Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
Overview/Introduction
Your open-source hardware project should include a general description of the
hardware's identity and purpose, written as much as possible for a general audi-
ence. That is, explain what the project is and what it's for before you get into
the technical details. A good photo or rendering can help a lot here.
Original Design Files
These are the original source files that you would use to make modifications to
the hardware's design. The act of sharing these files is the core practice of
open-source hardware.
Ideally, your open-source hardware project would be designed using a free
and open-source software application, to maximize the ability of others to view
and edit it. For better or worse however, hardware design files are often created
in proprietary programs and stored in proprietary formats. It is still essential to
share these original design files; they constitute the original “source code” for
the hardware. They are the very files that someone will need in order to contrib-
ute changes to a given design.
Try to make your design files easy for someone else to understand. Organize
them in a logical way; comment complex aspects; note any unusual manufac-
turing procedures; etc.
Examples of original design files include:
2D drawings or computer-aided design (CAD) files, such as those used
to describe two-dimensional laser cut, vinyl cut, or water-jet cut part, in
their original format. Example formats: Native 2D design files saved by
Corel Draw (.cdr), Inkscape (.svg), Adobe Illustrator (.ai), AutoCAD,
etc.
3D designs that can be 3D printed, forged, injection molded, extruded,
machined, etc. Example formats: Native files saved by SolidWorks (.sld-
prt, .sldasm), Rhino, etc.
Circuit board CAD files such as capture files (schematics) and printed-
circuit board (layout) design files. Example formats: Native files saved
by Eagle, Altium, KiCad, gEDA, etc.
Component libraries (symbol, footprint, fastener, etc.) necessary for nat-
ive modification of CAD files.
Additional technical drawings in their original design formats, if re-
quired for fabrication of the device.
