The Software Developer’s Guide to Open Source Hardware

The Software Developer’s Guide to
Open Source Hardware
Leon Anavi
Konsulko Group
leon.anavi@konsulko.com
leon@anavi.org
FOSDEM 2019

FOSDEM 2019 - The Software Developer’s Guide to Open Source Hardware, Leon Anavi
Agenda
 Combining open source hardware with free and open source
software
 Open source hardware certifcation
 Low-volume manufacturing
 Crowdfunding opportunities
 Community

Open Source Hardware
 Design of physical objects that is publicly available so that
anyone can study, modify, distribute, make, and sell the
design or hardware based on that design
 To be really open source hardware the project needs 4 main
elements: hardware, software, documentation, branding

Benefts
Open source hardware is good for:
 Giving confdence that the design will be available if the
original manufacturer stops production
 Keeping the prices low
 Enabling customizations and integration in 3rd party
products
 Sharing knowledge, educating students and getting feedback
and contributions from the community

Open Source Hardware Licenses
Popular viral licenses:
 GNU General Public License (GPL)
 Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike
 CERN Open Hardware License (OHL)
 TAPR Open Hardware License (OHL)
Popular permissive licenses:
 FreeBSD
 MIT
 Solderpad Hardware Licence

Open Source Hardware Certifcation
Open Source Hardware Association(OSHWA):
 Maintains Certifed Projects Directory
 Ensures that the defnition of “open source hardware” used
by a specifc project matches the community defnition of
open source hardware
 Provides an unique ID for certifed hardware based on the
country code and a number, for example: BG000007
 Provides an unique logo for the certifed ID
 https://certifcation.oshwa.org/

Who is Using Open Source Hardware?
 Arduino
 Olimex
 SparkFun
 Adafruit
 Intel
 Google
 IBM
 Prusa
 And a lot of other companies and individuals...

Software vs Hardware
 Hardware is expensive
 Often you can’t built hardware at home
 Making hardware prototypes takes more time
 Soldering requires skills and practice
 Debugging hardware requires specifc physical tools
 Fixing bugs requires a new version of the hardware
 Testing hardware can be dangerous

Philosophical questions
 Is it worth designing open source hardware with expensive
proprietary software tools?
 Can you build a sustainable community if your contributors
have to pay gazillions for software licenses to modify and
contribute back to your open source hardware project?

Free and Open Source Design Software
Popular Electronic Design Automation (EDA):
 Fritzing
 gEDA
 KiCAD
Popular Computer-aided design (CAD):
 OpenSCAD
 QCAD
 FreeCAD
 Blender

KiCad
 Free & open source EDA software (GPLv3+)
 Cross platform (works on GNU/Linux distributions, MS
Windows and Mac OS X)
 Integrated 3D viewer
 Up to 32 copper layers + 14 fxed-purpose technical layers
 Contributions from CERN developers
 Already adopted by the industry
 http://kicad-pcb.org/

Why am I using KiCad?
Because it is open source and recommended by:

My First Own KiCad Project from Scratch
 It all started with an add-on board for Raspberry Pi
 Thanks to Rangel Ivanov & other friends for helping me with KiCad
 For details have a look at FOSDEM 2017: Making Your Own Open Source Raspberry Pi HAT
https://archive.fosdem.org/2017/schedule/event/diy_pi_hat/

It Becomes Easy After Getting Used to
KiCad and Open Source Hardware

Recommendations
 Comply with the minimum requirements of the PCB
manufacturer for trace spaces, drills and angular rings
 Read the datasheets of all components carefully
 Keep in mind the complexity of the assembly process while
designing the PCB
 Consider the design of the case simultaneously with the
design of the PCB
 Submit often to version control system with a public
repository to get early feedback from the community

PCB Prototyping
PCB printing services from:
 OSHPark (made in the USA)
 Local European factories
 JLCPCB (China)
 PCBWAY (China)
 Seeed Studio (China)
 ALLPCB (China)
 Other Chinese factories

Epic Fails

Low Volume Manufacturing (1/3)
 Price depends on PCB size
 Several boards are grouped in a panel
 Assembly could be more expensive than the PCB

 Assembly could be more expensive than the PCB
 Handsoldering SMD (Surface Mount Devices) might be OK for
a prototype but is extremely time consuming and not a
reasonable option for low volume manufacturing
 Stencil, solder paste and a refow oven is required for SMT
(Surface Mount Technology)
 Pick and place machine might be too expensive for low
volume manufacturing of PCB with just a few SMD

 Planning low volume manufacturing from local suppliers
avoids delays caused by import procedures and holidays in
the country of origin of the components
 Local manufacturing allows better QA during the process
 Local manufacturing may be more expensive but cuts the
costs for shipping
 Bonus: it is awesome to see your
hometown on a PCB

Crowdfunding Opportunities
 Kickstarter
 IndieGoGo
 Crowd Supply
 GroupGets
 Other
 Tindie
(marketplace for maker made products)

Community
 Community matters
 Keeping the hardware, the software and the documentation
in public repositories allows people to contribute back
 Using popular tools and services such as Git and GitHub
makes it easier to attract more contributors
 Excellent documentation is always an advantage
 Bloggers have the power to spread to word among the
community and infuence it
 People enjoy step by step tutorials in YouTube, Instructables,
Hackster, hackaday.io, etc.

Recommendations
 Use de-facto industry standard
version control system like Git
and a popular service like
GitHub helps to attract more
contributors
 Provide quick feedback to
contributors
 Be respectful and thankful for
each contribution

Hardware Improvements
 GitHub pull requests with modifcations of the KiCad sources
are rare because it could be difcult to tests the change
 Often hardware recommendations are provided by the
community and the author should implement them
 It is a good practice to add trailer with credit to the people
involved in the modifcation, for example with trailers in the
Git commit message

Hardware Modifcations
 esp01-i2c-little-board by Nicolas Vion
https://github.com/zmoostik/esp01-i2c-little-board
 Modifed Infrared pHAT by Lazar Hristov
https://github.com/lazarh/anavi-infrared

Conclusions
 Open source hardware is a viable business model already
used by a lot of well-known companies in the industry
 Open source hardware certifcation by OSHWA is free and
guarantees that the products are really open source
 High quality free and open source software tools for
designing open source hardware are available
 Building and testing a hardware prototype is often more
expensive and time consuming (compared to software)
 Community always matters

Thank you!
Useful links:
 https://www.oshwa.org/
 https://certifcation.oshwa.org/process.html
 http://kicad-pcb.org/
 https://oshpark.com/
 https://docs.oshpark.com/design-tools/kicad/generating-kicad-gerbers/
 https://github.com/AnaviTechnology/
 https://www.crowdsupply.com/
 https://www.tindie.com/

The Software Developer’s Guide to Open Source Hardware

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