Dedicated Project Visits


Greetings,

My name is Jacob Dalton, and I’m about to hit the road for Missouri. Along with Brad Lewis and Aaron Makaruk, I’ve been developing a True Fans microfunding web application. This week I’m going to Factor e Farm for a Dedicated Project Visit with the goal of releasing the True Fans application before Christmas.

We’re not the first to try and build such an application—previous work on the wiki has informed ours. We’ve listened to those that went before us, we’ve made some adjustments, and now it’s time share that work with the community for feedback and input.

So what is this application? What does it do? Take a look:

(more…)

Categories: 1000 True Fans - 1000 Global Villages, Community, Dear True Fans and Supporters, Dedicated Project Visits, Open Source Ecology

[3] Comments

For those of you who do not know, I’ve been hard at work on the design of the open source Ironworker Prototype II and plan on building it this winter at my grandfather’s fabrication shop, Enniss Inc. I’m calling out to fellow fabricators and engineers to help with the Ironworker design, so we can place the design of this very important tool into the repository of common knowledge. For those of you not familiar with the importance of an ironworker machine – it is the heart of any custom metal fabrication shop – a shop that can build any of the mechanical devices of the Global Village Construction Set.

This prototype will be the second version of the Ironworker. As well as having the 120T punch, this prototype will be able to shear 1”x12” flat and 6”x6”x1/2” angle steel. There will be a “tool cavity,” a space below the punching arm to which many accessory tools can attach. This will enable the machine to not only have the features above, but also attachments like brakes, notchers, and rod shears.

Scotchman 120T Ironworker

Scotchman 120T Ironworker

I had another design nearly developed using a vertical shear, but trashed it when I realized how much better it could be with optional attachments. And now, I’m stuck.

The first design version (1.0) of Prototype II

I need help designing the lower arm and flat shear. (more…)

Categories: Challenges, Crowd Design, Crowd Engineering, Ironworker Machine, Metal Hole Puncher, Project Reports

[2] Comments

My background is in Computer software & development, Technical writing, Hydraulics and electrical power control systems.  I have a small software consulting business in Dallas.

I found out about OSE mid 2011 and found their “Open Source” principles intriguing, as I have been a proponent of Open Source software for decades.

After corresponding with Marcin, I arrived Thursday, August 4, 2011 to start a Dedicated Project Visit, with focus on Power Cube documentation.


.
.
(more…)

Categories: Dedicated Project Visits, Project Reports

[3] Comments

Sean will publish his short documentary on Factor e Farm in a couple of weeks. These are some of the sights from summer 2010 as preview.

OSE: Timelapse Reel from Sean Church on Vimeo.

Categories: Dedicated Project Visits, Documentation

[7] Comments

Last year, we have begun work on the automatic, open source chicken incubator – Hexahatch. It did not work well, primarily because the big rotor was too heavy. This year’s design – Hexahatch v2.0 – was changed to a simpler, still-air design, with a flat disk as the rotor for turning the eggs. We finally have a working prototype, after replacing a faulty thermostat and after upgrading the motor to a stronger one. See the incubator in action:

Here is an explanation of the build and issues involved: (more…)

Categories: Agroecotechnology, Animals, Automation, Open Source Agroecology (OSA), Open Source Chicken Incubator, Project Reports

[7] Comments

William has been here for 2 months already, and here’s his second Dedicated Project Visit report. Don’t miss this video if you want to see 3D models and a time-lapse video of LifeTrac II – the second prototype of the open source tractor – coming together. You can read about our first prototype here.

The Bill of Materials for the frame, plus most of the hydraulics, are up on the wiki development page, as is the frame fabrication procedure. Regarding the hydraulics, we are building upon the past experience from LifeTrac I, and simplifying the design significantly. See the LifeTrac prototype II wiki Category page for other supporting information, and the Open+Pario repository for the Blender 3D files and .dxf files for loader height analysis. Here are a couple more videos explaining the hydraulics: (more…)

Categories: Dedicated Project Visits, LifeTrac II, Project Reports

[2] Comments

So I’ve been here at Factor e Farm for 1 month. I am living and breathing the Open Source Ecology lifestyle and working on different projects. When I arrived at the start of May I had a little Q&A session with Marcin to talk about ideas, visions and how I was going to help out. In this short video we talk about the last months progress and what we look forward to achieving in the next month.

Categories: Dedicated Project Visits, Project Reports

[2] Comments

I finally arrived at Factor e Farm for my dedicated project visit. Meet me – and find out why I came here and what I will do in the next 3 months.

As an initial overview for me, and for the rest of the audience – Marcin takes us into the Factor e Farm One Room Schoolhouse and gives a lecture on where Factor e Farm is at the moment and what its plans are for the future. This short lesson provides a breakdown of the inspirational vision of the Open Source Ecology movement:

Factor e Farm One Room Schoolhouse from Marcin Jakubowski on Vimeo.

Categories: Dedicated Project Visits

[4] Comments

William took a course on brick laying last week back in the UK, in preparation for the CEB construction adventures of Solar Village 2010 this year at Factor e Farm. Here is some documentation from his course:

(more…)

Categories: Dedicated Project Visits, Solar Village 2010

[4] Comments

We are currently in the phase of fabrication optimization for the high performance, open source, Compressed Earth Brick (CEB) press. This is our route to financial bootstrapping of the research and development efforts. We are looking for people interested in Dedicated Project Visits on flexible fabrication.

Flexible fabrication is a blend of a generally-equipped workshop with the hands of a multi-skilled fabricator. Flexible fabrication in the digital age implies the assist of digital fabrication. To take full advantage of available modern technology, the skilled digital craftsperson has to gain proficiency in the entire process chain from open source design and collaboration, CAD, build, electronics, programming, and other skills as needed.

From the standpoint of resilient communities and the neosubsistence lifestyle, the technology is not the end-all but merely a step to sustainable living. (more…)

Categories: 1000 True Fans - 1000 Global Villages, Dedicated Project Visits, Infrastructure, Open Source Economic Development, Organizational Development, Post-scarcity

[8] Comments

Next Page »