Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
Air and Space Exploration
have created a Shepard Test Stand and a Ground Sphere CubeSat Ground Station. The
Shepard Test Stand is one part of a larger Arduino-driven system for safe rocket engine
operation. The Ground Sphere CubeSat Ground Station communicates with space-bound
things. Among its design files, the Shepard Test Stand provides documents for thrust cal-
ibrations. The documentation for the Ground Sphere CubeSat Ground Station contains cal-
culation worksheets as well as instructions on how to size and sew fabrics in the assembly
guide.
by Chris Anderson, who is also the co-founder of the largest DIY drones distributor,
asts, composed of hundreds of developers, who have developed one of the largest Arduino
programs collaboratively. Companies are now sprouting up all over the world that use the
3D Robotics drone platform for things like unmanned aerial photography, mapping, data
collection, and transportation.
The collaboration between the distributor (3D Robotics) and the online community
(DIYdrones) relies on open source hardware and software, as well as sharing of informa-
tion. 3D Robotics collaborates directly with online developers (to whom the company
pays royalties), thereby outsourcing the research and development to community enthusi-
asts who are developing software on multiple hardware platforms for the drones. This col-
laboration between the community and the company increases the speed of innovation and
cross-platform capabilities, by providing the communities with accessible software and
the capability to purchase prefabricated drones or parts to make their own.
Through the community web forums of the DIYdrones website, tools such as drones
and quadcopters that were once accessible only to military and government have now be-
gun to penetrate the civilian space through massive online collaboration and cross-plat-
form development. As platforms for drones have proliferated in the hobby market, invent-
ors and designers have started using these platforms as creative new solutions to wide-
spread global problems.
Anecdote: Open Space Initiative
Stephen Murphey
