background preloader

How to Make Everything Ourselves: Open Modular Hardware

How to Make Everything Ourselves: Open Modular Hardware
A modular system unites the advantages of standardisation (as parts can be produced cheaply in large amounts) with the advantages of customisation (since a large diversity of unique objects can be made with relatively few parts). Modularity can be found to a greater or lesser extent in many products (like bicycles and computers) and systems (like trains and logistics), but the best examples of modular systems are toys: LEGO, Meccano, and Erector (which is now the brand name of Meccano in the US). LEGO, Meccano and Erector are composed of relatively few elementary building blocks, which can be used to build various objects. The parts can then be disassembled and re-used to build something completely different. Apart from the elementary buildings blocks, these manufacturers have produced many more specific building blocks, which are less versatile, but further increase customisation possibilities. Grid Beam, Bit Beam, Open Beam, Maker Beam and Contraptor OpenStructures Circulation of Parts Related:  3D printing/scanning CNC

E3D Unveils Most Affordable 3D Printer Hotend Yet, The E3D Lite6 — Priced Under $32 When it comes to 3D printers, one of the most important, as well as expensive components on any FFF or FDM machine is the hotend. After all, the hotend is what transforms your filament into the molten hot plastic as it is released onto the build platform. A faulty hotend equates to terrible print results. When it comes to hotend manufacturing, there are few companies, if any, who have garnered the respect in the industry as E3D has. Typically a hotend will run anywhere from around $45 all the way up to over $175, depending on its capabilities. “We designed Lite6 to be a low cost hotend for robust easy printing for everyday filaments, for temperatures up to 240 degrees C and moderate printing speeds,” explained Sanjay Mortimer, E3D Director and R&D/Community Manager. The company likes to think of the Lite6 as the V6’s little brother, with modest capability, and an incredibly affordable price. The Lite6 hotend is, as far as we are aware, the most affordable hotend currently on the market.

ECODESIGN FAB LAB - Mobilier éco-conçu L’Open Bidouille Camp a fait sa fête à la bricole Hier samedi 22 septembre avait lieu l'Open Bidouille Camp, première "fête de la bidouille" à être célébrée en France, dans les locaux de Mains d'Oeuvres, à Saint-Ouen. De nombreux curieux, des bidouilleurs et une bonne dose de bonne humeur étaient au rendez-vous. Mais que pouvait-on y voir exactement ? Et quel est l'outil indispensable dans la boîte à outils des bricoleurs du XXIème siècle ? Une grande diversité Autant être honnête : je n'ai pas eu le temps de bidouiller par moi-même, ni de faire le tour de tous les ateliers qui étaient proposés, mais je peux vous assurer que ça foisonnait dans tous les sens. Gayané Adourian, journaliste pour Knowtex, a demandé au designer Geoffrey Dorne, venu sur place par curiosité, ce qu'il en pensait. Farine 00, la main à la pâte Sur l'atelier de Francesco et Valentina, un couple d'italiens très charmant, on apprend à créer quelque chose de physique et d'organique qui fait du bien quand on l'ingère. L'outil indispensable pour lui ? La bidouille à la fac

CommaFeed Bloat-free feed reader Try out the demo (some features are disabled) Login Forgot password? Register © CommaFeed - Sources on GitHub - REST API documentation FabHub - Digital Fabrication Hub 3datdv | Blog from the 3D at DV Challenge team Vers un design libre Christophe André est designer militant. Au cours de ses études en école d’ingénieur, on lui demande un jour de concevoir un objet ayant une durée de vie limitée. Cette confrontation à l’obsolescence programmée, au cœur du système de production, axera par la suite sa recherche artistique. Je me suis interrogé sur la conception des objets telle qu’elle prévaut dans notre société consumériste, et sur ce que j’aimerais qu’elle soit dans l’idéal. J’ai appris à forger. Pour lever cette abstraction, j’ai décidé de fabriquer les objets dont j’ai besoin plutôt que de les acheter. Production autonome, production hétéronome : un équilibre à atteindre Ce genre d’expérience est beaucoup plus riche qu’on peut le croire, dans le sens où le fait de créer au lieu d’acheter permet d’acquérir des compétences dans divers domaines. Il n’y a pas d’opposition entre les modes de production hétéronome et autonome mais une complémentarité. La technique : un prolongement du politique Du consommateur au prosommateur

