OPEN SOURCE IS A TECHNOLOGY

ABSTRACT:

Open Source is a technology which is freely available to all people in the earth. There are

different fields in open source like, hardware, intelligence, license, governance, initiative,

software. All these devices not only lead to free cost but also to a higher degree of efficiency

and reusability. Opening the source code enabled a self-enhancing diversity of production

models, communication paths, and interactive communities. Thereby reducing the cost at the

customers end and forming a “factory-per-house” scenario.

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INTRODUCTION:

What is an Open Source?

Open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the

end product's source materials—typically, their source code. Some consider open

source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology. Before the term open

source became widely adopted, developers and producers used a variety of phrases to

describe the concept; open source gained hold with the rise of a public, worldwide,

computer-network system called the Internet, and the attendant need for massive retooling of

the computing source code. Subsequently, a new, three-word phrase "open source software"

was born to describe the environment that the new copyright, licensing, domain,

and consumer issues created.

Here Open source has many types in which Open Source Hardware has an example of Open

Source 3D printer named as Rep Rap 1.0 "Darwin" is a rapid prototyping machine that is

capable of making the majority of its own component parts. Instructions and all necessary

data are available completely free under the GNU General Public License from this website

to everyone. As Rep Rap 1.0 "Darwin" can copy itself, once you have one you can make

others for your friends; or if they have one you can ask them to make one for you. Of course,

you can also make as many as you want for yourself; the more you have, the faster you will

be able to make other items. Rep Rap etiquette asks that you use your machine to make the

parts for at least two more Darwin’s for other people at cost, as well as using it to make

whatever you or anyone else on the internet can think up...Darwin consists of a frame made

from rods and printed parts. A flat build platform moves vertically in that frame, driven on

screw threads by a stepper motor. At the top of the frame there are two write heads that move

horizontally (driven by toothed belts and two more steppers) extruding a thin stream of

molten plastic to form new layers on the build base. The machine prints layer by layer to

form a solid object. The build base then moves one increment down; the second layer is

extruded, and so on. There are two heads to allow a filler material to be laid down as well as

the plastic. This filler is used to support overhanging parts of the objects being built, and is

removed when the process is finished.

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The open source model includes the concept of concurrent yet different agendas and differing

approaches in production, in contrast with more centralized models of development such as

those typically used in commercial software companies. A main principle and practice

of open source software development is peer production by bartering and collaboration, with

the end-product (and source-material) available at no cost to the public. This is increasingly

being applied in other fields of endeavor, such as biotechnology.

TECHNICAL PART:

Types of Open Source:

1. Open Source Intelligence.

2. Open Source Initiative.

3. Open Source License.

4. Open Source Governance.

5. Open Source Development Labs.

6. Open Source Hardware.

1. Open Source Intelligence:

Open source intelligence (OSINT) is a form of intelligence collection

management that involves finding, selecting, and acquiring information from publicly

available sources and analyzing it to produce actionable intelligence. In the intelligence

community (IC), the term "open" refers to overt, publicly available sources (as opposed to

covert or classified sources); it is not related to open-source software or public

intelligence.

2. Open Source Initiative:

The Open Source Initiative (OSI) is an organization dedicated to

promoting open source software.

3. Open Source License:

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An open source license is a copyright license for computer software that makes

the source code available under terms that allow for modification and redistribution

without having to pay the original author. Such licenses may have additional restrictions

such as a requirement to preserve the name of the authors and the copyright statement

within the code. One popular (and sometimes considered normative) set of open source

software licenses are those approved by the Open Source Initiative (OSI) based on

their Open Source Definition (OSD).

4. Open source governance:

Open source governance is a political philosophy which advocates the

application of the philosophies of the open source and open content movements

to democratic principles in order to enable any interested citizen to add to the creation of

policy, as with a wiki document. Legislation is democratically opened to the general

citizenry in this way, allowing policy development to benefit from the collected wisdom

of the people as a whole.

5. Open Source Development Labs (OSDL):

Open Source Development Labs (OSDL) was a non-profit

organization supported by a global consortium tasked to "accelerate the deployment

of Linux for enterprise computing”. Founded in 2000, its goals included "to be the

recognized center-of-gravity for the Linux industry".

