Difference between revisions of "Open collaborative design/Intro"

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−	[[Image:Open design two notebooks.jpg|150px|right]] '''Open collaborative design''' involves applying principles from the remarkable ''[[free and open-source software]] movement'' to give us a powerful new way to design artefacts, machines and physical systems. The basis of this development model is a principle called [[Image:Copyleft.png|16px]] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyleft 'copyleft'] which applies license terms via copyright to creative works enabling ''anyone'' else to freely use or customise them. Derivations may also inherit the same terms, depending on the license used.	+	[[image:Open_design_two_notebooks.png|right|180px]] '''Open collaborative design''' involves applying principles from the remarkable [[free and open-source software]] movement that provides a powerful new way to design physical objects, machines and systems. All information involved in creating the object or system is made available on the Internet {{en}} such as text, drawings, photographs and 3D [[Free and open-source computer-aided design/What is computer-aided design|computer-aided design]] (CAD) models {{en}} so that other people can freely re-create it, or help contribute to its further evolution. It is essentially the same principle that is used to progress scientific knowledge, however in reality it is much more open and transparent than much of contemporary scientific research.
−	This principle ensures that 'copylefted' works (whether they are designs, text, artwork or computer code) become gifted to humanity, adding to an ever increasing universal 'commons'. And because this principle is to the benefit of everyone, it completely changes the way that people think about contributing their time, creativity and efforts to projects licensed in this way.	+	A core element of this development model is a principle called {{wp|Copyleft|'copyleft'}} (symbol: [[Image:Copyleft.png|12px]]) which is a way of applying copyright to a creative work in a way that makes sure that ''anyone'' can freely use it or build upon it - and also that derivative works inherit the same terms, ensuring anything based on the original is freely available too. This principle means that 'copylefted' items {{en}} whether they are designs, text, artwork or computer code {{en}} are effectively gifted to humanity, adding to an ever increasing universal 'commons'. Because this principle is to the benefit of everyone, it completely changes the way that many people think about contributing their time and effort to this type of project. It already works very effectively with many high profile, successful [[Free and open-source software|software projects]], so this is not merely wishful thinking.
−	For the nascent field of open collaborative design, new generations of open-source [[Free and open-source CAD software|CAD]] software will allow anyone, not just designers and engineers, to easily create new or variant designs, choosing from a vast array of 'copylefted' components, assemblies and whole artefacts from the universal commons. This should make the design process much more efficient and help avoid the huge duplication of effort that occurs in design and engineering today.	+	Open collaborative design is a nascent field that has huge potential to radically alter the way we create goods, machines and systems {{en}} not only for personal items but all the way up to components of national or global infrastructure.
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−	These principles can apply to designing the simplest things that can be made by individuals; solutions for communities in the developing world; all the way up to complex large-scale systems of national or global infrastructure involving hundreds or thousands of people. Because the designs are not closed or proprietary, people are encouraged to contribute knowing their involvement not only benefits themselves but anyone else might use the results of their efforts. It also means that designs will evolve far faster because of the huge amount of parallel development that is likely to occur.	+
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−	Giving these designs physical form will be fast and easy due to emerging high-speed, flexible [[Turning collaborative designs into physical objects|manufacturing techniques]]. As a result the open design ecosystem will effectively become an internet for physical items {{em}} and the impact on society is likely to be as great as the web has been in terms of information.<noinclude>{{refresh|Open collaborative design}}</noinclude>	+

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Latest revision as of 21:16, 2 January 2012

Open collaborative design involves applying principles from the remarkable free and open-source software movement that provides a powerful new way to design physical objects, machines and systems. All information involved in creating the object or system is made available on the Internet – such as text, drawings, photographs and 3D computer-aided design (CAD) models – so that other people can freely re-create it, or help contribute to its further evolution. It is essentially the same principle that is used to progress scientific knowledge, however in reality it is much more open and transparent than much of contemporary scientific research.

A core element of this development model is a principle called 'copyleft'  (symbol: ) which is a way of applying copyright to a creative work in a way that makes sure that anyone can freely use it or build upon it - and also that derivative works inherit the same terms, ensuring anything based on the original is freely available too. This principle means that 'copylefted' items – whether they are designs, text, artwork or computer code – are effectively gifted to humanity, adding to an ever increasing universal 'commons'. Because this principle is to the benefit of everyone, it completely changes the way that many people think about contributing their time and effort to this type of project. It already works very effectively with many high profile, successful software projects, so this is not merely wishful thinking.

Open collaborative design is a nascent field that has huge potential to radically alter the way we create goods, machines and systems – not only for personal items but all the way up to components of national or global infrastructure.