Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
Why? Because nothing motivates one to do the hard work like the
siren's song of a mission one cares about.
If you haven't done so lately, I encourage you to read the Definition
of Open Source Hardware (
http://www.oshwa.org/definition/
)
. Allow
me to direct your attention to the “Statement of Principles 1.0”:
Open source hardware is hardware whose design is made publicly
available so that anyone can study, modify, distribute, make, and sell
the design or hardware based on that design. The hardware's source,
the design from which it is made, is available in the preferred format
for making modifications to it. Ideally, open source hardware uses
readily-available components and materials, standard processes, open
infrastructure, unrestricted content, and open-source design tools to
maximize the ability of individuals to make and use hardware. Open
source hardware gives people the freedom to control their technology
while sharing knowledge and encouraging commerce through the
open exchange of designs.
Stop and consider this statement for a moment. For a piece of hard-
ware to be open source, anyone must be able to study and modify the
design; and they must be able to make their own copies of the hardware
for any purpose including distribution with or without profit (more on
this last part later). In other words, hardware can only be open source,
and we can only achieve our great and mighty mission, when the hard-
ware has sufficient documentation to support studying, modifying, and
making the hardware.
This, dare I say, requirement begs the question: How do we as open
source hardware developers know when we have sufficiently documen-
ted our projects so they meet the values expressed in the “Statement of
Principles”? At Mach 30, we have come up with a rather simple (and
admittedly obvious) test: Have someone replicate the project from its
design documentation (no, not a kit, the actual documentation including
bill of materials, assembly instructions, operating manual, safety manu-
al ... you get the idea). This test has become such a key to our work that
we consider it a turning point in the development of a project, worthy
of celebration just as much as the first successful test of a prototype or
the first sale of a kit. When the Coca-Cola Space Science Center
(CCSSC) built the first copy of the Shepard Test Stand (
ht-
tps://opendesignengine.net/projects/shepard-ts
)
, a small rocket test
