Here's an nascent, but very interesting concept developing - open source gizmos:



They're basically a design shop for embedded devices you want to create:

"All the ideas that are sold and designed here are OpenSource. Including Schematics, Mechanical Design, PCB Design, Programming Code."

They have a few items for sale online such as GPS trackers, some gumstix daughter cards (gumstix is something I wrote about a long time ago - "worlds smallest linux computer"). Here's their Gizmo For You shop. Go wild.

Speaking of open source gizmos, awhile back I wrote about an open source microcontroller platform called Arduino (see: "The Many Faces of Arduino".) Arduino has continued to morph. I don't have time right now to catalog the new Arduinos that have hit the market since that article, but one in particular made me chuckle when it was brought to my attention - the one-chip Arduino. It might be the first ever open source 3D circuit board? I love that thing and all it represents.

About me

I’m an independent consultant who used to do a lot of work for OpenLogic. I greatly appreciate OpenLogic and the mission they are fulfilling as well as their willingness to let me contribute to this blog. Views expressed here are not necessarily those of OpenLogic and any mistakes are 100% attributable to me. You can contact me at: landon at 360vl dot com or visit http://sawdust.see-do.org