Open Source Hardware Design Research Articles

Characterizing Circular and Open Business Models in a profit-driven environment through Business Model Patterns

In recent years, multiple crises have shown the fragility of global supply chains. In particular, climate change sheds light on the never-ending waste of resources caused by the linear economic model. In response, circular economy emerges as a promising alternative. Companies must rethink and innovate their business models, product life cycles, and underlying mindsets for a systemic transition. Cross-sectoral collaboration in networks is necessary to redesign, reuse, recycle, and remanufacture products and close the loop of material flows. First, projects and research on the concepts of open source hardware, open innovation, and open design show that openness can be a game-changer for the circular economy and circular business models. Although there has been growing interest, there is still a lack of comprehensive research examining possible synergies of openness and circularity, as well as identifying patterns for integrating these concepts into business models. This paper explores possible ways, prerequisites, and obstacles of open source concepts enabling circular value creation in industry. We combine explorative data from a literature review and more than 10 interviews with open source and circular economy experts. Furthermore, a total of 38 case studies of circular or open or open & circular business models were identified and selected for analysis. The empirical results were triangulated with existing business model patterns from the literature. The study presents a framework to describe open and circular business models and four prototypical patterns. In an exploratory approach, we identify necessary lines of future research in order to facilitate open source movements toward a circular economy. The paper provides insights for academics and practitioners from production and supply chain management. It combines interdisciplinary perspectives to unlock the potential of open source concepts and collaboration for enabling a circular economy.

Open Hardware - Evaluation Criteria Concerning the Quality and Sufficiency of Technical Documentation

The multiple crises of our time bring new goals, such as circulating capability, longevity, and individuality, to the fore. Producing more locally at the point of need to approach the overarching goal of a circular economy is worthwhile. However, every physical materialization of an artifact precedes today, commonly a digital design process. The open design paradigm aims to make all product development information and documentation freely available. The result is Open (Source) Hardware, which can be distributed, developed, and used by anyone. The number of Open (Source) Hardware designs is constantly increasing; platforms bundle thousands of designs accessible to anyone interested. Public interest in using these designs is rising; unlike makers, they cannot compensate for missing details in the technical documentation with their skills. One solution is the production by multi-identitarian production networks close to the point of need. Even more complex value-adding tasks could be solved locally through cross-company production by various well-equipped small and medium-sized enterprises. However, inadequate technical documentation in such companies quickly increases costs and prevents economic materialization. The following approach aims to clarify whether Open (Source) Hardware is suitable for production in small and medium-sized enterprises. Criteria must first be derived to recognise systematic failures or gaps in the Open (Source) Hardware documentation. The evaluation criteria, based on international standards for technical documentation, were applied to assess 49 designs. This assessment was conducted by a group of experts, followed by a statistical analysis.

A blockchain-based copyright management scheme for open-source software and hardware designs

A blockchain-based copyright management scheme for open-source software and hardware designs

Open-source magnetic resonance imaging: Improving access, science, and education through global collaboration.

Open-source practices and resources in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have increased substantially in recent years. This trend started with software and data being published open-source and, more recently, open-source hardware designs have become increasingly available. These developments towards a culture of sharing and establishing nonexclusive global collaborations have already improved the reproducibility and reusability of code and designs, while providing a more inclusive approach, especially for low-income settings. Community-driven standardization and documentation efforts are further strengthening and expanding these milestones. The future of open-source MRI is bright and we have just started to discover its full collaborative potential. In this review we will give an overview of open-source software and open-source hardware projects in human MRI research.

Development of affordable 3D food printer with an exchangeable syringe-pump mechanism

The technique of additive manufacturing has increasing popularity in food research area as well as other scientific fields. However, 3D food printers are expensive options compared to 3D polymer printers. Scientists, that require laboratory scale production capacities, resemble the syringe-pump systems that available in open source and free hardware designs. Present study aimed to develop an exchangeable syringe-pump mechanism (SPM) to demonstrate transformation of conventional 3D printer from polymer to food extrusion. The SPM can print a variety of materials, including miscellaneous foods, pastes, hydrogels and even biopolymers. The complete mechanism relies mostly on 3D printed parts and costs approximately 72$. Therefore, it allows users to obtain a 3D food printer inexpensively and does not require large amounts of technical labor. The SPM uses big volume (60 ml) luer lock syringe and blunt tip needles for greater versatility and user-friendliness. It could also be extended with cooling mechanism, so that the proposed system gains unique attribute among its counterparts. Finally, a standard polymer-printing 3D-Printer was converted into a laboratory-scale food printer, and edible ink was successfully printed in the desired shape.

