1. Anti-Theft Alarm Development Project “IT’S ME”¶
Project Summary¶
These are the slide and video presented at the Fab Academy Final Project presentation in June 2024.
1-1. Project Description¶
In Week 1 of the Fab Academy, I decided to make an anti-theft alarm system for official passports. The sketch image is attached herewith. My initial project system image is described in 2. Initial Idea.
1-1-1. Objectives¶
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Scare the theif who tries to steal your valuables.
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Alert you that you are moving away from your valuables.
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Familizarize you to digital fabrication by making the replica locally by yourself, with the help of the FabLab near you.
1-1-2. Components to Be Made¶
In the beginning of this journey with Fab Academy, my initianl idea was that it would consist of two components:
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A small thin tag embedded in a thin cardboard-like paper card: Equipped with a bluetooth device powered by a button battery.
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Mobile interface: Installed in the mobile phone.
The tag is inserted into the vinyl cover for the passport. As long as the passport and the mobile phone stay in a close distance, within 10 meters for example, nothing happens. But the passport is brought away from the mobile phone, the mobile phone sounds the sirens.
However, as I worked on the weekly assignments of the Academy, the project design has been reshaped as the system package that consists of the following three project components:
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Alarm Device that could be tagged to the passport. It should look like a small box in which the customized PCB and all the components are packaged. The Alarm Device and the passport could be kept together in a leather wallet.
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Android Mobile App that could be paired to the Alarm Device. It reads the RSSI and if the passport (and the Alarm Device) moves away from the mobile phone, the app plays the siren while it sends a message to the Alarm Device to turn on the buzzer.
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Instruction Manuals for Local Production and Assembly that could help the users to make the whole package locally with the facility and advice by the FabLab near them.
1-1-3. Target Users¶
The primary target is those who are residing in foreign countries with a official passport issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of their home country.
1-2. Background¶
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When I was engaged in the foreign service as the head of the mission of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the Chief Representative of the missin had always been facing the risk of the incidents that the JICA officials working in the same country, as expert, volunteer or administrative staff, have their official passport lost or stolen while they are traveling the third countries. Most of the incidents happen in the transit airports or cities before they reach the final destination. Once they lose their official passport, the head of the mission has to submit the first incident report to the JICA headquarters in Tokyo. Then the headquarters is blamed by the Ministry for their mismanagement of the government asset, and that may eventually affect our own performance assessment as the head of the mission.
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I once took this issue so seriously and insisted that it’s useless for us to rely only on the self human efforts of the passport holder so that they should always stay alert and keep an eye on their passport. It’s impossible to minimize the risk only by the human efforts and I thought that there could be room for technology to complement the human capacity. Therefore, I drafted a project proposal to prototype the anti-theft alarm system locally in collaboration with the local FabLab in the same country and requested the JICA headquarters for the extra budget allocation to my office. Unfortunately my proposal was rejected by the officials saying that it’s not a matter of just one country office to work on the solution for all the country missions around the world. Five years after my battle with the headquarters, JICA has not initiated any prototyping project yet and still been relying on the human efforts.
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Another issue with regards to my relationship with JICA was that only a few officials were aware of the potential of decentralized production and open-source. Although there were already FabLabs near them, most of the officials have not been aware of those labs and never thought of connecting their development cooperation programs to the prototyping capacity of the local FabLabs. I really wanted them to feel that it’s not that difficult to work on machine operations, soldering and assembly. Through this practice of local production of the open-source device at the local lab, I want them to learn more about FabLabs.
Findings from the Interview with the Officials¶
In Week 1 and 2, I visited the JICA officials to brief them about my Final Project. In the same meeting, I asked under which circumstances the JICA officials had their passport lost or stolen. Here are the facts that I learned from the officials:
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Before the pandemic, official passports were issued to 3,000 to 4,000 Japanese who were dispatched to foreign countries under JICA programs. The number decreased to 2,000 cases after JICA lifted the voluntary restrictions on the foreign assignments during the pandemic.
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Here is the statistical data on the cases of lost passports, together with the number of cases other than lost passports. The latter include the cases in which their passports were stolen. The reason for zero case in FY2019 was that in response to COVID-19 pandemic, JICA suspended the new foreign assignments of Japanese experts and volunteers and brought their officials, experts and volunteers already in foreign service back to Japan. It was also learned that there were very few cases for the total number of official passport issuance. But what is required is to reduce it to zero.
Fiscal Year Lost Passports Other Cases FY2016 9 3 FY2017 8 9 FY2018 7 4 FY2019 0 0 FY2020 1 1 FY2021 5 0 FY2022 2 2 -
Initially I thought that most of the cases occurred while the holders were on tour and temporarily staying in the transit countries. However, I was informed that the majority of the cases actually occurred in the countries of their assignment. When they open a bank account, take an exam, or take a domestic flight, they are requested to show their passport as a proof of their identity. While it is true that the JICA country offices take a policy to keep their official passports in their country office, there are some occasions when the holders have to use their official passports outside.
