future GVCS machines. No need for exotic materials or fancy injection molding.

5. Industrial Efficiency. The LifeTrac's performance is on par with what is available commercially.

6. Lifetime Design. Unlike what is available commercially, the LifeTrac is designed to function indefinitely. With no one to make money on a locked-in customer there is no reason to design for obsolescence.

7. Robustness. The LifeTrac might be ugly, but it works everywhere and for everyone.

8. Technological Recursion. With a LifeTrac you can begin to accumulate and manipulate the raw materials that you'll make everything else out of. Eventually, another LifeTrac.

9. Local Resources. What good are the resources under your feet if you can't use them? The LifeTrac opens up new avenues for self-sourcing.

10. Replicability. With full documentation of how to source the materials, build the tractor, and use it in the field, the LifeTrac eradicates barriers to entry.