Open source as an enabler for circularity: A systematic literature review

In recent years, multiple crises have shown the fragility of global supply chains. In particular, climate change and exploding energy prices shed light on the never-ending waste of resources caused by the linear economic model. In response, circular economy emerges as a promising alternative. For a systemic transition, companies must rethink and innovate their business models, current product life cycles, and underlying mindsets. Cross-sectoral collaboration in networks is necessary to redesign, reuse, recycle and remanufacture products and close the loop of material flows. In the field of software, this collaboration was reached by open source software (OSS). In the 1990s, OSS appeared as an emerging phenomenon overcoming existing limitations imposed by intellectual property laws. However, the concept of openness is not limited to software. First projects and research on the concepts of open source hardware (OSH), open innovation and open design show that openness can be a game-changer for the circular economy. This paper explores possible ways, prerequisites, and obstacles of open source concepts enabling circular value creation in the industry. We combine explorative data from a systematic literature review and more than 10 interviews with experts from open source and circular economy. We identify data exchange, trust, and accessibility as key aspects and show challenges within the necessary transition process. In an exploratory approach, we identify necessary lines of future research in order to facilitate open source movements toward a circular economy. The paper provides insights for academics and practitioners from production, supply chain, and management as it combines interdisciplinary perspectives to unlock the potential of open source concepts and collaboration for enabling circular economy.

Open source decarbonization for a sustainable world

<h2>Abstract</h2> The world is facing a climate emergency. We must reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and their export and, instead, develop renewable and efficient energy. Electrification of heating with heat pumps can radically reduce natural gas use, electrical vehicles cut the need for oil, and energy efficiency and renewable energy can help shoulder the greater demand this electrification causes, while cutting coal and natural gas use, carbon emissions and resultant climate destabilization. Free and open source hardware design has proven to be an effective method to increase innovation and decrease costs of equipment and products over a wide range of industries. It can accelerate practical action and the implementation of policies and strategies to reduce our use of coal, oil and gas. In this presentation the power of open source will be explained to show how it can improve the performance and decrease the costs of decarbonization technologies. This presentation will end with a description of the <i>HardwareX</i> special issue on Open Source Decarbonization for a Sustainable World (www.journals.elsevier.com/hardwarex/forthcoming-special-issues/special-issue-on-open-source-decarbonization-for-a-sustainable-world).

Implementation of RISC-V SoC from RTL to GDS flow using Open-Source Tools

Abstract: The VSD QFLOW project is working on an open-source RTL-to-GDS tool that can produce a manufacturable layout from a hardware description in less than 24 hours and without involving a person. Opensource EDA tools are used to investigate and research an IC design for this purpose. This article explains how opensource EDA tools can assist researchers and students in learning. How to design and construct their own integrated circuits. Many hurdles and collaboration among different entities are involved in such an undertaking. We now have an open-source foundry. PDK as well as a thriving open-source hardware design environment. Th over all process can help in VLSI design. Optimizes error free GDS file for the given specification

ESP32-CAM as a programmable camera research platform

Experimenting with custom-programming of cameras can be difficult. Most consumer cameras are protected to prevent users from reprogramming them. Industrial cameras can be flexibly controlled by an external computer, but are generally not stand-alone programmable devices. However, various inexpensive camera modules, designed largely to be used for building IoT (Internet of Things) devices, combine extensive programmability with a camera in a compact, low-power, module. One of the smallest and least expensive, the ESP32-CAM module, combines a 2MP Omnivision OV2640 camera with a dual-core 32-bit processor, 802.11 WiFi and BlueTooth as well as wired I/O interfaces, a microSD slot, low power modes, etc., all supported by the Arduino programming environment and a rich collection of open source libraries. Why not use it for programmable camera research? This paper describes how the ESP32-CAM had to be adapted to enable use in a variety of experimental cameras. For example, some of these cameras do not use the lens screwed and glued onto the OV2640, and replacing this lens revealed a number of issues ranging from spectral response to adjustment of lens corrections. There are numerous strange interactions between different functions that end-up sharing the same I/O pins, so work-arounds were needed. It also was necessary to devise ways to handle various higher-level issues such as implementation of a live view and synchronization across cameras. However, the key problems have been resolved with open source software and hardware designs described here.

