Open Source Ecology is a network of farmers, engineers, and supporters that for two years have been creating the Global Village Construction Set (GVCS), an open source, low-cost, high performance technological platform to support easy, DIY fabrication of 50 various Industrial Machines that are needed to build a sustainable civilization with modern comforts. The open-source project can assist entry into farming, building, and manufacturing. Similar to a life-size lego-like set, the GVCS is a set of modular tools that can create entire economies, in both rural and urban areas.
If I was going to be part of a community off the grid, I would want to live in a wood house, have fresh bread every morning, and would want to get power from a wind turbine to power my laptop. Some of the plans from the GVCS that would help with this venture are plans to build a sawmill, a commercial baking oven, dump truck (!) and a wind turbine.
All of these machines rely on other machines to exist – which GVCS calls a “simple, closed-loop system,”and they are working by the end of the year to have instructions and information on how to make 50 machines which include a 3d printer, 3d scanner, an Aluminum Extractor from Clay, a Backhoe, Bakery Oven, a 50kW Wind Turbine, Baler, Cement Mixer, Universal Rotor, Universal Seeder, Well-drilling rig (to dig wells) and 39 other machines. They currently have eight prototypes available on their website complete with planning designs, DIY videos that show how to assemble them, and budgets.
The project is an open source venture and is facilitated by a core development team in collaboration with hundreds of online project contributors and volunteers.
Some of the features of the GVCS is that it is open source, modular, low-cost, made to be DIY, high performance, tested designs, and flexible.
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opensourceecology.org
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