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

[Jerry Isdale]

I joined their list and posted a link back to here.
There are some good minds in that group that I hope will join us.

Jerry Isdale
http://MauiMakers.com
http://www.mauimakers.com/blog/thursday-public-meeting/

On Apr 17, 2012, at 8:27 AM, cole santos wrote:

> "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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