Only problem is, not open source. The fully featured student version is €195.

http://www.rhino3d.com

SKDB combines the concept of software versioning with repository management to hardware, so you get the advantages of automation applied to tracking revisions to a specific part in an assembly and an automatic way to resolve that the latest part version has (6) 1/4 through-holes in it (with the BOM changes that implies) where the old one had (2) 3/8 holes and (4) 1/4 holes – this provides an automatic mechanism that allows for incremental improvements in parts and BOMs to simplify designs and lower part counts.

It’s a practical expression of the comment attributed to Einstein: “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler” if you are unfamiliar with the CubeSpawn look here: http://www.cubespawn.com and SKDB is here: http://github.com/kanzure/skdb

http://openfarmtech.org/index.php?title=CAD_(Computer_Aided_Design)

Sam how far off do you think it would be before BRL-CAD has the capability of doing drawings? 3d modeling is great and really an interactive way to design, but without the ability to project drawings it seems like a lot of time was sunk into design without much return.

Thanks for all your passion.

@sam: please dont build a wall between “makers” and “thinkers”. we need them both and factor-e-farm does both, which makes it an interesting project.

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Benni, yes, we have some loose contacts. We are pushing the concept of the Open Source Fab Lab, which would cost about one tenth or less of the ~$100k price of the closed source counterpart, while including the metal casting as well in the open source version. If you have any particular pathways to collaboration in mind, please pursue them on our behalf – such that you also become involved in the actual development paths. This is open to everyone in terms of collaboration, and we encourage that – especially because that’s what will make the project succeed at integrating the availabe, but disconnected, components. – Marcin

Yes, I too would like to know of this SKDB business Bryan tells me so much about!

mb21 said:

a FAB-store next to the local supermarket to just drop by with your design you did at home on your PC

reply:

TechShop, a startup commercial fablab (and others like it?), may one day fabricate designs for a fee. I’d suggest having a chat with Jim Newton about that idea. Then strongly suggest to him with strong argument to support Factor e.

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Nathan, good suggestions. Please put us (opensourceecology@gmail.com) in contact with Jim Newton. Do you have his contact info? That’s an explicit opportunity that id definitely worth pursuing at present, not only for support, but for clarification of development needs regarding equipment performance, applications, and specifications. – Marcin

And about reprap vs. fab@home: Reprap feels very vibrant, and the fact that it’s strictly opensource and the (many) software is used on all major os’, speaks for itself. One major designed aspect of reprap over others is self-replication which should soon translate to even more widening the price gap, in favor of reprap (price to be a factor of ten lower than the factor-made fab@home).

One last idea. Do you have connections with hackerspaces or hacklabs (or “fablabs”)? You should at least find the one closest to you and talk about co-operation. Why not list yourself as one on the hackerspaces.org wiki, I’m sure it would draw attention from likeminded people!

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Elmo, great comment. Yes, we’re all for replicability. On your suggestion – since you’re a True Fan – go right ahead and post us in one of the nearest hacklabs. We are in Kansas City area, Missouri.

Right now we’re busy publishing the Distillations, so we have not yet gotten far with the marketing stage – regarding marketing to other audiences outside of the inbred Globalvillages/Openfarmtech/Global Swadeshi + etc crowd. We appreciate any marketing help – and we are keeping track of possible audiences at http://openfarmtech.org/index.php?title=Marketing and the Category of the same name.

Also, it is worth comparing RepRap with http://fabathome.org/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page there is a consensus among some that fab@home is more robust/usable than RepRap. However, by the same token, RepRap could probably be made to be much better with some development. One of the problems with Fab@home is the software, which only runs on Windows http://fabathome.org/wiki/index.php?title=Fab@Home:Model_1_Software Fab@home seems to be a superior design, so it could be worthwhile to put some time and money towards development of open source, cross platform software to run it. This is something that I could look at developing this year.

Also, on the software front, progress is being made on http://heybryan.org/mediawiki/index.php/Skdb

And yeah, that stuff looks really interesting and promising. I wonder how low you can push the price for this whole equipment (raw material mainly) and how easy it will be to piece together. If everybody would have such a FAB-store next to the local supermarket to just drop by with your design you did at home on your PC… *dream*

I’m doing all this with the goal of eventually building a steam-heat system for the warehouse that houses Watershed, an emerging community of artisans, fabricators and craftspeople.

However, this unfolding change is *NOT* going to be like the rise of the internet in the 1990′s. It’s not going to be a spectator sport. The talkers will be eclipsed by the doers.

Thanks to Marcin for having the gumption to help set a new tone, and help remind people that the building blocks for *doing* something are right here in front of all of us. And, that we no longer need to wait around for experts, “thought leaders”,and mass media to tell us how and what we should be doing, and why. Going forward, those who *do* transformation will lead; and there is potentially room for everyone to do so.