Q: Can the average person today make useful electronic devices today?

A: It depends on their background, what is available, and what it costs.

So, .. would you like to:

  1. View complete instructions with links to manufacturers on what parts to purchase to create your own devices?
  2. Tweak and submit changes to existing instructions to help improve the quality of the devices?
  3. Publish the instructions of a project you have worked on?

If any of the above answers is `yes' then you have come to the right place.

Free Hardware philosopy: Sourcecode has free software, hardware has .. free hardware designs, the source. Obviously nobody is going to distribute free hardware. In the spirit of `power to the people' akin to free software, welcome to free hardware designs.

Mini-FAQ:

  1. Q: Aren't you wanting to make money?
    A: It certainly makes sense to sell parts to people as project kits, the parts can be purchased in volume cheaper than singly, making any small markup still cost much less than an individual purchasing individual pieces for a single device.
    It also makes sense to charge people for making a given device, if they do not have the time, inclination, or confidence to do it themselves.
    Initially, though, the focus is generating designs, full specifications, instructions, and pointers where people can order products.
  2. Q: If you are making these devices, do you not want to license it in such a way that someone else cannot charge people for making them?
    A: Free is free. The world has enough lock-in licenses, enough barriers to do business, enough of the self entitlement mentality. Why not create
    .. not a single product
    .. not a small selection of products
    .. but a shairing community that creates designs for products that are freely constructed by anyone and tweaked by anyone?
    If people make hardware designed here, and anyone decides to publish more hardware, or hardware updates, then this site has served its purpose.
  3. Q: Why are you doing this?
    A: Because we are selfish and wish for a future where all specs of all devices are freely available and the only cost is the materials. Failing that, we can foster a community to make it clear how useful the use of free specifications and manufacturing instructions can be.
    Put another way... have you ever ordered something and decided it sucked because one thing was not the way you wanted it? What if you could change this and make one yourself that did not suck? Maybe someday someone will present the parts for a full computer and/or laptop... and we can all present our own takes on making said device not suck, designing the next generation on our free spec hardware.
  4. Q: What other motivations do you have?
    A: We want the devices.

      Projects

      usb 2 rs232