Project description

The oSHOP project of HTW Dresden, TU Dresden and the Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology (IWU) Chemnitz focuses on the concept of Open Source Hardware (OSH), freely accessible blueprints for physical components, devices and machines at the centre of research transfer. The aim is to transfer the potential of open source software (OSS) to technology development, to shorten innovation cycles through new experimental approaches in research and development (R&D) and thus to meet the challenges of structural change in the mechanical engineering sector, which is important for Saxony. The aim of oSHOP is to enable cross-company development concepts for technical innovations based on the OSH approach. To this end, the applicant research institutions make the technical results of their publicly funded R&D work freely available as digital blueprints to regional SMEs, start-ups and research institutions. This means that the research results can be further utilised and developed by a large number of stakeholders. As an additional important component, the applicant research institutions make their laboratories, test areas and workshops available for OSH-based research transfer. The aim is to provide a low-threshold opportunity for companies and researchers to test further developed OSH without their own test fields and without extensive investment funds. In the steering area of the project proposal, the participating research institutions evaluate and develop the necessary conditions for utilising OSH in innovation processes and derive concepts for OSH-based transfer projects. The practical implementation of the concept will be investigated in the form of workshop projects using the example of a robot platform, a structurally modular machine system and a framework for the generic generation of human-machine interfaces.