Appologies for the slow posting of late--I anticipate more time issues in my life over the the next month or so (ASPO conference this weekend, baby due in two weeks, more "real" work than I can handle at the moment). That said, the good people at Ponoko were kind enough to offer me a coupon for free use of their system thanks to my article last week mentioning them (I have no financial/other relationship with Ponoko, and as the comments to that post point out, they're just one of many different faces of the coming distributed manufacturing revolution).
So... since I clearly don't have time to design something at the moment, I'm going to hold my first ever blog contest. If anyone is interested, I'll offer my Ponoko coupon to the person that comes up with the best "primary goods" design (see last week's article for definition of "primary," but basically I'm looking for something that will increase localized self-sufficiency and resiliency). All I ask is that the winner send me a picture of the final product that I can post here. Submissions can come in any format (I don't need the actual file format used by Ponoko for input), and can be posted in the comments or emailed to me. Deadline is the end of October.
Enjoy...
5 comments:
Sorry I posted this on last weeks post, and it probably belongs here....
Hi Jeff,
I want to try to skew your judging a little. I spent quite a bit of time thinking about distributed manufacturing while in Industrial Design school, and even designed my grad project for local manufacture.
But, in addition to distributed manufacturing, I think we must consider appropriate technology. So, most bat boxes and beehives would be best made with a table saw and router, not a laser. The level of technology required to build and operate a laser is like using a howitzer to drive a finishing nail.
And, try as I might, when I consider appropriate technology, I can't think of any primary good that should be made by ponoko (with its current capabilities). Sure we could make things prettier, but what do we need that is BEST made by a a distributed laser cutting system? I can't think of it yet.
Cheers,
Ruben.
Hi Jeff,
I know nothing about distributed manufacturing, or how to set a project up for that, but one relatively simple piece of farm machinery springs to mind as a possible project, a winnower.
Basically a glorified box with a hand cranked fan and a slot to feed grain and chaff through, which separates the two.
If anyone out there more technologically minded cares to run with it...
Ruben,
Sorry for the delay in responding. I agree that appropriate technology is really the key here, at least on par with distributed manufacturing. I guess the pipe-dream of the lase-cutter type of distributed manufacturing is that this kind of system can eventually become sufficiently sophisticated to replicate itself locally, and with locally-sourced (or recycled) materials. That's a LONG ways off. For now, the sharing and evolution of design-knowledge aspect is more exciting to me. Otherwise, if the system can't self-replicate locally, it doesn't entirely remove dependencies on outside structures. It will be necessary to carefully weigh these dependencies with the benefits they bring to determine if a lower-technology solution that is truly independent is more "appropriate" as a means of achieving individual goals...
Geoff,
I think a winnower is a good example--it may make the most sense for something like this to take advantage of the precision cutting capability of a laser, or it may just be something where a more elegant, low-tech solution could be developed. Another example is a simple pump--the book Gaviotas has some interesting examples here, and again they focus first on appropriate tech...
I'd love to grab that coupon code if it's still up for grabs: I'm planning on cutting out my title on felt for the cover of my Graphic Design IV project.
Let me know if it's still available!
(:
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