18. Invention, Intellectual Property, and Income¶
Dissemination¶
This is intended to be the groundwork for a ‘kit of parts’ for horticulture, in an Agri-tech setting.
We plan to use the parts locally in a number of projects as building blocks for various growing systems. Making all plans available to the Fab network.
An open git repository will make ongoing development open to any interested community members.
Licensing¶
We need to consider which of the many licenses we might make use of when distributing our work.
A few things to consider in the sharing. Do you want the licensee to credit your work? Do you want them to share their contributions? Do you want to allow them to profit from your work? We also need to consider warranty.
Fundamentally I would like to ensure that we are credited as the original authors, I would like people to share how they advance and part of the project, I’m not worried if they want to sell a version, but I may need to ask some of the University administrators before I could completely commit to that.
For simple Arduino sketches that do a simple translation between potentiometer and actuator I think that Neil’s simple release would be adequate, there is little to claim credit for when the code is a step beyond Hello World:
// This work may be reproduced, modified, distributed,
// performed, and displayed for any purpose, but must
// acknowledge this project. Copyright is retained and
// must be preserved. The work is provided as is; no
// warranty is provided, and users accept all liability.
For more complex bits of software I would consider the Apache 2.0 license.
If the Univeristy comes down on the side of non-commercial then the GPL 3 may be best if it’s not incompatible with our other released works, GPL 2 has slightly different terms that may be used instead.
When it comes to hardware, if the simple release is not adequate I would consider using the CERN Open Hardware License
Future¶
In the future we plan to extend the ‘kit of parts’ to be more generally useful. Partly through student projects, partly through our own development of key technologies. Using Agri-tech as a theme for activity in the Lab.
Many of the projects that we run with students are Food based. As the Fablab becomes a more established resource, we expect many more food projects to go from theoretical to practical.
Draft Presentations¶
