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The Open Source model is a fantastic one for anything that can be digitized. While most Open Source projects are software, music, video, literature and design have all, to an extent adopted principles of Open Source. But when you can't turn the component parts into bits and bytes, the collaborative process becomes more difficult.
And so we haven't seen a lot of Open Source model train sets or Open Source telephones. But, since 1999, there has been a small group of people brainstorming how, exactly, they might create an Open Source automobile. Seven years later, engineers and designers from a dozen countries have found themselves embroiled in a discussion of not whether, but how to build an Open Source automobile.
While the discussions are still largely philosophical (they haven't nailed down how many wheels the thing will have yet) the project is moving forward. About 110 folks are on the project, working under a core team of three. Contributors have been assigned to modules (board, shell, engines, power systems, security systems, and information systems.)
Most important, the OSCar project has committed itself to creating a low emissions vehicle with electric, hybrid and diesel options. And while it won't burn up the road, or even have an iPod charger, the project might soon offer a glimpse into what a car could be if only the gimmicks of today's auto industry could be shaved away.
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written by Judebert, May 02, 2007
Also check out the Freedom EV, another OpenSource-like car.
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written by Billco, May 02, 2007
I don't look forward to a car that's always "under construction" and requires years of mechanical experience to actually get working due to flaws in the design and lack of quality control. I certainly don't look forward to a car that crashes if your climate controls are any different from the creator's, who was too sloppy to design sane limits in the temperature knob or to make sure you don't activate both hot and cold at the same time.
I also don't want a car where you can choose from 6 different implementations of brakes, none of which work all the time and whose main reason for existing are because they can't all agree on a proper system.
Open source is great in theory, but as the Linux world has shown, it falls somewhat short of its ideals in execution.
I also don't want a car where you can choose from 6 different implementations of brakes, none of which work all the time and whose main reason for existing are because they can't all agree on a proper system.
Open source is great in theory, but as the Linux world has shown, it falls somewhat short of its ideals in execution.
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