<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
<html>
<head>
<meta content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" http-equiv="Content-Type">
</head>
<body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000">
Sounds like a blast man. Let me know if you need any help/hosting/etc.
Ill do what i can, looks like a really cool project and as an amateur
hardware hacker it could be super useful!<br>
<br>
-E<br>
<br>
On 04/05/2010 01:45 PM, Nils Hitze wrote:
<blockquote
cite="mid:j2y474128411004051245y67955871zc2052834131ba3da@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite">I don't know if i get this, because im fucking tired right
now but this sounds AWESOME.
<div><br>
</div>
<div>It's like the Ride in MAKERs from Doctorow. </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>I love the idea, will try to catch up on your work.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Brilliant stuff, thx for sharing</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Nils<br>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">2010/4/5 Bryan Bishop <span dir="ltr"><<a
moz-do-not-send="true" href="mailto:kanzure@gmail.com">kanzure@gmail.com</a>></span><br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote"
style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">Hey
all, [this was originally sent to the Austin Hackerspace mailing list]<br>
<br>
I am presenting at Texas Linux Fest 2010 this Saturday (April 10th) on<br>
one of the projects I contribute to, dubbed SKDB. Essentially, it's<br>
apt-get for hardware. Registration for the conference is $40 and it's<br>
up at the Marchesa Event Center in Austin, Texas. Here's the scoop on<br>
the project (but some links first!):<br>
<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://designfiles.org/dokuwiki/skdb" target="_blank">http://designfiles.org/dokuwiki/skdb</a><br>
git: <a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://designfiles.org/skdb.git"
target="_blank">http://designfiles.org/skdb.git</a><br>
irc: #hplusroadmap on <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://irc.freenode.net" target="_blank">irc.freenode.net</a><br>
irc logs: <a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://gnusha.org/logs/"
target="_blank">http://gnusha.org/logs/</a> and <a
moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://gnusha.org/irclogs.txt"
target="_blank">http://gnusha.org/irclogs.txt</a><br>
<br>
And in particular, the talk abstract:<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://texaslinuxfest.org/talks/2010/apt-get-for-hardware/"
target="_blank">http://texaslinuxfest.org/talks/2010/apt-get-for-hardware/</a><br>
<br>
"""<br>
SKDB is a method for sharing hardware over the internet. By "hardware"<br>
we mean not just designs for circuit boards, but also biological<br>
constructs, scientific instruments, machine tools, nuts and bolts, raw<br>
materials, and how to make them.<br>
<br>
You don't need to reinvent the wheel every time you begin a new<br>
project. Someone out there has probably already done most or all of<br>
the work for whatever you are trying to do, and then released the<br>
plans on the internet. There are many common tools and parts involved<br>
in making things. If only we could just "get" everything automatically<br>
from the web, DIY manufacturing would be much easier. Essentially we<br>
want to do something like "apt-get" for Debian or "emerge" for Gentoo,<br>
the Linux software package managers. SKDB simplifies the process of<br>
searching for free designs, comparing part compatibility, and building<br>
lists of materials and components and where to get them. You could<br>
even say SKDB is "apt-get but for real stuff".<br>
<br>
In SKDB, hardware is organized into packages. Packages are a standard<br>
and consistent way for programs to find data. Packages may contain CAD<br>
files, CAM parameters, computer-readable descriptions of product<br>
specifications, product-specific code, and bill of materials. For each<br>
part in a package there are a number of interface definitions, which<br>
describe how the part can connect with other parts, even parts from<br>
other packages. Each package also lists dependencies which have to be<br>
bought or built in order to successfully carry out a project. For<br>
example a drill press is required to make holes with a certain level<br>
of accuracy. SKDB downloads all of the dependencies automatically and<br>
compares them to your existing inventory, and generates instructions<br>
for your CNC machinery if you have any.<br>
"""<br>
<br>
There are some non-technical videos from a presentation I gave last<br>
December located here:<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://gnusha.org/" target="_blank">http://gnusha.org/</a><br>
.. Gnusha is an open source hardware co-op that I have working with.<br>
The text on the page is from an update email on 2010-01-12, and more<br>
recently there was a huge update in late March that I haven't sent out<br>
(still editing?).<br>
<br>
I also wanted to bring up an idea that I will be focusing on at the<br>
shop w/ Les. I think the linux kernel is a good starting point for<br>
running a fablab, machine shop, hackerspace, techshop, or even a lab.<br>
Essentially what I would love to have is, not only apt-get for<br>
hardware, but also machines hooked up to /dev on a server. So, maybe<br>
the laser cutter is mounted on /dev or otherwise through cupsd with a<br>
printer driver, or some hardware-over-network protocol if a machine is<br>
hooked up to EMC on a dedicated box. I'd also like to build something<br>
like /dev/parts for a vending machine of small parts- imagine calling<br>
up `cat` on a file and pipping it to a vending machine, and out pop<br>
your parts for a quickie project.<br>
<br>
For now, part bins are more efficient, but I suspect the (vague) idea<br>
is coming across. Anyway, it would be an interesting way of organizing<br>
a shop. A while back I had some silly shell scripts that I wanted to<br>
eventually, one day, work:<br>
<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://github.com/kanzure/shelltrance/blob/master/shelltrance.txt"
target="_blank">http://github.com/kanzure/shelltrance/blob/master/shelltrance.txt</a><br>
.. but it's easy to spot how that shell script could be improved<br>
significantly (like, wtf is up with the call to `mail`).<br>
<br>
- Bryan<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://heybryan.org/"
target="_blank">http://heybryan.org/</a><br>
1 512 203 0507<br>
_______________________________________________<br>
Discuss mailing list<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:Discuss@lists.hackerspaces.org">Discuss@lists.hackerspaces.org</a><br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss"
target="_blank">http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss</a><br>
</blockquote>
</div>
<br>
<br clear="all">
<br>
-- <br>
Nils Hitze<br>
<br>
Email: <a moz-do-not-send="true" href="mailto:nhitze@gmail.com">nhitze@gmail.com</a><br>
Mobil: +49 179 9429701<br>
<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://www.silberkind.de">http://www.silberkind.de</a><br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://twitter.com/kojote">http://twitter.com/kojote</a><br>
</div>
<pre wrap="">
<fieldset class="mimeAttachmentHeader"></fieldset>
_______________________________________________
Discuss mailing list
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:Discuss@lists.hackerspaces.org">Discuss@lists.hackerspaces.org</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss">http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss</a>
</pre>
</blockquote>
<br>
</body>
</html>