Role of 3D Printing and Modeling to Aid in Neuroradiology Education for Medical Trainees.

Applications of 3-dimensional (3D) printing in medical imaging and health care are expanding. Currently, primary uses involve presurgical planning and patient and medical trainee education. Neuroradiology is a complex subdiscipline of radiology that requires further training beyond radiology residency. This review seeks to explore the clinical value of 3D printing and modeling specifically in enhancing neuroradiology education for radiology physician residents and medical trainees. A brief review summarizing the key steps from radiologic image to 3D printed model is provided, including storage of computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging data as digital imaging and communications in medicine files; conversion to standard tessellation language (STL) format; manipulation of STL files in interactive medical image control system software (Materialise) to create 3D models; and 3D printing using various resins via a Formlabs 2 printer. For the purposes of demonstration and proof of concept, neuroanatomy models deemed crucial in early radiology education were created via open-source hardware designs under free or open licenses. 3D-printed objects included a sphenoid bone, cerebellum, skull base, middle ear labyrinth and ossicles, mandible, circle of Willis, carotid aneurysm, and lumbar spine using a combination of clear, white, and elastic resins. Based on this single-institution experience, 3D-printed complex neuroanatomical structures seem feasible and may enhance resident education and patient safety. These same steps and principles may be applied to other subspecialties of radiology. Artificial intelligence also has the potential to advance the 3D process.

PrintrLab incubator: A portable and low-cost CO2 incubator based on an open-source 3D printer architecture.

Growth in open-source hardware designs combined with the decreasing cost of high-quality 3D printers have supported a resurgence of in-house custom lab equipment development. Herein, we describe a low-cost (< $400), open-source CO2 incubator. The system is comprised of a Raspberry Pi computer connected to a 3D printer controller board that has controls for a CO2 sensor, solenoid valve, heater, and thermistors. CO2 is supplied through the sublimation of dry ice stored inside a thermos to create a sustained 5% CO2 supply. The unit is controlled via G-Code commands sent by the Raspberry Pi to the controller board. In addition, we built a custom software application for remote control and used the open-source Grafana dashboard for remote monitoring. Our data show that we can maintain consistent CO2 and temperature levels for over three days without manual interruption. The results from our culture plates and real-time PCR indicate that our incubator performed equally well when compared to a much more expensive commercial CO2 incubator. We have also demonstrated that the antibiotic susceptibility assay can be performed in this low-cost CO2 incubator. Our work also indicates that the system can be connected to incubator chambers of various chamber volumes.

Open-source hardware to face COVID-19 pandemic: the need to do more and better

PurposeThe usage of open-source hardware (OSH) designs has been put forward as a means to mitigate the shortage of core medical equipment, such as ventilators and of personal protection equipment (PPE) in medical facilities worldwide, resulting from the ever increasing number of individuals affect by COVID-19. This is due to the model allowing for the lowering of costs and widespread distribution of manufacturing. On the other hand, low adherence to its best practices and insufficient development may jeopardize OSH as a viable aid against the pandemic. In this work, we sought to clarify to what extent publicly available designs of ventilator and PPE are developed and abide by OSH standards as measure of the true openness of the solutions.MethodsWe searched the Internet and the literature to compile a comprehensive list of ventilators and PPE, while assessing available documentation in order to objectively evaluate key development landmarks (e.g., testing and governmental clearance) and indicators of adherence by OSH standards, as described by the Open Source Hardware Association.ResultsOnly a few peer-reviewed articles have been found, while a good number of Internet entries of open ventilator and PPE designs were found. Available documentation varied a lot in quantity and quality. Overall, adherence to OSH best practices and level of development were only partially fulfilled.ConclusionsAlthough this suboptimal performance regarding openness of designs may limit the benefits of the model, data suggests that present open-source efforts are highly beneficial and that they will be able to completely fulfill their mission given more and better OSH is carried out.

