Holoseat v0.3 OSHW Certification

Not only that, but it is Certified OSHW (UID US000058).  What does this mean?

For starters, you can get all of the instructions necessary to build your own Holoseat from scratch online at dev.holoseat.com.  You can also follow the development process at that same site and by following our blog/social media channels.

It also means you are free to modify Holoseat all the way from its firmware to its housing.  Of course, we would appreciate it if you shared your modifications with us so we can evaluate them for inclusion in the next release.  But, the choice is yours to make.  No one is going to force you to share personal modifications.

Thanks to the Open Source Hardware Association for shepherding the OSHW definition and for providing the certification process.  We love the updates to the certification website and are proud to be a part of the OSHW community and movement.

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Hackaday just put out some of their “rules” for publishing OSHW.  They cover many of the items that we have discovered and adopted as part of developing Holoseat.

My favorite quote is “and now it’s 7 years later and people are STILL asking you for the source code.”  A variation of that story is exactly how Holoseat went from this one-off thing I made to a full fledged project and eventually a business.  Thanks Bryan for the persistence required to jump start Holoseat!

You’ve just finished your project. Well, not finished, but it works and you’ve solved all the problems worth solving, and you have a thing that works for you. Then you think about shari…

Source: The Anxiety of Open Source: Why We Struggle With Putting It Out There

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Holoseat v0.3 OSHW Certification

As we shared in our last post, one of the primary goals for the final sprint of 2016 was to submit the current version of Holoseat (v0.3) to the Open Source Hardware Association for certification as open source hardware.  I am very happy to announce that we have received word that v0.3 has been certified and given the project ID US000058 (check out the image above).

This is very exciting news and a great way to kick off the year.  But, certifying open source hardware is not a once and done activity.  Every revision must be certified to ensure all of the new development is properly documented and that the project still complies with the Open Source Hardware Definition.  Certifying v0.3 (a development version) is a demonstration of Model B’s commitment to making Holoseat open source hardware.  You can count on us to continue to develop Holoseat on Open Design Engine and to certify each new release.

Look for more news shortly about our development plans for 2017.  In the mean time, get out there and exerfy your games!

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So now we’re on to the next sprint.  This one has a slightly different focus than others we’ve tried before. We are are preparing the project for submission to the Open Source Hardware Association (OSHWA) for their newly announced open source hardware certification.  In fact, if you review their announcement, you’ll see Holoseat is on the list of companies that have said we will submit before the end of this year.

What does this mean for long term goals?  For starters, it means we’re committing to keeping this project as Open Source Hardware, something we both feel very strongly is important.  It also means we’re making a commitment to not let our documentation get quite so far behind as we have this past year.  This is particularly important for those that have offered to help us with development, testing, and other aspects of the product.  

Want to get involved?  Head on over to the project site and leave us a message on the forums.  Want to keep up with all things Holoseat?  Subscribe to our mailing list.  Stay tuned for more news at the end of this sprint.

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