Project description

The aim of the “Open Hardware Infrastructure & Procedure (OHIO)” steering project is to create the necessary technical and organizational conditions to enable successful open source hardware (OSH) projects in the transfer space. The start into a form of innovation process like this will be simplified, through a certain standardization of the procedure. This is achieved by orienting the project contents to the forms of openness in the OSH process. Here, many parallels can be drawn with the area of open source software (OSS). Also, the success of OSS can help as an orientation for necessary development steps of OSH. Unlike in the area of OSS, there are still no established collaboration tools and generally used repositories for data from OSH projects. Furthermore, in comparison to OSS, there are greater obstacles in OSH for the exchange of models and prototypes, since these are physical objects. To solve these problems, a freely accessible database of OSH designs is to be created, which will initially also be enriched with standard models (simple components that may be used in many projects) from mechanical and plant engineering. In order to lower the entry barriers for companies and other players, a structured development model for open innovation and OSH projects will be build.

Methods

HTW Dresden will collaborate in all four subtasks of OHIO. The work of HTW Dresden makes a significant contribution to the following goals:

• Establishing technical and organizational conditions through standardization and norming for the implementation of innovative Open Source Hardware (OSH) projects.
  For this purpose, the HTW will conduct a requirements analysis for licenses in the field of mechanical and plant engineering.
• Developing suitable collaboration tools as well as digital cooperation and exchange platforms to promote the community idea.
• Simplify the process of exchanging design-to-manufacturing data by creating qualified design tools in the development process
• Developing design standard models for mechanical and plant engineering, which can be used in the majority of projects.