Hyperspectral super-resolution imaging with far-red emitting fluorophores using a thin-film tunable filter

New innovations in single-molecule localization microscopy (SMLM) have revolutionized optical imaging, enabling the characterization of biological structures and interactions with unprecedented detail and resolution. However, multi-color or hyperspectral SMLM can pose particular challenges which affect image quality and data interpretation, such as unequal photophysical performance of fluorophores and non-linear image registration issues, which arise as two emission channels travel along different optical paths to reach the detector. In addition, using evanescent-wave based approaches (Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence: TIRF) where beam shape, decay depth, and power density are important, different illumination wavelengths can lead to unequal imaging depth across multiple channels on the same sample. A potential useful approach would be to use a single excitation wavelength to perform hyperspectral localization imaging. We report herein on the use of a variable angle tunable thin-film filter to spectrally isolate far-red emitting fluorophores. This solution was integrated into a commercial microscope platform using an open-source hardware design, enabling the rapid acquisition of SMLM images arising from fluorescence emission captured within ∼15 nm to 20 nm spectral windows (or detection bands). By characterizing intensity distributions, average intensities, and localization frequency through a range of spectral windows, we investigated several far-red emitting fluorophores and identified an optimal fluorophore pair for two-color SMLM using this method. Fluorophore crosstalk between the different spectral windows was assessed by examining the effect of varying the photon output thresholds on the localization frequency and fraction of data recovered. The utility of this approach was demonstrated by hyper-spectral super-resolution imaging of the interaction between the mitochondrial protein, TOM20, and the peroxisomal protein, PMP70.

A Case for Accelerating Software RTL Simulation

RTL simulation is a critical tool for hardware design but its current slow speed often bottlenecks the whole design process. Simulation speed becomes even more crucial for agile and open-source hardware design methodologies, because the designers not only want to iterate on designs quicker, but they may also have less resources with which to simulate them. In this article, we execute multiple simulators and analyze them with hardware performance counters. We find some open-source simulators not only outperform a leading commercial simulator, they also achieve comparable or higher instruction throughput on the host processor. Although advanced optimizations may increase the complexity of the simulator, they do not significantly hinder instruction throughput. Our findings make the case that there is significant room to accelerate software simulation and open-source simulators are a great starting point for researchers.

A brief review on low-cost turbidimeter designs

Turbidity is an index of water clarity and considered an important aspect of environmental quality monitoring. Turbidity values are one of the crucial indicators of water quality health. In view of recent enthusiasm in affordable sensing, this review paper aims to shed light on the motivations behind the need for affordable turbidimeter especially in developing regions and rural areas. This paper highlights turbidimeter designs that apply low-cost alternatives such as the use of smartphones as sensors, open source hardware and software designs as well as using optical fibre in the instrumentation of turbidity measurement.

Open source standalone relative humidity controller for laboratory applications

From the survival of biological systems to the surface electrochemistry of materials, ambient and surface water plays a key role, and understanding its contribution is essential to describe the observed behaviours fully. Thus, precise measurement and control of relative humidity are essential in laboratory applications. In this paper, we present an open source hardware and software design of a low-noise and high precision standalone relative humidity controller, whose versatility and potential applications we demonstrate through basic calibration and performance tests. The hardware and software implementation are discussed in detail, with all plans and codes provided.

