Copyleft hardware
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This document discusses copyleft hardware, a new movement to create open source hardware designs that can be freely built, modified, and shared. It provides examples of current copyleft hardware projects like the Ben NanoNote pocket computer and SAKC FPGA board. The document advocates designing hardware from the beginning without proprietary tricks or secrets, and releasing plans under a copyleft license like CC-BY-SA to allow others to benefit from and build upon the work. The goal is to bring the positive aspects of forking and community contributions to hardware in the same way free and open source software has benefited from these practices.
Copyleft hardware
- 1. Copyleft Hardware a new way to enjoy hardware, follow...
- 3. reverse engineering, anti- vendor ports, begging for datasheets - WHY? XBurst Jz4720 COB Ben NanoNote ⁄ let's build our own computers, the right way from day 1 ⁄ without proprietary tricks, without NDAs, trade secrets, patents ⁄ copyleft plans (CC-BY-SA), copyleft software (GPL), patent-free
- 4. copyleft hardware is a new movement ⁄ mid-90's: free software (Linux) ⁄ last 10 years: free content (Wikipedia) ⁄ last few years: copyleft hardware (Qi hardware)
- 5. technology transfer ⁄ manufacturing process ⁄ how multiple companies and service providers can work together ⁄ respect the work of others, find own business opportunities ⁄ build ability to service the equipment ⁄ knowledge about PCB routing: EMI, noise, etc. ⁄ circuit knowledge: decoupling capacitors, inductors, etc.
- 6. David Reyes Samblas Martinez Tuxbrain ⁄ VCs, banks, academia, parents, incubators all fail us, so let's do it ourselves ⁄ who's on board now: many individuals, Elphel (USA), IDA Systems (India), Sharism (Hong Kong), Tuxbrain (Spain) ⁄ largest company has 4 employees ⁄ university professor: Carlos Camargo, UNAL
- 7. ⁄ related projects: Milkymist (GPL licensed CPU), OpenWrt, JLiMe, KiCad, gEDA, Icarus Verilog, gtkwave, RTKLIB (GPL licensed GPS stack), OsmocomBB (GPL licensed GSM stack), HeeksCAD, gta02-core, OpenMotic, Elphel (GPL licensed video camera)
- 8. remember forks? Forks in free software mostly fail, but their presence keeps people honest, makes them communicate, understand each other, and want to find a way forward together. Copyleft hardware brings the positive power of forking to the hardware industry.
- 9. Terminology: too many people latch onto open hardware, open source hardware, open design hardware. We think copyleft hardware makes it clear. copyleft: “the practice of using copyright law to offer the right to distribute copies and modified versions of a work” (source: wikipedia.org)
- 10. Ben NanoNote ⁄ ultra-mobile clamshell pocket computer, 126 g ⁄ no USB Host, no Wi-Fi/Bluetooth/RF, no touch screen ⁄ clean 2.6.34 Linux kernel, no binary modules ⁄ kernel patches in process of being upstreamed ⁄ full support in OpenWrt and JLiMe upstream ⁄ extensible over USB client cable and SDIO-capable microSD ⁄ started selling in February, sold 800 to date in over 30 countries ⁄ 99 USD, http://nanonote.cc
- 11. SAKC ⁄ basically a Ben NanoNote for hardware hackers ⁄ FPGA added, keyboard and case removed ⁄ large software commonality with Ben NanoNote ⁄ could be interesting for academia and hobbyists ⁄ led by UNAL and Carlos Camargo ⁄ currently only 10 SAKC boards exist, maybe more for next semester ⁄ other universities need to join
- 12. How about later?
- 13. The End — copyleft hardware: innovate, share
- 14. Presentation by Wolfgang Spraul for Campus Party 2010 May 30, 2010 - Bogota/Colombia License of presentation: CC-BY-SA 3.0 Unported Wikimedia Commons Robben Island Freedom Swim Avraelle flickr peace tree hoyasmeg fork tm-tm power meter johnwilson1969 kid with rotary phone Foxtongue fly jhoc solar powered car Still a fan of FOTC Neo 1973 cibomahto router nrkbeta camera takekazu Preparation Software Scribus Font Liberation Sans Italic