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

[cole santos]

"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."

hey that's us. lol. nice vision though sounds a lot like what we want to do.

On Tue, Apr 17, 2012 at 8:16 AM, Jerry Isdale <isdale at gmail.com> wrote:
> 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.
>
>
>
>
>
>
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