Correlation between process openness and collaboration tool usage in open source hardware design: an empirical study

Open source hardware has developed rapidly since the last 2 decades, thanks to access to Internet and availability of novel interactive manufacturing technologies (for example 3D printing or collaborative platforms). Several researchers worked on how to characterize OSH. Bonvoisin and Mies (Procedia CIRP 78:388–393, 2018) defined the “open-o-meter”, i.e. a series of criteria to measure the openness of an OSH project. These criteria fall into two categories: product openness and process openness. The open-o-meter gives clear guidelines on measuring product openness by verifying access to specific types of documents, however the criteria to measure process openness are relatively implicit. In this paper, we propose to measure an OSH project’s process openness by identifying different types of collaboration tools in that project. We will evaluate 226 OSH projects’ process openness by analysing their usage of collaboration tools, for example social media, wiki, GitHub etc. This empirical study showed that the usage of collaboration tools in OSH projects decreases as the score of open-o-meter decreases, which implies that the open-o-meter measures correctly an OSH project’s process openness. This research not only validates open-o-meter, but also offers an explicit way to measure an OSH project’s process openness that might be very useful for companies to evaluate potential collaborations.

Exploiting open source 3D printer architecture for laboratory robotics to automate high-throughput time-lapse imaging for analytical microbiology.

Growth in open-source hardware designs combined with the low-cost of high performance optoelectronic and robotics components has supported a resurgence of in-house custom lab equipment development. We describe a low cost (below $700), open-source, fully customizable high-throughput imaging system for analytical microbiology applications. The system comprises a Raspberry Pi camera mounted on an aluminium extrusion frame with 3D-printed joints controlled by an Arduino microcontroller running open-source Repetier Host Firmware. The camera position is controlled by simple G-code scripts supplied from a Raspberry Pi singleboard computer and allow customized time-lapse imaging of microdevices over a large imaging area. Open-source OctoPrint software allows remote access and control. This simple yet effective design allows high-throughput microbiology testing in multiple formats including formats for bacterial motility, colony growth, microtitre plates and microfluidic devices termed ‘lab-on-a-comb’ to screen the effects of different culture media components and antibiotics on bacterial growth. The open-source robot design allows customization of the size of the imaging area; the current design has an imaging area of ~420 × 300mm, which allows 29 ‘lab-on-a-comb’ devices to be imaged which is equivalent 3480 individual 1μl samples. The system can also be modified for fluorescence detection using LED and emission filters embedded on the PiCam for more sensitive detection of bacterial growth using fluorescent dyes.

CubeFactory2 – an Off-Grid and Circular 3D-Printing Mini-Factory

The CubeFactory2 is a self-sufficient and luggage-sized production unit illustrating the concept of sustainable manufacturing through circularity and resource conservation. It is circular in the sense that it can create new products out of waste. It embeds a Fuse Filament Fabrication 3D-printer whose input material is supplied by a recycling unit producing filament out of thermoplastic waste. It saves resources in the sense that it embeds renewable energy and material supply to recycle and 3D-print without the need for further infrastructure. In its current state of development, the purpose of the CubeFactory2 is primarily illustrative and to support awareness on sustainable manufacturing. If offers an experienceable application of the concepts of circularity and resource conservation. The long term vision is to take advantage of its compactness, portability and autonomy, in order to enable fabrication in areas of low infrastructure. The CubeFactory2 combines off-the-shelf and custom subsystems, the four mains of which are a 3D-printer, a recycler, an energy supply unit, and a casing. The present hardware meta-paper describes the design rationale of these systems and offers complementary information to the published open source hardware design files. Great care has been paid in the design process to enable replicability by using standard components when possible and releasing all documentation of bespoke elements following open source standards. This article should contribute to make this functional proof of concept ready for replication and for further development towards a market-ready product.

Open Source Hardware Communities: Investigating Participation in Design Activities

AbstractOpen source design of hardware products is an emerging phenomenon that takes more and more importance today's in the society. However, open source (hardware) design implies a tremendous change in both design practices and philosophy because it is partly related to the movements of creative commons and the sharing economy. From this perspective one could think that participation is crucial in the success of open source design projects. In this paper, we analyse 9 case studies in the light of 3 hypotheses. If many studies highlight the potential of the crowd as a resource for design tasks, our study shows that for open source design communities the participation is not massive. In this study, we used an activity-based approach to build our model. As open source design processes are fairly unstructured and based on voluntary participation, it is impossible to adopt a classical task-based model. With the help of this model, we were able evaluate the overall size of the active community, the participation rate with regards to the activities. This study paves the way to deeper and extensive studies on how to support communities engaged in open source design of hardware products.