Open Source Ecology

We are currently in the phase of fabrication optimization for the high performance, open source, Compressed Earth Brick (CEB) press. This is our route to financial bootstrapping of the research and development efforts. We are looking for people interested in Dedicated Project Visits on flexible fabrication.

Flexible fabrication is a blend of a generally-equipped workshop with the hands of a multi-skilled fabricator. Flexible fabrication in the digital age implies the assist of digital fabrication. To take full advantage of available modern technology, the skilled digital craftsperson has to gain proficiency in the entire process chain from open source design and collaboration, CAD, build, electronics, programming, and other skills as needed.

From the standpoint of resilient communities and the neosubsistence lifestyle, the technology is not the end-all but merely a step to sustainable living. (more…)

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We will be holding our annual Plant Propagation Workshop on March 20. See the documentation from last year’s workshop – blog post and announcement.

This year, our workshop will feature more raspberry propagation, plus grafting of apple, pear, peach, apricot, plum, and cherry. We will be using root stocks and scionwood from our nursery plantings. The workshop will take place at Factor e Farm from 1 to 4 PM on Saturday, March 20. We will start with a brief overview of the open source agroecology program that we’re pursuing, to set a context for our plant propagation efforts. The admission is free for True Fans, and $40 for others, and you may be able to take some plants home with you. We will also give a brief tour of our facilities. Email us or call to sign up or for more information, and if you are signing up, payment must be received by March 13. See other details from the announcement above.

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Here we continue to document the fabrication ergonomics from where we left off on the Compressed Eearth Brick (CEB) press.

Transfer punch and drill holes for frame – 3 hours. Mount the arms – 1.5 hours. Build soil-loading drawer – 3 hours. Build hopper interface plate and hopper – 4 hours. (more…)

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OSE is teaming up with Gaia University to offer Ph.D. programs related to post-scarcity, resilient communities. As you may have read in a previous post, Gaia University is beginning its Ph.D. program offerings this year.

The OSE-Gaia program is geared at developing the rigorous theory and practice necessary to support the development of post-scarcity economics. The goal of the Ph.D. offerings is to set new ground in interdisiciplinary studies, by offering projects that combine academic rigor and hands-on experience. Factor e Farm is a working lab that can be used for this purpose.

Gaia University is not the only route for you to get involved if you are interested in charting new territory in applied studies. If you are considering post-graduate studies, and if you are savvy, you can arrange to define your own program even if you are at a traditional university. You would have to find a professor at that university willing to be your academic liaison, and you would have to convince your institution that your proposed undertaking merits an advanced degree. Details of these arrangements depend on the university – and if you are enterprising, you can definitely arrange a workable scenario. I don’t think schools typically advertise this option too much, but it certainly exists. I would have done that myself, if I were aware of the possibility.

Here are 5 Ph.D. program statements as immediate offerings – for those brave pioneers who want a real, interdisciplinary challenge. The topic areas are allied closely with the work of OSE, and Gaia University will be providing the organizational infrastructure and promotion of these programs to its prospective students. (more…)

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The open source induction furnace project discussed previously is moving forward. We are currently evaluating bids, as you can see at the induction furnace project management site. This marks a point in our organizational history where we are beginning to outsource work, consistent with the proposed open source development pipeline process. Outsourcing is an industry standard for mainstream enterprise, but it can also be useful for scaling open source economic development. In particular, it appears that we found bidders fully capable of handling the project, including possibility of building the actual system. Read the bidding negotiations at the project management site for details.

In its limit, this type of outsourcing process can be an effective route towards open-sourcing the entire economy. All it takes is an organized and funded effort. The technical skill is available, but conversion of technology into open source form requires the nurturing hand of many technologically-literate generalists.

The concept for the OS induction furnace is:

The concept embodies a universal power source for induction melting and heating. The founding principle is (more…)

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We’re now in production of the open source, Compressed Earth Block (CEB) press. Here we document the fabrication ergonomics for the first steps in the build. This is for those of you considering replication.

