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Open Source Car on the Horizon

Posted by Zonk on from the will-it-burn-penguins-for-fuel dept.

PreacherTom writes "So here's a question: can open-source practices and approaches be applied to make hardware, to create tangible and physical objects, including complex ones? Markus Merz believes they can. The young German is the founder of the OScar project, whose goal is to develop and build a car according to open-source principles. Merz and his team aren't going for a super-accessorized SUV — they're aiming at designing a simple and functionally smart car. The OScar is not the only open-source hardware project out there: others include Zero Prestige, which designs kites and kite-powered vehicles, and Open Prosthetics, which offers free exchange of designs for prosthetic devices."

13 of 214 comments (clear)

  1. Great by Necreia · · Score: 2, Funny

    As long as it doesn't end up with a bunch of people bickering over what color to make the the cup holder.

    1. Re:Great by Ngarrang · · Score: 2, Funny

      Awesome! A car built by committee! Gee what could possibly go wrong?

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      Bearded Dragon
    2. Re:Great by AmberBlackCat · · Score: 2, Funny

      I just know somebody is going to insist the dashboard be replaced with a command-line interface.

  2. Pic by markov_chain · · Score: 2, Funny

    Here's what it looks like: pic

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    Tsunami -- You can't bring a good wave down!
    1. Re:Pic by gardyloo · · Score: 2, Funny

      Here's what it looks like: pic

            That's obviously the car on the Gnome desktop. Damn it! Why won't people learn that posting screenshots of new distros makes no sense if they all use the KDE/Gnome/XFCE/Fluxbox/your_preferred_WM_here paradigm?

    2. Re:Pic by Your+Pal+Dave · · Score: 3, Funny

      I dunno, all this talk of customization makes me think it might look more like this.

  3. does that mean.. by User+956 · · Score: 4, Funny

    The young German is the founder of the OScar project, whose goal is to develop and build a car according to open-source principles.

    Does that mean it will crash less than other cars?

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    The theory of relativity doesn't work right in Arkansas.
  4. If your open source car breaks down... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Auto mechanics will come out of nowhere to help fix your car and get you on your way. A representative from AAA will complain that open source mechanics don't do a great job as traditional (but expensive) mechanics.

  5. Re:Yeah but... by le0p · · Score: 1, Funny

    You forgot to tag it: itsatrap

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    "I think that God in creating Man somewhat overestimated his ability."-Oscar Wilde
  6. Simpsons did it by Rob+T+Firefly · · Score: 3, Funny

    I still want to buy "The Homer" from Powell Motors.

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    Slashdot Burying Stories About Slashdot Media Owned
  7. Blue, dammit. by 93,000 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Blue or I walk.

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    Sweet informative mod.
  8. Re:Well, if the speed and tailgating is auto-limit by User+956 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Crashing can be reduced by reducing the dangers. The maximum speed is easy to set. Next, you can limit or warn about following distance. You could also detect a vehicle following you, and emit some warning brake pattern. Erratic (swerving due to some distraction/impairment) driving behavior could be detected and warned (perhaps it could switch to safer limits too).

    I see where you're going with this. Perhaps if we put some sort of sentience in charge of controlling the vehicle, we could accomplish all of those things; maybe an organic neural net, but those take about 9 months to grow, and I think it's illegal to sell them since they ratified the 13th amendment.

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    The theory of relativity doesn't work right in Arkansas.
  9. Re:Yeah but... by LordEd · · Score: 2, Funny

    I do every day. Its called 'rush hour'.