De vrije markt versmoort het vrije woord Vandaag is het World Press Freedom Day, een dag die in België nooit werd gevierd. Toen in 1993 de Verenigde Naties 3 mei uitriepen tot internationale dag van de persvrijheid hadden ze vooral landen in gedachten waar de staat het vrije woord brutaal verdrukte. Maar dit jaar trekt PEN Vlaanderen aan de alarmbel: 3 mei moet helaas ook hier gevierd worden. Want wij, schrijvers van Vlaanderen, zijn ernstig bezorgd over de kwaliteit van de journalistiek. De reden is eenvoudig. Tekenend in dat opzicht is dat Offshore-leaks, de grootste journalistieke onthulling in jaren, niet in de commerciële media maar in de nonprofit-sector ontstond. Bijna alle massamedia in Vlaanderen (kranten, radiostations, televisiezenders) zijn commerciële media: hun primaire logica is die van de kijkcijfers, de verkoopsaantallen, de luisterdichtheid of de unieke geregistreerde gebruikers. Voor wat het waard is: in de Press Freedom Index van Reporters Zonder Grenzen zakte België dit jaar naar de 21ste plaats.

Machines: Global Village Construction Set | Open Source Ecology The Global Village Construction Set (GVCS) is a modular, DIY, low-cost, high-performance platform that allows for the easy fabrication of the 50 different Industrial Machines that it takes to build a small, sustainable civilization with modern comforts. We’re developing open source industrial machines that can be made at a fraction of commercial costs, and sharing our designs online for free. We are developing a lifesize, scalable, modular LEGO construction set. The GVCS in itself consists of many other Construction Sets – as we build not individual machines, but construction sets of machines. We have built the first machine in 2007 – the Compressed Earth Brick Press. Our metric of completion is demonstrating a replicable, open source, social production model for a given machine. In 2014, our status of completion for the machines is: By using simple, modular, scalable design and open source collaboration, we are breaking cost barriers.

Cults ・ Buy and sell 3D models for 3D Printer Making Society | Adventure in the makers community of San Francisco Sacred Economics: Chapter 17, Summary and Roadmap | Sacred Economics | Charles Eisenstein The following chapter is from Sacred Economics: Money, Gift, and Society in the Age of Transition, available from EVOLVER EDITIONS/North Atlantic Books. Return to the Sacred Economics content page here. First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win. Before I explore more deeply the shift in personal economic thinking and practice that is part of sacred economy, I will summarize its key macroeconomic elements. The transition I map out is evolutionary. The reader may notice that, except where they are off the map entirely, most of these developments fall on the left side of the political spectrum. 1. Motivation: Negative interest on reserves, and a physical currency that loses value with time, reverses the effects of interest. Transition and policy: We were on the brink of a transition to decaying currency in 2009, as central banks pushed interbank interest rates to near zero and flirted with breaching the zero lower bound. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Lite6 - A high quality, low cost HotEnd for everyone Posted On: 2015-04-01 13:32:47 ; Read: 403 time(s) Introduction We know that not everybody needs the all-metal high-temperature performance of an E3D-v6. Lite6 is our answer to that need. Lite6 Assembled Lite6 does not supersede v6 - more compliments it, think of Lite6 as v6’s little brother. E3D-Lite6 v.s E3D-v6 Features: Aimed at printing everyday materials. Lite6 cannot offer the same high-temperature performance as E3D-v6, which means that you can’t print higher-performance engineering plastics like Nylon, Polycarbonate, and ColorFabb Carbon-Fiber XT. Some nice E3D-Lite6 prints in PLA and ABS Lite6 has a slightly shorter effective melt-zone than v6, which does mean that print speeds are more modest, but still completely appropriate for all but the very fastest of 3D printers on the market. A range of versions for most users. In order to keep costs down we are offering Lite6 in 1.75mm filament diameter only, which meets the needs of the majority of users. Exceptional Reliability "...

Related: