Tech Development
Technology. The substance of modern civilization. The foundation for future innovation.
Contents
Scope Overview
On one hand, development should push on-site productive capacity further and further into cutting-edge technologies. This is the Technical Scope
On the other hand, development should be oriented for worldwide replication and use, such as for facilitating new enterprises. This is the Replication Scope
Technical Scope
The time is 2013. The site is Factor e Farm.
What do we have?
- Basic Hand Tools and Accessories
- Basic Measuring Instruments
- Steel Tables and Shelves
- Vises
- Soldering Iron
- Brazing Torch
- MIG Welder
- TIG Welder
- MagDrill
- Corded Impact Driver
- Cordless Driver
- Mill
- Mini-lathe
- Bandsaw
- Ironworker - plate and angle shear
- Hydraulic Hole Punch
- Angle Grinder
- Bench Grinder
- Surface Grinder
- Tractor
Comments: for the most part, we have basic equipment for semi-precision mechanical fabrication.
Continuous: Development Infrastructure
- Organize and maintain our existing tools. It is foolish to try developing with a wake of lost and broken tools behind us.
- Acquire a development material inventory. Much time is saved by having various metals, spare fasteners, electrical components, and hydraulic parts on-site.
- Acquire commercially available tools.
- Establish development software
Milestone: Mechanical Precision
Milestone: PCB Electronics
Milestone: Casting and Refining
Milestone: Synthetic and Biological Chemistry
Milestone: Optics and Lasers
Milestone: Semiconductor Electronics
We are then on the frontier of society's technological state. Cutting-edge innovation fields include:
- Artificial Intelligence
- Nanotechnology
- Metamaterials
- Bioengineering
- Space Systems
- Geoengineering
- Quantum Systems
Replication Scope
Milestone: Commerce Guide
Milestone: United States
Milestone: North America
Milestone: Globe
Organization, Maintenance, Inventory
Organization
Workshop needs a lot of organization. 100 hours should get it to a much more workable state.
Electronics Zone
- Organize first aid supplies into cases. Cost is <70USD. Time is <1hr.
- Organize safety equipment, some into cases. Cost is <70USD. Time is <2hrs.
- Organize electrical supplies and tools. Cost is <200USD. Time is <10hrs.
- Move aluminum, HDPE, rubber, bronze to coordination zone
- Move table saw and mitre saw to coordination zone
- Move large hand tools to coordination zone
Electrical Infrastructure Zone
- Clear out shelf materials
Large Machine Row
- Clear out shelf materials
- Move shelf into position beside wall
- Organize mill and surface grinder accessories
Ironworker Zone
- Move ironworker or punch so that ironworker angle cutting can be extended beyond 1ft.
- Designate ironworker-dedicated control valve and powercube
- Designate punch-dedicated control valve and powercube
- Mount power strip to table for magdrills.
- Move and mount low-profile vises to table for magdrills
- Move out broken tools, tools in disrepair, dissimilar materials from area and local shelves
- Organize hydraulic accessories in local shelves
Torch Table Zone
- Move table-dedicated plasma cutter to permanent area
- Move table-dedicated air compressor to permanent area
- Designate table-dedicated 240VAC and 120VAC outlet.
- Clear out local shelves
- Move and organize plasma cutting accessories to local shelves
- Move and organize air compressor accessories to local shelves
Welding Zone
- Mount bench grinders in accessible, sturdy place.
- Organize local shelves. Fasteners, welding accessories, portable grinders, chain accessories, and grinder accessories
Coordination Zone
- Organize tools on tables into tool drawers
- Organize foldable tables into accessible storage location for rapid deployment on demand
- Organize fastener box into welding zone or electronics zone
- Move whiteboards against electronics zone shelves as vision blocks
- Move Cold Saw with mounting table into area, leaving enough space for material feed and cutoff length into Cold Saw
- Move cold saw-dedicated powercube into area
Center Field
- Label and organize tools into tool drawers
- Move TIG Welder Accessories to shelves near TIG welding station
- Clear out tables from ceb press production run
- Tap and Die Set needs higher quality organization. Crucial for easy drill+tap/die operations for rapid development.
Wood Pillars
- Hang heavy duty extension cords from all pillars
Maintenance
A lot of tools need maintaining.
