Factor E Farm Blog

We have recently shown the initial test drive of LifeTrac Prototype II. The 3D model in Blender corresponds exactly to the machine built – the point being that the models in Blender are useful as actual design drawings from which others can replicate a build. The design may be scaled – meaning that the same components may be used on a machine of a different size. This implies that a MicroTrac may be based on the same design. See our previous work on MicroTrac – which is based on one driving wheel.

We are proposing MicroTrac Prototype II to be a small version of LifeTrac, as opposed to the one-wheel drive version. Stability and traction issues need to be resolved on the one-wheel design, so a good solution may be to do another simple box with wheels, like LifeTrac Prototype II. If we use the same or similar components, that means that parts will be interchangeable between the two machines – consistent with our principles of radical modularity.

This is our MicroTrac Challenge – for you to design the best, smallest implementation for MicroTrac Prototype II, built around the components of LifeTrac Prototype II. If you have no skill or experience in building a working tractor, this could be your start in your career as a design-builder of open source tractors. We have a design that works – and it may be modified easily – so our Blender drawing may constitute an Open Source Tractor Construction Set. (more…)

We have recently shown the initial test drive of LifeTrac Prototype II. The 3D model in Blender corresponds exactly to the machine built - the point being that the models in Blender are useful as actual design drawings from which others can replicate a build. The design may be scaled - meaning that the ...

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This is a rendering of Prototype II of the open source, design-for-disassembly tractor, LifeTrac. You can download the source in Blender format.

This is the reality of the completed frame, with the wheels and wheel motors, minus the PowerCube engine unit.

(download photo shoot in hi res here)

Now hang the 18 horsepower PowerCube I on the rear of the frame, and take it for the first test drive.

LifeTrac II Test Drive from Marcin Jakubowski on Vimeo.

This insane freak purrs like a cat and rips the ground. Major success. (more…)

This is a rendering of Prototype II of the open source, design-for-disassembly tractor, LifeTrac. You can download the source in Blender format. This is the reality of the completed frame, with the wheels and wheel motors, minus the PowerCube engine unit. (download photo shoot in hi res here) Now hang the 18 horsepower PowerCube I on the ...

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A universal mechanical power source is one of the key components of the Global Village Construcgtion Set – the set of building blocks for creating resilient communities. The basic concept is that instead of using a dedicated engine on a particular powered device – which means hundreds of engines required for a complete resilient community, you need one (or a few) power unit. If this single power unit can be coupled readily to the powered device of interest, then we have the possibility of this single power unit being interchangeable between an unlimited number of devices. Our implementation of this is the hydrauilic PowerCube – whose power can be tapped simply by attaching 2 hydraulic hoses to a device of interest. A 3/4″ hydraulic hose such as this

can transfer up to 100 horsepower in the form of usable hydraulic fluid flow.

You may have seen our prior report on PowerCube as the power source for MicroTrac. The question is – how flexible can the PowerCube be? We ask this question from the standpoint of the PowerCube’s suitability as an essential component for building resilient communities – or, how radically small can your infrastructure tool-set be, if your goal is creating a modern, high quality of life?

To shed some light on this question, we mounted the PowerCube on LifeTrac, our open source tractor – to demonstrate the radical interchangeability of parts. This radical modularity is the key to what we promote as the life-size Lego set for real technology. We mounted the PowerCube on the rear receiver of LifeTrac, and ran LifeTrac with it. Here are the results:

One conclusion is clear. The PowerCube concept of power unit interchangeability is sound. (more…)

A universal mechanical power source is one of the key components of the Global Village Construcgtion Set - the set of building blocks for creating resilient communities. The basic concept is that instead of using a dedicated engine on a particular powered device - which means hundreds of engines required for a complete resilient ...

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William Cleaver will be joining us at Factor e Farm on May 1 for a Dedicated Project Visit. He’s coming from across the big pond – from the United Kingdom – and we are planning for a 3 month stay.

William is not a novice to creative dexterity – he’s involved in repair and demolition of industrial chimney stacks and natural draught cooling towers – at heights. See for yourself:

He has experience with various tools, welding brickwork, ropework, woodwork, and general shop.  He’s traveled the world, studied Romance languages, taught English in Chile, and is certified to teach high ropes courses. He is now showing great interest in the deeper message of post-scarcity, resilient community creation.

We discussed the following tentative plan, with both of us working in the shop and as needed:

May – Work on finishing or building Sawmill/LifeTrac II/MicroTrac II/ anciliary implements for construction – all in preparation for building.

June – begin building autonomous, zero energy housing with solar space. Experiment with CEB floors, CEB masonry stove and chimney, stabilized bricks, stabilized reject lime bricks, stabilized brick walkway and driveway, stabilized retaining walls, and others. We plan on winter food garden and sprouting in the solar space. If progress on the steam engine goes well, we’ll aim to install combined heat and power on the masonry stove.

July – continue building until comfortable accommodations for the winter are ready for several people.

