The “open source” arrives in the universe of objects: more and more designers and manufacturers relinquish some of their rights to their creations. A not always disinterested movement …
Opendesk.cc is an original website for two reasons. First, its .cc domain name is that of the Coco Islands, but it means by Creative Commons, a licensing system used, among others, by followers of the “open source” hardware. This concept of “open hardware” is the second feature Opendesk: this furniture site, you can download the digital plan offices, chairs and other storage designed by designers. Once the PDF file in hand, you can freely modify the cabinet. Then, if you have the courage, make it yourself. Apart from wood, screws and time spent, this item will cost you anything. The designer or the site will not earned money. “Leave my users edit my creations and enjoy them as they want is an interesting idea” says Pierrick Faure, a young French designer based in Saint-Etienne, which offers its chair Roxanne Opendesk. “In addition, I have no need to find an industry to produce and deliver my creations I instantly book a file to my clients who will then manage the production and delivery. “
Anecdotal there a few years ago, the movement of” open hardware “is growing in the United States, Germany, Japan .. . and France. Can now be downloaded on the Internet free shots of cars, wind turbines, hives, smart electricity meters, unmanned underwater vehicles, artificial hands, model trains (1) … The origins of this revolution, we find, of course, computers. Computer-aided design software has revolutionized the work of engineers and artists. Papers, their plans have become readily exchangeable electronic files, but also interpreted by CNC machine tools, which automatically produce complex parts.
“This is the recent democratization prototyping tools that enabled the development of” open hardware “there are now 3D printers for less than 500 euros and we can assemble a laser cutting machine in “open source” for 2,000 euros “ says Bertier Luyt, founder of the start-up The FabShop, digital manufacturing specialist based in Paris and Saint-Malo (Ille-et-Vilaine), and host of the “maker movement” in France (“Les Echos” of 17 June 2014). This California party movement, which relies on the fashion “do it yourself” (“do it yourself”) by taking advantage of the Internet and 3D printer, partly owes its expansion to the “open hardware” . The “makers” downloading “open source” plans, changing and will test their inventions on the prototyping tools available to them in Fab Labs (manufacturing workshops open to the public), the “makerspaces” (general workshops) or the “hackerspaces” (rather dedicated to electronic spaces).
Inspired by the free software “open hardware” is guided by the same principles. “The patent system, which dates back to the late eighteenth th century France, was created to protect inventors and thus encourage innovation , says Leo Benichou, engineer the day in a large industrial energy and ‘maker’ night at the Electrolab a “hackerspace” of the industrial area of Nanterre. This model then has reached its limits with “patent trolls”, those companies that buy patents to grow at trial, and not in industrial production, which slows innovation. “ The” open hardware “specifically allows to blow the lock intellectual property through patents. “With the” open hardware “, all the digital files that are used to manufacture a product, improve, or adapt it to a specific need, shared and R & amp; D is pooled, which can accelerate innovation and avoid reinventing the wheel “, details Tincq Benjamin, cofounder of OuiShare, a specialized group on the study of the collaborative economy and founder of poc21.cc a” summer camp “that will meet this summer 100″ makers “to develop solutions” open source “for the energy transition.
Accelerate development
“The goal of” open hardware “is to accelerate the pace of innovation by appealing to the community, “, sums up Damien Declercq, Executive Vice President Europe, Middle East and Africa Local Motors. A native of Arizona, Local Motors is developing vehicles “open hardware” and assembles them in micro-factories. “We are 120 employees, over 48,000 volunteers that drive our community in 130 countries , lists Damien Declercq. This allows us to go five times faster than a conventional car manufacturer and a cost hundred times lower. “
That’s the theory. “Initially, the” open source “was a utopia, between communism and capitalism, but it is also that it can make a living, especially in the” open hardware “, said for his by Jean-Louis Frechin, founder of the innovation agency and NoDesign.net design, which has developed Weio an electronic card “open hardware” (read below).
Fortunately, there are many ways to earn money with “open hardware”. But what makes most afraid purists, it is the attitude of some major groups trying to use the “open source” to impose their own technologies. In June, California-based Tesla, specializing in electric cars, has promised more than it would if someone was using his complaint technologies “in good faith” . One way to speed up the development of the market for electric cars, so ultimately profitable gigantic battery plant that Tesla built in Nevada? As for Google, with its project Ara low cost smartphone and “open hardware”, does not he seeks to impose its Android operating system, which allows it to control some of the mobile advertising? Fortunately no one has filed a patent on the good old shot of the Trojan …
Jacques Henno
Five ways to earn money with “open hardware”
Marketing finished products: many users do not have time to assemble the objects themselves and prefer to buy everything from designer
Sell consulting and training. plans are free, but users can buy books detailing the Process of manufacturing assembly and maintenance. Or participate in training workshops in a Fab Lab
Animate a platform. will be used to bring together designers, clients and Fab Labs as OSVehicle for automotive <. br /> Touch royalties: designers receive a percentage when Fab Lab makes their furniture presented on Opendesk
Getting known. broadcasting Free maps of their products allows designers or consulting agencies in innovation to increase their knowledge.
(1) All links to the sites mentioned in this article are available in its online version.
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