6. Open Source Hardware:

Open source hardware is hardware that is designed and offered in the same

manner as free and open source software (FOSS). Open source hardware is part of

the open source culture and applies the open source concept to h/w.

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Brief Information about Open Source Hardware:

The term usually means that information about the hardware is open to all. This

would include the hardware design (i.e. schematics, bill of materials and PCB layout data), as

well as a FOSS approach to the software that drives the hardware.

Since the rise of reconfigurable programmable logic devices, sharing of logic designs

has been a form of open source hardware. Instead of sharing the schematics, (as in hardware

description language), (HDL) code is shared. HDL descriptions are commonly used to set

up system-on-a-chip systems either in field-programmable gate arrays or directly

in application-specific integrated circuit designs. HDL modules, when distributed, are

called semiconductor intellectual property cores, or IP cores.

Open Source Hardware Application (3D Printer):

How does the 3D Printer work?

Dimension builds functional 3D models from the bottom up, one layer at a time with tough,

durable acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) plastic. STL files from a 3D scanner are

imported into Catalyst EX Software which automatically slices and orients the parts and

creates any necessary support structures. The software automatically plots a precise

deposition path for Dimension to follow. ABS plastic (in filament form within auto-loading

cartridges in a variety of colors) is fed into an extrusion head, heated to a semi-liquid state

and accurately deposited in layers as fine as 0.007-inch (0.178 mm) thick. After completion

of the build, support structures are simply removed.

What is the Rep rap Project?

“Rep Rap is short for Replicating Rapid prototype. It is the practical self copying 3D printer

shown on the right a self replicating machine. This 3D printer builds the component up in

layers of plastic. This technology already exists, but the cheapest Commercial machine would

cost you about €30,000. And it isn't even designed so that it can make itself. So what the Rep

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rap team is doing is to develop and to give away the designs for a much cheaper machine

with the novel capability of being able to self copy (material costs are about €400).”

3D printers weld layers of material on top of each other, with precise control, to build up 3D

objects (illustrated below). This technology is capable of building highly complex, accurate

components in many different materials, typically polymers and alloys. Techniques used to

print the layers include laser sintering and filament disposition. Unfortunately the cheapest

3D printer n the market is approximately EURO 20, 000.

Specification:

The Rep Rap 1.0 "Darwin" machine has the following characteristics:

Working volume: adjustable, but nominally 230mm (X) x 230mm (Y) x 100mm (Z)

Working materials: Poly caprolactone and a filler/support

Configuration: 3-axis Cartesian drive using stepper motors

Line and space: 0.5mm and about 0.2mm

Feature size: about 2mm

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Positioning accuracy: 0.1 mm

Layer thickness: adjustable, but nominally 0.3mm

Computer interface: USB

Material handling: Two fixed material deposition extruders, user exchangeable

Power supply needed: 6A max, 3A continuous at 12V DC

Driving computer and operating system needed: Microsoft Windows, Linux, Unix, or

Mac

Exterior dimensions: adjustable, but nominally 600 mm wide x 520 mm deep x 650

mm high

Weight: about 14 Kg.

Image:

Rep rap Project, Version1.0 name as DRAWIN

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Electronics:

The electronics are the brains of the system. There are currently 3 generations of electronics

that drive a Rep Rap.

Generation 1 is the initial system based on Microchip's PIC electronics. Starting with

these electronics is not recommended. For people that have the early PIC

electronics, here is its documentation. Note that the kits can also be very useful for

other projects, since they can operate stand-alone.

Generation 2 : Arduino / sanguino based electronics. This is mainly in use today. You

will have a setup similar to most of us.

Generation 3 Electronics : This is the bleeding edge system. It is still under

development but will arguably be easiest to setup and wire, since it incorporates a

motherboard with easy wiring to each daughterboard. As it is barely available, it is not

used much in the field yet (at the time of writing, April 2009). This may change

quickly, however. Most of the electronics are surface mount.

