A few days after my graduation I was shuffling through a heap of papers and notebooks that I’ve collected over the course of completing my B.E.E in Computer Engineering at Auburn University. While selectively searching for formula sheets and final exam study guides I came across an essay that I wrote during my third semester. I was starting my internship with AU’s Office of Sustainability and was enrolled in SUST2000 Introduction to Sustainability.
Using principles of sustainability and topics from class and additional reading, craft a persuasive argument that can be used to convince others why and how sustainability can be incorporated into your profession.
Open Source Hardware and the Creation of a Global Guild of Technical Workers
Computer Engineers integrate software with circuits – creating the digital electronics that have become so important to our everyday lives. The complexity of digital electronics has split the field into a number of diverse specializations ranging from operating systems to computer hardware architecture. The work of a computer engineer can touch on many topics from robotics and control systems to consumer electronics and artificial intelligence.
A hardware designer wishing to build more sustainable technologies can focus on energy efficiency and being conscious of the environmental impact of their components. With regards to components a number of standards currently exist. One such standard is RoHs – or the Restriction of certain Hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment – an EU regulation that is being considered by several US states that limits the amount of lead, mercury, cadmium, haxavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls and polybrominated diphenyl ether found in electronics and their packaging.
More importantly, I plan to develop appropriate technologies — in terms of the environmental, cultural and economic systems into which it is placed and from which it is produced. I feel that open source licenses play a crucial role in ensuring that all peoples on our planet have access to innovative technologies appropriate to their situation and needs.
An open source license applies to intellectual property – and is based on the idea that the organic growth of technology will occur when anyone and everyone can edit it as they see fit. A number of different licenses currently exist – such as the General Public License and the Creative Commons License. These licenses can stipulate different terms and conditions concerning the use of the intellectual property that they protect. Some licenses allow for disallow remix and limit resale while others insist that the product must remain free “as in free speech and free beer.” Ultimately the driving force behind open source is the idea that it is wasteful to reinvent the wheel – and that ideas should be spread rather than kept behind lock and key.
For me the motivating factor behind this philosophy is the divide between the developed and developing world. Even the way in which this discussion has been framed is fundamentally flawed. If we see the developed world as Europe, America, et al we cannot afford to allow the majority of the world develop into similar states. No matter how advanced the electronics of the West are – we are still burning fossil fuels and creating nuclear waste, both of which carry disastrous consequences for our planet. If our aim is a sustainable society on a global scale then almost every nation on earth that is not driven on one-hundred percent renewable energy is still developing. Considering this I am convinced that appropriate technologies set free under open source licenses are the only way to move the entire world beyond the industrial age before it is too late.
With a population of 6.7 billion, many are asking why we should proliferate digital technologies into the wider world. The environmental impacts of electrifying rural Africa, or giving laptops to students in Afghanistan must be considered – but the social impacts are just as important. With cheap hardware and an internet connection third world schools can use free resources such as Wikipedia to educate both adults and children – and with increased education comes a lower birthrate. Likewise, educated and engaged citizens are less inclined to see war as a consequence of life on planet Earth.
Although most western students have come to rely on Wikipedia, the shining example of open source today is GNU/Linux – a free and open operating system that was originally created by Linus Torvalds in his Helsinki apartment. Over time programmers from all over the world latched onto this project – adding functionality to it and branching off their own “distributions” – or customized derivatives of the operating system. While Linux itself has remained free, some distributions have made a substantial amount of money by providing auxiliary support services to both individuals and businesses.
Yet no matter how noble the engineer is – everyone needs to pay for rent and food, and the question of how an engineer’s time invested into creating free software is compensated is often a question. Over the past decades many brave engineers have scrapped their initial greed only to be rewarded with a successful business. One such example is the Arduino team – which created an open source programmable prototyping board – which allows hobbyists to program sensors to receive input and drive outputs such as lights, motors, and other actuators. The small Italian company initially invested 3,000 Euros into the first batch of boards, but also placed all schematics, design files, and software onto the Internet for all to see. They sell their product for a small profit – and allow others to do so as well. The only intellectual property owned by Arduino is the name – which can be used by for a small royalty. The product took off with hobbyists – and derivative boards suited to other applications were created by third parties with similar success. The popularity of the product placed the designers into the spotlight, and as with many other open source projects, interested developers congregate around the original team – which has since been hired as consultants and respected as developers of innovative technologies. In many ways the work of this movement has been referred to as a “barn raising in which everyone keeps the barn.”
The open source model has proved successful for a number of different companies. Take the Daisy MP3 player – it may not be as slick as an Apple iPod, but it could make for an attractive and cheap museum audio tour guide. Even large companies like Linksys are catching on – having used Linux to drive their routers, the licenses associated with the software forced Linksys to open up their own software. This allowed end users to add functionality to their $150 dollar routers that are typically only found on much more expensive models. A more local example is Asterisk, an open source office telecom switching platform originally designed to run on PCs. The project’s parent company was started when an Auburn student running a Linux consulting firm and couldn’t afford a phone switching system. Out of necessity he went on to start Digium, world’s leader in open source telephone systems. As Digium grew they used a number of open and proprietary licenses to ensure that Asterisk remained open while other auxiliary services remained under the control of the company.
These diverse technologies mirror a philosophy and economic model that carries the potential for creating a global guild or union of engineers and technical workers. Allowing the best technologies to grow organically by fostering collaboration on a massive scale, open source licenses are game changing in a sector where trade secrets have traditionally been a valued resource. The associated cost savings may be attractive for the Western world when it comes to replacing antiquated technology, but the possibility affordable appropriate technology for the majority of the world is much more revolutionary.
Fittingly enough one group that has latched onto this vision has done so in the most public and open way possible – a wiki. Appropedia contains 13,769 pages howtos, documentation, and discussion regarding appropriate technologies. Their goal is fostering collaboration that will reduce poverty and increase the standard of living throughout the world – and provides wealth of information on levels of complexity diverse enough to engage individuals at all levels of technical literacy. One page focuses on a 14-person pedal powered 1kW electricity generator which may inspire a gym owner to completely redesign their fitness studio. Likewise other pages dealing with water purification could save countless lives in rural communities throughout the world. Most importantly since these plans are free of charge and restrictive copyrights interested parties are encouraged to look to their communities for the expertise to implement these appropriate technologies. Cutting out the middle man – open source technologies redefine the balance of waste vs. value. Allowing businesses, designers and technicians to create and implement technologies on a more personal level, the social and economic consequences of knowledge and wealth creation are much more equitable than traditional models.
The diversity of projects that I feel I could undertake are staggering. One example of such a project deals with the use of existing sensors combined with open source software to form a home energy monitoring system. Once a working design has been created I would place all plans, parts lists and software online – where any technician or engineer could access or edit the ever evolving documentation. By allowing anyone to implement this system independent contractors and engineers can have a more direct impact on their own communities. While the exchange of knowledge comes without a price tag, the ultimate implementation of such a home automotive ensures the flow of capital based only on parts and labor rather than the ownership of trade secrets.
Related Reading:
Wealth Without Money by Adrian Bowyer
Swadeshi in the 21st Century by alexanderpf
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Tags: Auburn University, computer engineering, Essay, Open Source, Permaculture, SUST2000, Sustainability
