Is this the mpst complex/advanced open source hardware project to date..?

[mikeselectricstuff]

Stumbled on this the other day - was amazed by how much one guy has managed to achieve.... http://www.milkymist.org/

I particularly recommend skimming through his Thesis to get an idea of just how complex this is.
More documents here

[tyblu]

Sunday-morning newspaper-length schematics here: http://www.milkymist.org/mmone/rc2_schematics.pdf

It is indeed a monster project. I imagine the software side is also heavy.

[sonicj]

so its winamp in a box? 

[Alex]

Where he gets the big thumbs up from me is not the technical side where he is obviously talented, but any moderately talented person can do it given ample time.

What I really liked is that he saw the project to its completion, designed a box for it, documented it and put it on the market. It takes great dedication to do this when you are not driven by a team, a deadline, a manager, money etc.

Well done!

[Scrts]

Actually he wasn't only one, who has done all the work.

THISis also a good project, by one person. The source code will be released soon.

[updatelee]

the USRP ref:http://www.ettus.com/products is open source hardware as well, an amazing device. I own the N210 and its truly incredible.

[Zad]

Surely anything that is over the patent / copyright date is effectively open hardware?

[alm]

Surely anything that is over the patent / copyright date is effectively open hardware?

Copyrights in most countries are something like eighty years (extended every time the copyright on Mickey Mouse is due to expire), I doubt that you'll find many usable electronic circuits from before this date. Also, the design has to be reverse engineered unless it's published, even if it's in the public domain.

[Zad]

the USRP ref:http://www.ettus.com/products is open source hardware as well, an amazing device. I own the N210 and its truly incredible.

Very interesting, but two things strike me. The first is very common among "open" projects - they don't tell you what the hell it is! It is only at the very bottom of the front page, after telling us all sorts of useful things about availability, and unit pricings, and being taken over and twitter and... Even the FAQ page doesn't actually tell you what it is. For several years the Linux man() pages didn't tell you what the command did, but gave you huge detail on the options etc.

The second, which tends to be most common (but not exclusively) among more casual CAD users is the tendency to go over the top with net references. This results in pages and pages of schematic, with just IC boxes on and labelled pins, no wires except for power buses with a row of capacitors. Sufficient to generate a PCB but absolutely bloody useless if you want to understand what a circuit is, how it works, or how it relates to anything. Someone should teach them what a schematic diagram is for. Maybe they tend to have a software methodology buried deep in their brains, which forces them to divide everything down into the smallest possible blocks.

On the subject of existing designs, there are many mini/mainframe computer companies that went bust over the years and never got bought out, and whose current rights will not have been asserted. Full maintenance documentation still exists in places like the Smithsonian.

[mikeselectricstuff]

the USRP ref:http://www.ettus.com/products is open source hardware as well, an amazing device. I own the N210 and its truly incredible.

The second, which tends to be most common (but not exclusively) among more casual CAD users is the tendency to go over the top with net references. This results in pages and pages of schematic, with just IC boxes on and labelled pins, no wires except for power buses with a row of capacitors. Sufficient to generate a PCB but absolutely bloody useless if you want to understand what a circuit is, how it works, or how it relates to anything. Someone should teach them what a schematic diagram is for. Maybe they tend to have a software methodology buried deep in their brains, which forces them to divide everything down into the smallest possible blocks.

Totally agree with that one - OK with a 1000+pin FPGA, things could get messy if all wires/busses were drawn, but for simple stuff it's just laziness..!

[tyblu]

Would argue that many use hard-connected, unlabeled nets in large, tangled busses out of laziness, too.