Open Source Hardware Projects, 2009 77
ptorrone writes "MAKE's yearly open source hardware guide is now online with over 125 projects in 19 categories. The creators of all of these projects have decided to publish completely all the source, schematics, firmware, software, bill of materials, parts list, drawings, and 'board' files to recreate the hardware. They also allow any use, including commercial. In other words, you can make a business making and selling any of these objects. This is similar to open source software like Linux, but hardware-centric."
Re:Make magazine (Score:3, Informative)
PS: I not way endorsing them, I have no comment on whether I like or hate them.
Re:No (Score:5, Informative)
A lot of people confuse "use" with "derivative works". Use means run the program.
Re:No (Score:4, Informative)
Re:No universal machine (Score:1, Informative)
There are certainly more expensive hobbies, but compared to Open Source software development, electronics is costly. Having circuit boards made is expensive and making them yourself is still hit or miss without a lot of practice. Sure, you can learn a lot with breadboards and simulators, but to make something usable according to a plan is a much bigger leap than from source to executable software.
Re:No universal machine (Score:3, Informative)
the arduino seems to be as close to 'programmable logic for the masses' as I've seen.
this year, I finally took the plunge and got very into this arduino thing. love it! recommend it.
I'm a mostly-software person with a hardware hobby background. the arduino is just enough hardware to 'stay interesting' and yet not need a full EE to do useful things (design, build AND code).
its not a host like unix is; its a controller. but its all in C, its multiplatform (the IDE) and it does quite a lot for the cost (almost no cost; just a $20 usb serial cable for development and that's all, over the chip and board itself). chips and boards can be made for $5 (I built my own arduino clone on perf board. not hard.)
the arduino craze is taking off and only going to get bigger as time goes on.
need an IR receiver that 'does things' based on learned IR codes? arduino. need some X10 wireless stuff controlled? arduino. need to talk to LCD displays easily? arduino. and ALL the source is out there, so your coding is mostly a 'glue' exercise without a huge amount of new code that needs to be written.
Re:Bad news (Score:3, Informative)
You want Linux or Unix to catch on? Make an open source Outlook & Exchange substitution. You'll have to beat businesses off with a stick.
Re:The "Arduno" cult (Score:3, Informative)
The Arduino is all about the "cult," however.
That "cult" has created an ecosystem around the ATMega8/168/328 - in fact, what makes the Arduino so interesting isn't the hardware, or even the shields (although they are nice - a de-facto standard for expansion,) it's the software. The software reduces the barrier of entry to microcontroller programming drastically.
You can make an Arduino that doesn't use their hardware at all, only their software, and get quite a lot of the benefits. In fact, there are official Arduino designs that use different layouts.
Re:The "Arduno" cult (Score:4, Informative)
(Actually, not 32-bit -- it's all still 8-bit, except for the AVR32 line which is another set of chips altogether.)
You're right, there was a lot lacking and people could be "scared away" from getting started with microcontrollers, but what we're trying to do with NerdKits [nerdkits.com] is make it less scary without hiding the complexity or the conceptual learning. Our hypothesis is that people are actually smart enough to handle real tools, if you show them how, and will be far better off with that experience. Guide newbies through looking at the datasheet, setting registers, etc. Add some unique content [nerdkits.com] that really makes you use your brain, and we've got a lot of very happy customers!
Re:No (Score:3, Informative)