4 ms·
I’m a big proponent of open source hardware but as your post shows it often involves skills of many disciplines that requires vigorous thought or trial and erro
by generj 3y ago
I’m a big proponent of open source hardware but as your post shows it often involves skills of many disciplines that requires vigorous thought or trial and error. Electronics and physics are unforgiving in a way processors are not.
Even after reaching the prototype phase, the open source hardware is probably only useful to one person: it’s creator.
There is a big difference between making a prototype and detailing the build in sufficient detail other hobbyists can replicate it / modify / use it. Documenting hardware is substantially harder than documenting software. If the project is cool a bunch of people will be excited to jump in; some of these people have zero experience soldering or ordering laser cut parts or whatever. Supporting them is hard.
Then another step up to sell the design to other hobbyists, even just a few extra copies on Tindie.
And then a huge step up from that to selling to the general public, where suddenly FCC interference certifications are needed and the company is liable if the design burns down a few houses. There’s a reason firms making hardware have real engineers on staff held to professional standards. Plus all the cash flow and business concerns when the marginal cost per unit isn’t under 1 cent like software.
Each of these steps often involves multiple iterations of hardware and therefore lead time and cost.
- eternityforest 3y agoThere are a lot of OSHW projects I'd love to work on, but the main thing that holds me back is knowing they'd basically go nowhere. I can't post them online for others like with code. Nobody is going to build it, the physical building of it is way harder than the design, anyone who could build it is too busy building their own projects that will go in the junk drawer in a week. I would love to work at a real OSHW company, making IoT gadgets and stuff that for production and sale as polished commercial products with a software ecosystem behind them... but I lack a degree, live in Montana, and don't drive, and there are not many companies like that(And most of them are making expensive FOSS phones that don't run normal apps, cryptocurrency stuff, or glorified dev boards kinda pretending to be products)
- xnzakg 3y agoReally depends on the specific pronect of course, but there's definitely some "posted online like code" projects out there. It's a more technical target audience of course, but I've seen plenty of projects with design files included ready to be sent to a PCB manufacturer. Two categories I can easily think of are mechanical keyboards and modular synthesizers.
- eternityforest 3y agoKeyboards are an interesting case, people are so into them, and also specifically want them to be custom made just for them, so people are willing to build or even commission. I keep thinking that maybe high end flashlights could be the same way, I can definitely think of a few features that don't show up in your typical light, and that it might be cool to try to make a few boutique lights to sell, but my business knowledge isn't quite up to that, and I don't exactly have much desire to do a whole lot of independent work, I much prefer having an employer.
- vdqtp3 3y agoFlashlight nerds are crazy, it's definitely as big a market as custom keyboards
- nico_h 3y agoThe thing i see with flashlights is that the physical object is pretty complex and has to face thermal, power and environmental constraints that would destroy any keyboard. Maybe it could start as a gut replacement for an existing cheap flashlight and grow from there.
- dotancohen 3y agoAm I underestimating how complex a battery, bulb, and switch are? What complexity is in a modern flashlight? I remember proudly making a flashlight in 1984 or so from scavenged components, including silvering my own reflector.
- 3y ago
- d-sc 3y agoEh. As a counter point. I live in Montana, have a degree in an unrelated field but still work on IOT projects. I work mostly from home or private office and have never needed to drive for course of work. Not sure how you exist in Montana without driving. If you’d like to move into that field, it’s certainly not easy but it is possible.
- bsder 3y ago> Supporting them is hard. Ding! We had a bespoke wireless entry system for our hackerspace which kinda sucked. Eventually the board switched it out for OpenPath (which also sucks--to be fair). Why? Support. The board can now call someone and say "We pay you. Fix this." Support is the bane of consumer products. I really wish we had some way to counter this.
- jacquesm 3y agoEven seasoned professionals can get caught in the gap between 'prototype' and 'production grade' especially for things that are on the margin of what can be done with a particular hardware recipe. That's when component variation can cause your product yield to go straight into the sewer.