Interactions - March/April 2012

Links and Resources

Tired of reading? Rather be building? Here are some of our favorite resources: free tools, inexpensive services, interesting events, knowledge-sharing, and more.

Open source tools: arduino.cc processing.org openframeworks.cc fritzing.org openpicus.com

Big projects from small businesses:

reprap.org labs.nortd.com/lasersaur/ makerbot.com solidoodle.com adafruit.com littlebits.cc buglabs.net

Small-scale and open fabrication:

ponoko.com shapeways.com thingiverse.com upverter.com eagleup.wordpress

Organizations and events: dorkbot.org makezine.com makerfaire.com openhardwaresummit.org hackerspaces.org

More information: instructables.com archive.org/details/hackerspaces-the-beginning

Microsystems’s SunSPOTS, have the backing of large corporations. But, notably, many small open source companies—such as Spark Fun, MakerBot, BugLabs, Adafruit, and littleBits—are challenging the traditional business model of making money from trade secrets and closed technologies [ 8].

The open source hardware movement began as a way for people to share documentation for how hardware is built, a practice encouraged by the cooperative ethos of the larger DIY community. Sharing designs in an open manner makes the hardware more accessible to a broader audience. In turn, active and engaged members of this audience help make the hardware less expensive in a competitive marketplace, easier and faster to build, and more malleable to fix or reappropriate for unanticipated uses—all traits that make for powerful prototyping tools.

March + April 2012

interactions

tively, open source hardware can be an effective business model. In fact, the open source hardware community is largely made up of companies and start-ups; most speakers at the Open Hardware Summit in 2010 and 2011 represented companies creating open source hardware. Because big hardware projects involve electronic parts that require capital to purchase, they might have high start-up costs and benefit from economies of scale; even a small business is better equipped to take advantage of those conditions than an individual would be. A few key projects, notably the Arduino and LilyPad Arduino, were developed in universities and are now successful products. Others, such as Texas Instruments’s Beagleboard and Sun

Hackerspaces

While the open source hardware movement is creating new models for stimulating and profiting from technological innovation, hackerspaces are creating new models for collocated creativity and invention. (Similar spaces may also be called maker spaces or fablabs. Though there are subtle differences in connotation, all share the same open vision of a collective whole.) Several years ago, rapid prototyping tools like CNC mills, laser cutters, and 3-D printers were affordable only to big-budget corporate and university research labs. Now open source versions of these tools are beginning to proliferate, and to be affordable to grassroots communities of ordinary people. A major barrier to democratic invention has crumbled.

The idea of hackerspaces stemmed originally from Germany’s Chaos Computer Club, which in 1995

arguably created the first hackerspace, c-base in Berlin, which is still operating today. The goal of a hackerspace is to provide a community-oriented space, sustainably funded by members, that supports creation and exploration. These facilities tend to be open 24/7 to members and have high-speed Internet and plenty of seating. Additional facilities can vary widely, but as costs come down, they increasingly include fabrication tools like DIY 3-D printers, wood shops, and laser cutters. Most space in a hackerspace is communal; however, many allow members to have a shelf, locker, or cubby to store their personal projects. Membership in a hackerspace works (and is priced) similarly to a gym membership. Hackerspaces generally follow the Hackerspace Design Pattern Catalogue [ 9] to get started.

The authors of this article hail from New York City, Montreal, and the San Francisco Bay Area. We all have our own local hackerspaces, all of which share certain traits, but each with its own personality. Noisebridge in San Francisco and Hacker Dojo in Mountain View are representative of the larger hackerspaces in California; Dojo membership costs $100 per month, and Noisebridge contributions are on a voluntary donation basis. N YCResistor, New York City’s first hackerspace, charges $75 per month, and Montreal’s Foulab charges $50; both also cover expenses by offering classes or workshops in their spaces. Besides providing lab equipment and a friendly community, these workshop-friendly hackerspaces also have outreach and educational activities that are available to the general public.