Some starting thoughts
Ireton5
tools to the design of open systems for humanitarian purposes. The
design is the recipe for building and maintaining the system. The
major design elements would be drawings, bill of materials,
instructions, and perhaps some electronic design files (e.g. CAD).
Once the system architecture is defined, the specifications and
interfaces for system components can be defined. This way components
can be improved independently, or there can be multiple alternatives
for each component (based on local needs or part availability for
example).
I really know nothing about water purification, but I know there is a
great need. I am hoping that experts from many different disciplines
join the project. The web enables worldwide collaboration, as with
open source software development. Even if a person can just spend a
short amount of time to contribute a few ideas or solve a little
design problem, they can help. Over time the design will improve with
the contributions.
Where do we start? Perhaps we could start by coming to a consensus on
some project goals. My thought is to design a small simple system that
can be replicated if more capacity is needed. The UMass Lowell system
serves a village of 250 with a capacity of 2 GPM. The McGuire system
has a capacity of 55 GPM. Both system run off the grid with solar
(UMass) or 12V (McGuire) power. Anyone want to draft some goals?
I am no expert on open design, but to me it means that anyone can use
the design free of any patent or copyright restrictions. That means
that manufacturers could produce the system or components for profit.
In my view, that is okay because it opens the door to innovation and
lower prices. I like to idea of opening the design so that components
can be manufactured locally where practical.
Feel free to jump in and contribute any thoughts or ideas that you
can.
Peace,
Mark W. Ireton
Portland, Oregon
Michael Koch
To introduce myself, my name is Michael Koch and I'm currently a
graduate student in Mechanical Engineering just south of you at OSU.
While I'm not going to pretend I know anything about water
purification, I do know that the Engineers Without Borders group on
campus has done several water projects in South America. Not sure on
the specifics, but I think they were using sand purification. After
talking to one of the members (and a coworker), he made it sound like
many of the designs for such systems are available, though they are
often disorganized with poor documentation. I know they're always
looking for projects, so there might be synergy there. I know several
of the members and could talk to them if you're interested. Below is a
link to their website:
http://groups.engr.orst.edu/ewb/
As for what I can help with, my own research has been into open design
with focus mostly on the organizational structure of such groups,
perceptions of collaboration & knowledge sharing and what tools and
methods are useful for facilitating the collaboration between groups
(both distributed and collocated). As such, we've been developing a
web-app which currently offers project management tools (ie wikis,
task tracking, file upload, forums, repos, etc). In regards to running
open design projects with distributed teams, we are of the opinion
that such tools are key to organizing disparate members and allowing
them the ability to easily collaborate and share their knowledge. I
can go more in depth if you'd like, but wanted to share that as a
resource for helping you get started and organizing your team (It is
free to use). The site can be found at the link below:
Additionally, there are many students and local hobbyists/technicians/
engineers that might be interested in this project. Personally, I dont
think I have time to do much in terms of design, but I will talk with
those I do know, and direct them to this listserve and yourself.
Talk to you soon!
Michael Koch
Mark Ireton
Michael Koch
> M.S.E.E. from OSU and my son currently attends, studying biophysics/biochem.
Thats what I thought! Small world...he and I sit on a board together
that oversees the Green Fee (a fund going towards sustainability
related initiatives on campus)
> I checked out the Engineers Without Borders website and quickly found their
> El Salvador Water Project. The filtration system they are using (http://www.pottersforpeace.org/?page_id=9) looks like a great solution, and
> open source. It seems there are many groups working on the clean water
> problem. Maybe bringing them together to collaborate would be helpful.
Yes, I think it would. Have you or do you plan on contacting any of
them?
> The Open Pario site looks perfect. I just setup the Google Group as a
> temporary way to get things started. One of the group members indicated an
> interest similar to yours, so I'd like to get his input on collaboration
> sites.
Great! What sites are you all looking at? Any in particular? I'd be
interested, as I know others would be, in what you are considering.