We’re looking at building zero energy homes that look tentatively like this:

(Credits: Aigars Bruvelis in Blender)

Here is a CEB floor example from Abe at Vela Creations:

See more of his photos here.

Other than this, William is learning Kdenlive on Linux for movie editing, as well as and QCad for CAD work. These are staple tools now at Factor e Farm. William will begin preparing some of the technical drawings for the sawmill, so we can collaborate on making that happen over distance until his arrival.

We do want to consider bringing in additional help from the CEB general contractor, Floyd (see last blog post). We will consider hosting a CEB workshop if progress is good. If the CEB fabrication is going well – there could be resources generated to really get things moving forward, and continue to build more structures. I think now is the beginning of really settling into the land – and getting the place to look half-way presentable. We’re open to all kinds of ideas, such as the proposed CEB vault construction and others – but we’d need other people to get involved to push those projects forward. Otherwise, we’re sticking to basics and all types of experiments in the process.

William Cleaver will be joining us at Factor e Farm on May 1 for a Dedicated Project Visit. He's coming from across the big pond - from the United Kingdom - and we are planning for a 3 month stay. William is not a novice to creative dexterity - he's involved in repair and demolition ...

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MicroTrac achieved zero turn motion. If one walks around rapidly, one can turn the walk-behind tractor around in place. MicroTrac is turning out to be a beautiful freak:

Play this freak show.

To do this, we added two small, freely-turning wheels to MicroTrac. This replaced the rigid wheels from the first test run. In that test run, we discovered that we want a greater degree of turning flexibility, because MicroTrac is so long – hence the zero turn wheels. (more…)

MicroTrac achieved zero turn motion. If one walks around rapidly, one can turn the walk-behind tractor around in place. MicroTrac is turning out to be a beautiful freak: Play this freak show. play_blip_movie_2416745(); To do this, we added two small, freely-turning wheels to MicroTrac. This replaced the rigid wheels from ...

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MicroTrac is the craziest power tool that I’ve seen. A powered unicycle? Mobile replacement wheel for LifeTrac, the open source tractor? Universal power source? It’s perhaps best to call it a walk-behind tractor. See the development from the drawing board by Jeremy:

to reality:

Click to play

Its parts, including the Power Cube, are interchangeable with LifeTrac. We can take the wheel off MicroTrac and put it on LifeTrac. We can take off the wheel motor from MicroTrac, and use it to power shop tools. The even more crazy universal machining center is forthcoming. We’re thinking it may be called MegaRep – the Mega version (8×8 feet) of the cubic RepRap structure – now for handling heavy machining of all sorts.

How much did MicroTrac cost? With design-for-disassembly, modular construction – it’s hard to tell. The Power Cube, wheel, quick-attach motor and cylinder are totally interchangeable with other devices. Does that mean that MicroTrac cost about $125 for the virgin steel, shaft, bearings, and bolts – which went into its basic frame, up to the two quick attach plates. Such ecological economics break norms of standard cost accounting.

With the CEB 2 power source now done, we’re moving on to the soil and slurry preparation equipment, and finally CEB 2.

MicroTrac is the craziest power tool that I've seen. A powered unicycle? Mobile replacement wheel for LifeTrac, the open source tractor? Universal power source? It's perhaps best to call it a walk-behind tractor. See the development from the drawing board by Jeremy: to reality: Click to play Its parts, including the Power Cube, are interchangeable with ...

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Power Cube is our open source, self-contained, modular, interchangeable, hydraulic power unit for all kinds of power eguipment. It has an 18 hp gasoline engine coupled to a hydraulic pump, and it will later be be powered by a flexible-fuel steam engine. Power Cube will be used to power MicroTrac (under construction) and it is the power source for the forthcoming CEB Press Prototype 2 adventures. It is designed as a general power unit for all devices at Factor e Farm, from the CEB press, power take-off (PTO) generator, heavy-duty workshop tools, even to the LifeTrac tractor itself. Power Cube will have a quick attachment, so it can be mounted readily on the quick attach plate of LifeTrac. As such, it can serve as a backup power source if the LifeTrac engine goes out. See the construction of Power Cube, and demonstration of it powering the PTO generator:

Click to play

The noteworthy features are modularity, hydraulic quick-couplers, lifetime design, and design-for-disassembly. Any device can be plugged in readily through the quick couplers. It can be maintained easily because of its transparency of design, ready access to parts, and design for disassembly. It is a major step towards realizing the true, life-size Erector Set or Lego Set of heavy-duty, industrial machinery in the style of Industrial Swadeshi. Via open source, it is now becoming accessible to everybody. With the addition of local biofuel (pyrolysis oil) and steam engines, we await the time where local production is a reality.

Power Cube is our open source, self-contained, modular, interchangeable, hydraulic power unit for all kinds of power eguipment. It has an 18 hp gasoline engine coupled to a hydraulic pump, and it will later be be powered by a flexible-fuel steam engine. Power Cube will be used to power MicroTrac (under construction) and it ...

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