We live in a step-by-step world. Everything we do, from mowing the lawn to changing a diaper, can be broken down into subroutines. That’s the big idea behind a new online hub of how-to created by Squid Labs, an R&D facility based near Oakland, California. Inventors, builders, and anyone who’s handy can post plans, descriptions, and even CAD designs for cool things to make. Some recent examples: an air-powered bicycle and a mobile robot constructed from a computer mouse.
Squid Labs cofounder Saul Griffith and his colleagues launched the hub, called Instructables.com, last year to realize their vision of open source hardware. The team of MIT engineering geeks wanted to harness the “creative cycles” of tens of thousands of passionate hackers and hobbyists. “We’re ultimately trying to build a place where 10,000 amateurs can get together and design the open source hybrid car that everyone wants, and get it manufactured,” Griffith says.
Squid Labs walks the walk. Its machine shop in Emeryville, California, is less a think tank than a “make tank,” with electronic detritus strewn about and a laser cutter smoldering in the corner. Squid Labs has created new products ranging from printed electronic circuitry to autonomous self-assembling robots and kitesurfing gear.
Instructables grew out of the Squidders’ creative collaborations. “We’d be working on a project and have no place to put all the data, all the dead ends, that would let us go back later and remember, ‘Oh yeah, that’s why we did that,’” says Eric Wilhelm, the official caretaker of Instructables.
So far, the site has received more than 500 projects contributed by users around the world. The posts are fun and inspiring, and it’s just the beginning of what Griffith calls “consumer-led product development.” Hackers created Linux – why not the next Prius?
– David Pescovitz
2 top Instructables.com projects
Project: Dachshund wheelchair
Developer: joelsprayberry
Idea: A mini-chariot specially designed for a breed of dog that’s prone to back injury and paralysis.
Wilhelm: “You can’t buy this at Wal-Mart. It’s long-dog, short-tail marketing.”
Project: 3-D scanner
Developer: argon
Idea: A 3-D scanner built from a laser pointer, wine glass, rotating platform, and digital video camera.
Griffith: “I like it when people do really hard things and then share the code so others can hack on it.
credit Michael Sugrue
The Squid Labs engineers - Dan Goldwater, Colin Bulthaup, Geo Homsy, Corwin Hardham, Saul Griffith, and Eric Wilhelm (from left) - in their Bay Area design shop.
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