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IDENTIFYING THE FACTORS AFFECTING THE REPLICABILITY OF OPEN SOURCE HARDWARE DESIGNS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 July 2021

Rafaella Antoniou ,
Romain Pinquié ,
Jean-François Boujut ,
Amer Ezoji  and
Elies Dekoninck
Rafaella Antoniou*
Affiliation:
University of Bath
Romain Pinquié
Affiliation:
Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, Grenoble INP, G-SCOP, 38000 Grenoble, France
Jean-François Boujut
Affiliation:
Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, Grenoble INP, G-SCOP, 38000 Grenoble, France
Amer Ezoji
Affiliation:
Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, Grenoble INP, G-SCOP, 38000 Grenoble, France
Elies Dekoninck
Affiliation:
University of Bath
*
Antoniou, Rafaella, University of Bath, Mechanical Engineering, United Kingdom, r.antoniou@bath.ac.uk

Abstract

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Open-source hardware (OSH) development is a new design paradigm from a commercial perspective. Openly sharing designs of technical products is a step towards democratising access to new technologies for the benefit of individuals and communities in society. At the core of the open-source hardware definition lies the freedom for anyone to replicate the hardware based on the design. Thus, enabling this freedom is a step towards developing a successful OSH. Previous research supposes that a bill of materials and assembly instructions are enough for this. In this study, we question this assumption and investigate what other factors may influence replicability of an OSH. Using data from a survey and interviews with OSH practitioners, we identify and describe these factors, which relate to the documentation, the design and the context of the person replicating the hardware. Using these insights, we present a diagram of the replication process along with questions the person replicating the hardware would ask to check whether an OSH is replicable. Finally, we synthesise this information into practical advice for OSH projects to increase the replicability of the designs they produce, and thus the likelihood of their project's success.

Keywords

Open source designOpen source hardwareOpen innovationDesign practiceDesign reuse
Type
Article
Information
Proceedings of the Design Society , Volume 1: ICED21 , August 2021 , pp. 1817 - 1826
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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