It took 11.5 hours to cut the steel for The Liberator Beta v2.0 CEB press according to this cut list. This involved punching some of the holes, shearing, and bending – care of the local fab shop.

It took me 2 hours to build the press foot:

It took 2 hours to build the grate. Here is the grate with spacers between rebar prior to welding:

So far, the total is 15.5 hours of fabrication. If we had a hole puncher, we could probably save ourselves 2 hours of outsourced labor. So here’s our design of the hole puncher, to be built – as part of an ironworker machine:

The dxf files are here, so you can download them and continue the design if you want to get involved. This is an invitation to collaboration, starting with the wiki. First part of the ironworker is a hole puncher, and second step is metal shears for up to 12 inch wide metal, 1″ thick. The shears could save us a few more hours of outsourced labor.

There are holes on the u-channel that don’t lend themselves to hole punching, so these will be drilled using the FeF Multimachine in-the-making.

Hey, look, I found two, scrap six cylinder, in-line, 300 cubic inch Ford engine blocks in the back of the pickup.

That will be the start of the next version of the Multimachine.

Cutting out the hopper took about an hour.

If we had RepTab, the open source torch table up and running already – we could cut the 1/8″ sheet in about 5 minutes at the rated cutting speed of our 60 amp plasma cutter. So here’s a case for spending 2 dedicated weeks to get RepTab shaken down into full running condition.

In the meantime, William has been learning MIG welding in preparation for his arrival in May. Here’s a video:

He is also learning QCad, so we’ll hit the ground running on design and build of a new civilization.

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One perk of life at Factor e Farm is that you run into some really interesting people. Liora and Andrew Langford, co-founders of Gaia University and also True Fans, visited yesterday.

We covered lots of ground on collaboration between OSE and Gaia U. First, I should explain what Gaia University is about, because its uniqueness is not evident from the website.

Gaia University is an international school-without-walls with about 100 students. This means that education occurs not on a physical campus, but wherever the student chooses. There are mentors and the school is accredited. Gaia offers Bachelor’s and Master’s programs, and it is also introducing their Ph.D. program this year. Gaia has the capacity to provide credit for applied work and studies. There are other low-residency programs, such as Goddard College and Union Institute in the USA.

The unique features are threefold. (more…)

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The PowerBook G4 Mac in the house finally quit working. We splurged $300 on a brand new laptop recently. We got a 3 year old Dell Latitude D820 from Craigslist. With 2.16 GHz Intel Core Duo, and 1920×1200 screen resolution – that makes for an impressive system with Ubuntu 9.10 installed.

The install was straightforward. You just download Ubuntu 9.10, burn the download onto a single CD. You then install from the disk – in our case by pressing F12 to enter the boot menu and select boot from disk. You just follow instructions on the screen to get it going, and that’s all.

The laptop came with Windows Vista. I considered dual boot, (more…)

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This winter, we had 1-2 feet of snow, and the cover  lasted for about a month. This was harsh on the orchard – because an army of rabbits thus had a 1-2 foot pedestal and could reach above the existing tree guards. There was significant damage, but the trees will grow back – from below the damage at the very worst. Here is an example, which I covered with chicken wire after the damage was done already:

The rabbits, which for some reason exploded in population this year and kept the crockpots busy – were not the only issue. Subterranean creatures exploded, too. Look at these tracks, which to my guess, are voles or moles:

How could this happen if the ground is supposedly frozen during this colder-than-normal winter? (more…)

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We are now officially using Open+Pario as our project management and design repository for Open Source Ecology. The most active project at present is the CEB press, and we are beginning project management of the Open Source Induction Furnace. Anybody can view any of the projects – including design files, technical discussions, etc. The content is entirely transparent and open to the greater community.

If you want to get involved in any of the projects,  you can  sign up  as a Project Member by registering and joining  a given project. (more…)

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