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Wondering if anyone here has interest in open hardware or is involved in hardware engineering to some extent?
My company is big in open source software (if you work in software development, you or your company has probably used some of our software :D) and recently, there’s a big push starting to get into open hardware. What that means is we’re looking for electronic/hardware engineers who are interested in or work in open source hardware, have interest in it, or want to just get together and hang out and share great ideas. We usually buy stuff and keep it around our office to play with, for example, and will likely start an open hardware get together there (open community of course :D) where like minded people can get together and introduce new ideas and skills, discuss the technology, or whatever else…
So, I’m cruisin’ the forum, see if we have anyone who is involved in or interested in this stuff 🙂
I’m working on a project together with Natooke. Creating an open source goldsprint system(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldsprint). Open source software and hardware. The electrical engineering is very basic though. Will probably have a batch of printed circuit boards produced. The system consists of a PCB hooked up to a Raspberry Pi and some hall sensors.
I’m interested in open hardware. Would totally join meetups. Which company are you working for?
That sounds interesting — I think a big part of what we want to do is bridge the thinking process between software developers and hardware engineers — through open hardware. There’s a distinct way of thinking about problem solving and there’s definitely value to exploring both 😀
Sensors are a big part of this – seems your goldsprint project may touch on some sensor technology.. raspberry pi has some great integration with sensors in innovative ways, definitely a very accessible and discussable direction for these type of groups..
In what way is Thought Works getting into open source hardware? Is Thought Works already organizing some kind of meetups? Not necessarily for open hardware but anything related to software engineering.
Niklas,
You’re goldsprint project sounds cool; I’ve got a stationary B’TWIN IN’RIDE Bike Home Trainer that I got as a part of buying a used bike I don’t use. You can have it if it will help with your project.
Rick,
I’m interested in opensource hardware and I’m certainly up for hanging out talking about it. I’ve got an uncle in Canada that is big into opensource hardware and we’ve got a definite advantage being in Chengdu. Have you ever been to the higher floors of computer city? Once you get past the 3rd or 4th floor there are hardware suppliers that are linked to foxconn and other plants in Chengdu. We should be able to find lots of cool stuff to build unique products.
Niklas,
You’re goldsprint project sounds cool; I’ve got a stationary B’TWIN IN’RIDE Bike Home Trainer that I got as a part of buying a used bike I don’t use. You can have it if it will help with your project.Thank you Aaron! I still haven’t bought me a roller. It would be very helpful. Could also just borrow it until I buy me one. I’ll PM you.
@Niklas
There isn’t a specific direction yet. We don’t really operate like that..ideas are floated, if they pick up steam, then we take them as far as we (we as in employees :D) choose to..we do invite people or groups of people from other companies to take part in various thought experiments and sessions occasionally, I think we’ve had a few open office events, but right now we’re just considering how to get heavier involved in open hardware.
@Aaron
I’ve been up there plenty, but never really wandered around without having something specific or a specific destination to go to up there – so don’t really know what sort of gear they may have…but good point, maybe wandering around up there might be a good way to spark ideas 😀I’ll shoot you guys a PM when I get more information on when we’ll be puttin’ something together
I’m working on a project together with Natooke. Creating an open source goldsprint system(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldsprint). Open source software and hardware. The electrical engineering is very basic though. Will probably have a batch of printed circuit boards produced. The system consists of a PCB hooked up to a Raspberry Pi and some hall sensors. I’m interested in open hardware. Would totally join meetups. Which company are you working for?
Really looking forward to this! Natooke is hosting Goldsprints races at the next Dojo event on the 19th. Right now they have it running on a laptop but on the RPi would be a much more elegant solution which could greatly benefit cyclists around the world who would want to setup goldsprints.
I’m really interested in exploring Pi further myself. We had it running movies in our studio during ‘Cookin’ Chengdu’, and it got me to thinking how we could implement Pi as part of an installation within the space. The fact that the tech is so cheap opens it up for experimentation without fear of pouring money down the drain. I’d love to find a way to have multiple units running on multiple projectors, creating live ‘synced’ art installations.
I’m really interested in exploring Pi further myself. We had it running movies in our studio during ‘Cookin’ Chengdu’, and it got me to thinking how we could implement Pi as part of an installation within the space. The fact that the tech is so cheap opens it up for experimentation without fear of pouring money down the drain. I’d love to find a way to have multiple units running on multiple projectors, creating live ‘synced’ art installations.
Oooh.. that would be an interesting project. The cool thing about the Pi is its unlimited potential for small scale projects like this. We should have a RPi meeting/dork-out sometime.
We should have a RPi meeting/dork-out sometime.
I’d be up for that, though I’m waiting on Niklas to return as he’s currently stuck in HK waiting to see if he can swing a visa. He incidentally helped us out with the unit we had in the studio.
We should have a RPi meeting/dork-out sometime.
Sounds like fun! Count me in.
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