Tool heads:

The tool heads are the things that actually lay down the build material. Currently, there is

only one tool head that is ready for general use, the Thermoplastic Extruder. However,

eventually we would like to support many different tool heads from simple markers for

drawing to support material extruders to paste extruder to lasers for cutting/sintering to wax

deposition heads for doing metal casting. If you have a tool head that does not heavily stress

the Cartesian bot, then it would be well suited for the Rep Rap platform.

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Cartesian robot:

Cartesian Assembly (Mechanical)

Cartesian Assembly (Electrical)

The Cartesian robot is mechanical element of Darwin. The assembly moves the tool heads

around in the X & Y planes to print each layer shape and drops the Z axis down one

increment when each layer is completed. Follow the links above to find out what parts you

need, and how to put them all together...

Printing in 3D:

Tweaking:

You now need to tweak the software so that your hardware can print coherently. The

parameters can be accessed by running the Rep Rap software and clicking on File ->

Preferences. It is probably best to experiment with a simple STL.

Documentation for these parameters can be found here. A guide to calibrating your

machine using these parameters can be found here.

If you've successfully assembled and tweaked everything and are ready to take the

plunge, load up this file into the Rep Rap build area and start the job. After X minutes

a few small cylinders suitable for drinking should appear. Gather your friends and fill

them with your age-appropriate celebratory substance of choice. Say a cheesy line,

and drink. This will demonstrate some excellent properties of your new machine that

the axes work, your extruder works, and the plastic seal is watertight. Welcome to the

Future.

Feeding the Extruder:

For experiments and calibration, you can just poke a meter or so of filament into the

extruder. To make substantial components you'll either have to keep joining more bits

on, or use a spool mounted so that it can feed the extruder without kinks. One

approach is detailed here

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Spare Parts and Replication:

Now that you have a working machine that is well supplied with raw material, make

one each of all the component parts of your machine and put them in a cardboard box

on a shelf in a cool dry place. In the future if anything breaks, you'll then have the

right spare part. If that happens, replace the part, make another, and put that back in

the box. In addition to making copies of it, Rep Rap can, of course, repair itself...

Also, don't forget to make two machines for friends or colleagues. It's by no means

required, but it is definitely in the spirit of the project. The project is free (as in

speech), but unfortunately real stuff costs money, so the common etiquette is to pay

for raw materials / shipping / construction time.

Supply:

In fact, since its in the group's best interest, we will probably be doing group buys in

the future through the Rep Rap Research Foundation (RRRF). The more people we

get the better prices we can negotiate. Additionally, since it is often easiest to buy as

an individual, we will also be listing suppliers where you can get parts. This is a good

thing since with this shared knowledge, we'll be able to compare prices as an internet

community and if someone finds a supplier with the lowest cost with a compatible

part, then we can highlight that source and everyone will benefit from the savings.

Economics dictates that the larger this project gets, the cheaper its components will

be.

Rep rap Project, Version2.0 name as MENDEL

Generation 2.0 of Rep Rap, the self replicating 3d printer, is approaching realization. Code,

the new design will be wedge shaped rather than a box which offers a few benefits. The

overall design is smaller than the original Rep Rap but the printable area is larger. This means

more functionality with less building material. With each new generation of this project the

assembly gets easier and total parts price drops making the Rep Rap available to a much

wider audience.

The Rep Rap blog has put forth some design specs, a picture of the assembled prototype, and

has links for general assembly information (ZIP). We won’t see a finished version of this

released for a few months but so far it looks like a big leap forward.

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Other Example of Open Source Hardware:

1. Aurora Channel Open Source DJ Mixer

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2. Bug amp

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CONCLUSION:

Hence we can provide “factory-per-house” i.e. for the basic needs we don’t have to

depend on other companies to build the small-small objects for house, office,

industry.

Definitely open Source technology has evolved successfully so far yet there are very

few people who have accepted this technology as a way of life.

it is a very resourceful application that proves as a boon to the mankind because of the

reusability, efficiency and cost cutting.

As every new thing requires some time to get adapted with the existing generation,

Open Source technology too will take some time.

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