Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
(OSAT) projects (Pearce, 2007a). Appropriate technologies are defined here as technolo-
gies that are based on readily available resources and are easily and economically used by
local communities in the developing world. OSAT must meet the boundary conditions set
by the environmental, cultural, economic, and educational resource constraints of the local
community (Pearce, 2007b; 2012b).
For a physics class, the assignment was for students to fortify the information in Ap-
propedia on an OSAT of their choice that used the type of physics we were discussing.
Students identified an OSAT that interested them through research, examples from former
students or class content, the department's collection of topics and articles, or the Internet.
Students having trouble with a specific class topic (e.g., heat transfer) were asked to con-
sider targeting a technology that used this area of physics to help them review it (e.g.,
home insulation with straw bale construction). Next, students coordinated their projects on
the class category page, which allowed for collaboration while eliminating duplication.
Then, they researched the technical specifications of their chosen device, paying close at-
tention to its underlying physics so they might understand how to improve its perform-
ance. Finally, students wrote an article (or several integrated articles) on their chosen
OSAT. These articles generally contained a title, abstract, science principles (often with
links to basic definitions in Wikipedia), all of the necessary equations governing the topic,
examples, cultural/regional context, required materials/tools/skills, technical specifica-
tions and sometimes drawings and schematics, costs, common mistakes, and sources.
This assignment provided students with an opportunity to directly participate in global
collaboration to support sustainable development. Alterations of this assignment can be
made to fit into almost any curricula, but meld particularly well with design courses. Stu-
dents can be assigned design, simulation, or experiments to help drive open source hard-
ware forward while learning conventional material and collaborating virtually with non-
profit organizations.
Consider the Kingston Hot Press (KHP) shown in
Figure 16.3
.
The organization Waste
for Life develops poverty-reducing solutions to specific ecological problems. Through a
large collaboration with researchers, community members, and service learning projects,
the KHP has been designed and developed to provide the means of production to smaller
cooperatives in communities in Argentina and Lesotho. The KHP allows the user to pro-
duce a value-added composite tile out of waste plastic and fiber (most commonly card-
board and paper, as shown in
Figure 16.3d
). A service learning project was initiated to
provide a useful heat transfer model that could improve the design and reduce the cost of
the KHP. Rather than simply learning the skills necessary to complete the project in a nor-
prove the hot press design in the future.
