[hackerspaces] RepLab - the Open Source Fab Lab

[Marcin Jakubowski]

Friends,

I would like to call out further for participation in
RepLab - The Open Source Fab Lab:

<http://openfarmtech.org/weblog/?p=1254>.

We are gathering interest from people interested in working on the open
source

fab lab components. Because many different hackerspaces have an interest in
tools

of production - we're hoping to leverage this interest to develop the open
source

fab lab.

The list of tools needed is below. Please
get back to us specifically on what you can contribute. In particular:

(1), tell us the tool of interest to you;
(2), what specific technical developments you are willling to contribute to
the project - such as design, calculations, research, fabrication, testing,
documentation, web development, marketing, resource development, parts
sourcing assistance, etc.
(3), resources and infrastructure that you have available, and what gruops
you are involved with or that you can leverage for assistance
(4), suggestions on strategies and enterprise models that can be utilized in

development
(5), suggestions on tools missing, and how you're willing to contribute to
devloping them
(6), how much energy you can commit - do you 'have a job' or can you commit
significant time?

TOOL LIST - from FabLab - see <
http://openfarmtech.org/index.php?title=MIT_Fab_Lab_item_list>

1. Laser cutter - large DIY community exists for C02 lasers
2. ShopBot - RepTab is the Factor e Farm version
3. Precise router for milling circuits
4. Plasma cutter - power circuit is main point to opensource
5. Welder - power circuit is main point to opensource
6. Oscilloscope - can a computer oscilloscope cover most needs?

Beyond FabLab:


1. RepRap - fabrication streamlining and open business model needed
2. Mill
3. Drill
4. Lathe
5. Induction furnace - power electronics are main point to opensource
6. Ciruit fab - automated process including pick-and-place
7. Aluminum extrusion
8. Metal casting - of ingot from induction furnace, and other molds
9. Hot rolling
10. Cold rolling
11. Forging
12. Metal shear and hole punch for up to 1" steel
13. Wire drawing

These tools cover electronics, precision fabrication, heavy metal work, and
ability to make other tools for producing any technology known in advanced
civilization. Tools created from the above can even yield clean room
technology. The above is quite a limited set, but is sufficient to generate
other tools. The latter parts focus on serious industrial process, with a
bias towards building replicable, post-scarcity resilient communities with
capacity to bootstrap largerly from scrap steel.

Comments and refinements of problem statement are welcome.

Thanks,
Marcin
marcin at replab.org

-- 
--------------------------------------------------
Marcin Jakubowski, Ph.D.
Open Source Ecology
http://openfarmtech.org
opensourceecology at gmail dot com
Skype: marcin_ose
--------------------------------------------------

Nobody said that building the world's first open source village would be
easy.

-- Anonymous, 2009

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a
hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build
a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate,
act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a
computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly.
Specialization is for insects.

-- Robert A. Heinlein

NOTICE: All discussion in this communication is in the public domain, unless
otherwise noted. If you are sharing proprietary, confidential, or otherwise
privileged information, you must make that explicit. Otherwise, this
discussion may be copied, republished, and otherwise used in the public
domain - respectfully and with proper attribution. Furthermore, please
consider that we are not interested in discussion as much as action.
Therefore, we are particularly interested in discussion of ideas that both
parties can commit to by acting on them.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.hackerspaces.org/pipermail/discuss/attachments/20091123/7cee3ef0/attachment-0001.html>