Hablab air gaps are wreaking havoc on the inside temperature - a few bottles of expanding foam <30$ and <1hr should handle some of the big gaps.
Second mill needs to be fixed, discarded, or replaced.
Lathe needs to get operational.
Surface Grinder needs to get dressed.
Diamond point dressing bit is from J&M Diamond Tool, Single Point Dresser Style B 7/16 X 1-5/8 GP 1/2 ct. Cost is 44.7$
Steel dressing bit holder can be made with 2" x 3" x 6" steel flat with M12x1.75 setscrew. Cost is <20$
A drill press with autocentering vise with organized drill bits and tap set makes this easy. Time is <2 hours.
First mill needs to be lubricated. 3/4" dia collet mounting problem needs to be fixed.
http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/south-bend-lathes/south-bend-recommended-lubricants-238033/
Vactra 2 Oil from Mobil via Enco - Way Oil
Velocite 10 Oil from Mobil via Enco - Type A Oil (Spindle)
DTE 24 (ISO 32) Oil from Mobil via Enco - Type B Oil (Gearbox)
DTE Heavy-Med (ISO 68) Oil from Mobil via Enco - Type C Oil (Everything Else)
Hand-held Can and Oiler from Enco - x4
ABCD 1/2gal ea Oil Kit from BlueMachineShop
Cost is <200USD. Time is <10hrs.
Bandsaw needs cutting fluid refill.
Problematic welders need troubleshooting and repair.
Inventory
Metric Stock of Fasteners needs to be ordered and organized.
Cost is 169.95 + shipping
Stock of hydraulic hoses and fittings needs ordering and organizing.
Stock of electronic components needs ordering and organizing.
Commercial Tool Sourcing
Low Profile Vise for Rapid Magdrill Operations
Palmgren 3" Low-Profile Vise via Amazon
Bolts and nuts from fastener inventory. Magdrill and drill bit to match drill mounting holes into table.
Cost is <60USD. Time is <2hrs. Benefit is a few minutes per magdrill operation. That's a lot of time to be saved.
Tap and Die Set - threads are one of the most common mechanical mechanisms in use today. It is crucial to have a complete tap and die set for rapid development.
- Order metric tap and die set with complete taper+plug+bottoming set for important sizes if not every size.
Development Guide
http://opensourceecology.org/wiki/Development_Guide
Collaboration Resources
- Commerce information on how to do marketing, advertising, sales, shipping, and customer support.
- Collaborative development info on how to team up with other developers and conduct peer review
- General communication info on communication tools; phones, VoIP, IM, websites, emails
Design Resources - a handy reference resource for the design phase of development.
Suppliers - preparing a list of suppliers ensures reliable sourcing of tools, materials, and services.
- Find precision mechanical part suppliers - thread and nut, acme thread and nut, ballscrew and nut, ball bearings,
- Find tooling suppliers - mill tooling, lathe tooling, MIG/TIG welder accessories, portable/bench/surface grinder accessories
- Find raw material suppliers - large iron, copper tube,
- Find large wire and cable suppliers - important for high electrical power machines such as inverter, welder, induction furnace
- Find large copper tube supplier - important for high power electrical coils for induction furnace
- Find tire and hub supplier - important for all wheeled vehicles and implements
Action Resources - online information on how to get tools, use them, and maintain them.
- Refining metals, plastics, and more
http://www.mitsubishielectric.com/company/environment/ecotopics/plastic_sp/greencycle/index.html
Documentation Resources - information on how to document effectively
Active Enterprise Assistance
- Wilson - agriculture project in India
Prototyping
CNC Torch Table
- Design CNC electronics mounting/wiring
- Mount and wire CNC electronics
- Wire table to electronics
- Test jog and gcode
CNC Mini-Mill
Inverter
Induction Furnace
- 1st Prototype: VDC input, variable VAC and frequency output. Electronics in case with input terminals, control interface, and output coil. Application - annealing.
- 2nd Prototype: Same as 1st plus tilting crucible. Application - metal melting with low duty cycle.
- 3rd Prototype: Same as 2nd plus water-cooling for induction coil. Application - metal melting with high duty cycle.
Budget
