Global Village Construction Set

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Sat 3 Dec 2011

LifeTrac Design Challenge

Posted by Marcin

The LifeTrac open source Tractor is our weak link in the OSE Christmas Gift to the World for 2011. As we prepare to publish the Civilization Starter Kit DVD v0.01, we will include a Beta release of Prototype IV of LifeTrac, and Full Product Release of The Liberator open source CEB press, Soil Pulverizer, and Power Cube. We have gone trough 3 prototypes of LifeTrac at Factor e Farm, and we need to go to Prototype IV to address the outstanding wheel drive issues and loader balance corrections.

On the wheel drive, we are now working on quick release wheels –  where a cam mechanism and 1-2 bolts allow you to take off entire wheel assemblies on LifeTrac – in under 5 minutes. This is a great step forward on LifeTrac’s direction as the world’s first life-size Lego tractor. We have already shown quick interchange power units,  design-for-disasssembly (bolt-togeter) construction, interchangeability of motors, and quick-connect implements.

The concept design is a monolitic assembly with motor, bearings, and shaft – that can be taken right off the existing frame – by loosening a bolt and releasing a cam lock:

This simplifies the former miunting method. where 3 mounting plates were attached to individual frame members by using 6 bolts: (more…)

Categories: Crowd Design, LifeTrac, LifeTrac IV

1 Comment

Mon 19 Sep 2011

Open Hardware Summit Report

Posted by Marcin

Here is a report from Mark Norton, who presented the OSE Steam Engine Project at the Open Hardware Summit 2011:

 

I attended the Open Hardware Summit at the New York Hall of Science located on site of the 1964 World Fair site in Queens, New York on Sept. 15, 2011.  A few months back, I learned about a call for proposals to present at this conference and responded with a proposal to present an update on the Open Source Steam Engine project.  The review responses were quite good and they invited me to speak.  I had no idea that I would be in the presence of several major figures in the open hardware movement, but it turned out that way. (more…)

Categories: Modern Steam Power, Steam Engine Construction Set

No Comments

Fri 10 Jun 2011

Submission to the Open Hardware Summit

Posted by Mark J Norton

The second annual Open Source Hardware Summit is scheduled for Sept. 15, 2011 in New York City. The summit examines open hardware and its relation to other issues, such as software, design, business, and law. Since I can’t make it out to Factor e Farm that weekend and New York City is only a few hours away from where I live, I thought I’d submit a talk proposal: (more…)

Categories: Steam Engine Construction Set

[11] Comments

Fri 27 May 2011

Production Run Update

Posted by Chris

Greetings from Factor e Farm.

Life has been busy around here.

We’re in the middle of a production run, so we’re working pretty much round the clock. What’s cool is that as we’re building things, we’re finding all these things to improve about the process. There’s a lot of room to grow, and we’re pumping out a lot.

Here’s a few photos of the past week. (more…)

Categories: CAD, Challenges, Compressed Earth Block Press, Core Team, Development Team, Documentation, Factor e Farm, GVCS Website, Kickstarter, LifeTrac, LifeTrac III, Modeling, Open Source Ecology, Power Cube, Production, Production Run, Quick Attach Plate, The Liberator, Visualization

[6] Comments

Sun 22 May 2011

Greetings!

Posted by Chris

Hello everyone. I’m Chris Fornof, the newest member of Factor e Farm.

We’ve been busy with the May production run. I’m writing to you from inside the Cordwood Hut. The day is young, but there’s so much amazing stuff going down here, that I needed to blog some of it. A lot of you may be wondering “What is life like at Factor E Farm?”

Well, here was my first 4 days.

Day 1:

Categories: 1000 True Fans - 1000 Global Villages, CEB Modular Construction Units, CEB Modular Construction Units, Core Team, Development Team, Factor e Farm, Power Cube

[14] Comments

Mon 16 May 2011

Open Source CNC Torch Table: First Fire

Posted by Marcin

The Open Source CNC Torch Table has achieved first fire and is now cutting parts for the open source tractor:

Open Source CNC Torch Table: First Fire from Open Source Ecology on Vimeo. Sound track is Epic 1 by Joe Post, True Fan.

This is a sample cut through 1/2″ steel. It’s remarkably smooth, prior to cleaning the slag off the edges:

(more…)

Categories: Accomplishments, Torch Table

[8] Comments

Wed 11 May 2011

Open Source CNC Torch Table Shakedown

Posted by Marcin

The open source CNC Torch Table is now working (download Torch Table CAD file here). We aim to start cutting tractor parts with it today. We tested it first with a marker on a dry-erase board for replicability. This shows that a toolpath can be re-produced reliably. (Read the tutorial for converting CAD files to manufacturing (CAM) files here)

Open Source CNC Torch Table Shakedown from Open Source Ecology on Vimeo.

We’re getting approximately 1/32 inch repeatability for 4 passes over the same region – see photo of line detail. The first 2 passes are black, the last 2 passes are red:

The gradations on the tape measure are 1/16″.

Categories: Global Village Construction Set, Open Source Ecology, Torch Table

[6] Comments

Tue 10 May 2011

Lasersaur Open Source Laser Cutter: First Fire

Posted by Marcin

We are adopting the Lasersaur open source laser as our Laser Cutter platform. Lasersaur succeeded in its Kickstarter offering last year, and recently, they achieved first fire. Look at the amazing precision of the cut:

We aim to collaborate on the open-sourcing of the laser tubes themselves, so we can build higher power versions for industrial metal cutting applications in the future. We welcome collaborators on this point.
Lasersaur is a great addition to the Open Source Microfactory. See more pictures of the Lasersaur build here.

Categories: Global Village Construction Set, Open Source Laser Cutter

[2] Comments

Mon 9 May 2011

Open Source Tractor Prototype III

Posted by Marcin

Sparks are flying in the workshop, and the Torch Table is ready for computer-aided manufacturing (CAM). Will is producing CAD and CAM files for the Tractor, from across the ocean, so we can cut tractor parts automatically:

(more…)

Categories: Digital Fabrication, Fabrication Optimization, LifeTrac III

[4] Comments

Sun 8 May 2011

Solar Fire Breakthrough

Posted by Marcin

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a breakthrough on the Solar Turbine project. We are adopting the Solar Fire concentrator technology as our official solar energy platform. OSE and Solar Fire are entering into partnership – with a single purpose of creating a state-of-art, replicable, open source platform for solar concentrator power applied to electricity, space heating, and process heat. Prototyping done already by Solar Fire indicates that electrical production can be attained by such a system at a $0.5-$1 system materials cost per peak watt – if combined with a modern steam engine as the heat engine. This is about a factor of 10 lower than photovoltaics. See Eerik Wissenz, Solar Fire project leader, introduce the latest successful prototype of 32 square meter solar capture area:

(more…)

Categories: Accomplishments, Solar Concentrator, Steam Engine Construction Set

[41] Comments

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