Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
4.
Standardization of Open Source Hardware
Ed Baafi
“Our heritage and ideals, our code and standards—the things we live by and
teach our children—are preserved or diminished by how freely we exchange
ideas and feelings.”
—Walt Disney
This chapter defines further standards from which open source hardware can benefit, bey-
ond the Open Source Hardware Definition and Best Practices. This ironic quote from Walt
Disney, given how the copyright world has locked down cultural exchange on behalf of
Disney movies, is actually quite valid when it comes to open exchange within the open
source community. This chapter focuses the goals of making open even more open through
standardization and walks through several instances of module design principles as a meth-
od of further opening your hardware.
At their core, standards are a way for people to work together. Think of all the standards
we take for granted each hour in every day of our lives. Your alarm starts to buzz at 6:45
A.M.
You quickly shower and get dressed to be ready for an early 8:30 meeting. When you
get in the car, you glance at the gas gauge and notice it's almost empty. After stopping to
get gas and getting caught at a few stop lights, you walk into the office with just a few
minutes to spare. You say a hurried “Good morning” to a coworker as you make your way
to the conference room.
If you're already thinking about standards, you might have noticed all the standards at
play as you make your way through your day. But if you're like most of us, you take all of
these standards for granted and just assume that's how things are. Without standard defini-
tions of time, how would we plan times to meet others? Without standard electrical outlets,
how would we plug in our alarm clock (or phone with an alarm app)? Without standards,
would we even have a phone at all? With no standard sizes, how would you buy clothes
without first trying them on? And without the communication standards commonly called
language, how would we communicate with others at all?
Unless you live in the woods, isolated from civilization, you most assuredly rely on
many different standards in every aspect of your life. Some standards are fuzzy, like clothes
sizes (which can run smaller or larger than the norm) or the gas gauge that dips below
empty (yet you still have enough gas to make it to the station). Some are firm, like standard
