[SpaceProgram] ARocket List discussing Open Source Space prizes, etc

[Jerry Isdale]

Via OpenManufacturing (http://groups.google.com/group/openmanufacturing/topics)
I found the ARocket list has a discussion going about Open Source Space Hardware, with ITAR subtopic
  http://exrocketry.net/mailman/listinfo/arocket

Here's the post that kicked it off (by my friend Michael Clive)

From: Michael Clive 
Date: Mon, Apr 16, 2012 at 4:58 AM
Subject: [AR] Open source space hardware.
 
So we had a panel on open source space hardware at SA'12.
Had some thoughts on it.
 
First off, who is already doing this or planning to do this?
-Spacehack http://spacehack.org/category/open-source
-Earthlight, rick announced it at the con
-Mach 30 http://mach30.org/
-PSAS : http://opensourcebridge.org/sessions/407
-Most of the blogging folk, paul, armadillo, masten, etc. They are not
quite open source because it is not like Dave is posting drawing packages,
but know-how is being transferred. I know I learned tons from the armadillo
updates.
 
So a bunch of folks are interested. I probably missed two or three major
groups.
 
I will just ramble for a minute here.
 
I am coming up with an potentially effective plan to make this all work.
The issue is that tech dev costs money, the problems are hard, and
voulenteers work on their schedule.
 
So lets monetize the whole thing. Not through crowdfunding, but through
microprizes for manageable tasks.
 
 
Here is how I imagine the system to work. A supraogranization is created
that talks to all of these open source groups. They secure public/private
money, and hand out prizes in the kilobuck level for clearly defined tasks.
Valves is an obvious one.
"Design a LOX-compatible cryovalve that weighs X kg and flows Y
Cv. Electric or pneumatic interface. Fits in a box U by V by W"
Build one, post the drawing package, mail it to the verification team
(which could be another hacker group/student group) If verified, the
organization gives the winning group X thousand, between 1~10k. This is
small money, but lemme tell you, 5 grand would mean a lot to Mojave Makers
or CrashSpace or to a student organization.
 
you could chop up a $1m STEM grant from various partners into hundreds of
such prizes. Heck, you could even write a prize for writing the spec for a
system.
"Define the electrical interface standards for a space vehicle that has to
travel between the moon and earth. Include power bus, signal bus, etc.
Define connectors and create list of vendors and part numbers". A bunch of
specs would be written, and the open source groups would vote for the
winner. Bam, $1000 buck prize for some smart kid at University of Nowhere.
 
"Design the VHDL package to load onto a rad-hard FPGA unit capable of the
following inputs and outputs"
"Build a 6dof robot arm that weighs X, with a materials and manufacturing
cost of Y"
 
 
You could then do things like pledge drives. "HOT PRIZE: Design an ablative
thrust chamber manufacturable for under $500. Usually $5k prize. $10K IF
COMPLETED BEFORE JUNE!"
 
In the end, all projects are loaded onto the websites of the groups. There
are standards in place for how you can contribute. If you want to win a
hardware prize, you HAVE to send in solid models, manufacturing drawings,
and an actual real physical item. This is just an example.
 
administering such a program would be no joke, but I think it would provide
the energy required to take this from "good idea" to "holy crap look at all
this stuff on this site!"
 
 
you need to give money because of a few things:
 
1. Software dev only costs time, and people love to give that away for
free. That is why open source software works pretty well. Hardware dev
costs. I dropped $15k before I could build something as simple as an
igniter.
 
2. No money, no pressure. You need to put a bit of a carrot on this if you
want to get stuff done.
 
3. Control. You want a group of smart folks deciding what needs to be
designed. Otherwise, everyone will make engines and no one will make
chutes. you also want to define interfaces because you want to be able to
use these things.
 
I made a point on the panel that hackerspaces/makerspaces are spaces, not
teams. That changes when they are chasing money. Five grand can pay a few
months rent, can buy a laser cutter, can pay for a new shed. Teams would
form to win these prizes. Student teams would form. A smart team of
students could pay their whole way through college winning these prizes.
And we are talking about not a huge amount of cash here. The NLV is $3
million. That is 600 prizes at the $5k level.
 
 
 
Anyway, these were just my thoughts on the issue.
 



-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.hackerspaces.org/pipermail/spaceprogram/attachments/20120417/87526b4b/attachment-0001.html>