The Emerging Phenomenon of Open Source Hardware Design

The spread of ICT and cheap low-size production tools like 3D-printers led to the development of open design, i.e. community-based and open source development of physical products also named as open source hardware design. This innovative organisation of product development based on a new conception of copyright as well as decentralised and voluntary work offers a disruptive alternative to conventional industrial product development. It provides a great opportunity for continuous improvement of products as well as formidable potentials for product innovation and incubation of new businesses. However, the emergence of open source hardware design still suffers from a limited availability of supporting methods and online tools helping to face the organizational challenges raised by distributed collaboration of non-contractually engaged volunteers. Because of a lack of adapted structuring mechanisms, open source hardware design projects are still restricted to the development of products of low complexity and quality, i.e. prototypes or toys for do-it-yourself hobbyists. In order to compete with today's standards of industrial product design, open design shall be provided with adapted methods that ensure significant process efficiency and economic viability. In this presentation we will introduce the concept of open source hardware design and explain how it is different for open source software design. Then we will propose a caracterisation of the typical actors' profiles and the notion of of community. We will also introduce a tool for evaluating the openness of a product or a process and the link with the communication tools used by the communities. This work is based on the analysis of more than 200 OSH projects and the interview of more tan 20 makers. The project has been developed within the framework of the OPEN! Project co-funded by french ANR and German DFG agencies.