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In some cases, they lost other valuables, such as a wallet and a driver’s lisence, together with the official passports. They put them in the same handbag, pouch or pochette. But in other cases, they took out of the bag their passport to show it as an ID and after using it, they failed in putting it back to their bag. In this case they were unaware of the misplacement.
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The officials were of the view that it is true that the mobile phone would probably be the last item that the users would keep in a close distance although there is still a slight risk that the mobile phone could also be misplaced or stolen.
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Every time that such cases are reported, JICA has to report to the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They are in dire need for a measure to control the risk and reduce the number of cases to zero. However, so far, they have not introduced any affordable countermeasure on this issue.
1-3. Past Projects¶
After sharing my ideas with my instructors, I was advised to study the following two projects below. Both of them are aiming at tracking the personal belongings so that they could minimize the risk of loss. The difference of my project is to prevent the users from going away from the item or to scare the theif and have him/her give up stealing the item.
Also, during the Regional Review Session for Asia earlier this week, I came to know about the following project by the Fab Academy participants in 2020. The downsizing the components as thin and small as possible is a challenge for me. I will further research on the past projects.
The following is another device which I have found is already available in the market.
This tag functions similarly to Airtag and it works as a tracker that locates the target item in the map if you are a iPhone user. One advantage of the &Tag is that it could be used with the Android app. However, its function is limited to the siren sound when the user wants to locate the missing item. The device is equipped with an alarm sound and we could send a signal with our mobile app “Find Easy”. But we are not able to locate the target in the map. It could be useful if you are already aware that you have lost something and you want to find it in an efficient manner. But it would not be useful if you are not aware that you have it missing and you want to know you missed it.
1-4. Project “IT’S ME”¶
1-4-1. Project Title¶
As part of the Weekly Assignment for Week 10, I considered the project title and decided to name it “IT’S ME”. It aims at symbolizing the following two objectives:
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Anti-Theft Alarm: When the panic alarm starts ringing, the device will help the people around it to see it’s me who is steeling someone else’s belongings.
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Mislaying Prevention: When the owner leaves his/her passport and goes away from it, the device, as well as the mobile app, starts ringing and appeals “Don’t leave me.”
1-4-2. Functional Requirements¶
Similarly, I listed up the following functions required for the system.
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Packaging: The device is packaged in a small box or a leather wallet which is attached to the passport or kept with it in a backpack or a pochette.
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Bluetooth: The device is linked to a smartphone via Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE).
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Panic Alarm Device: Once the device and the smartphone are separated by 10 to 20 meters, a panic alarm will sound both on the smartphone and the alarm device sides. The primary objective of the panic alarm embedded in the device is to scare the theif or to notify the holder, the alarm on the device side should be as high as 80 to 90 dB.
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How To Stop Alarm: Because the alarm on the device side aims at panicking the theif, there is no system on the device to stop the alarm. It could be stopped only when the paired device and smartphone return to the 10-to-20 meter range or the passport holder stops the alarm on his/her mobile app.
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Power Supply: Four 3V coin batteries will be connected so that it could create 12V. It should be reduced to 5V via step-down regulator. This is the measure primarily to keep the battery life as long as possible.
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Power On/Off: Once we switch on the battery, the device starts BLE advertizing. Once it is paired up with the mobile phone, the distance between the device and the smartphone is inspected by the RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator) sent by the BLE peripheral device (the alarm device). Once the panic alarm starts ringing, it cannot be stopped until and unless the mobile phone holder taps the “Stop Buzzer” button on the app.
In most cases, the passport is used only when the holder travels or when he/she needs to prove his/her identity for bank transactions or request or apply for public services. However, such cases are usually very rare and the holders keep their passport in a safe place at home. Also, it doesn’t take more than a week to complete the whole travel schedule. Therefore, the battery has to last only for a few days for one usage.
I’m expecting that this system could be used as a tool for communication between its potential users and the FabLab in their neighborhood. I am looking at the residential staff of the diplomatic or official mission to foreign countries as the primary users of this system. They would approach the local FabLab, learn to make the system with the minimum set of functional requirements, and consult with the FabLab staff or other users to customize the system according to their preference or requirement. So I would like to leave much room for the users to cutomize it, and hence facilitate the communications in the same locality and also between them and myself.
1-4-3. System Diagram¶
The following image gives you the overview on the system.
1-4-4. Project Implementation Schedule¶
The following is the comprehensive list of the tasks to be completed to get the project implemented toward the end of June 2024. You may wish to monitor the progress on the following Google Spreadsheet.
1-4-5. BOM¶
The following is the project BOM. You can read the whole list by resizing it from 100 percent to 50 percent on the Google Sheet.
Please note that the above BOM includes two expensive items: UV resin for SLA printer and craft leather for making a leather bag for passport and the alarm device. If we do without them and use the FDM printer instead of SLA printer for making the device box, the cost could be reduced to less than JPY 3,500.
1-5. Final Design¶
In this Section, I will describe how the final design of my project looks like. All the design data I created, including the one for mobile app, are saved in the GitLab site (Folder: “koji-yamada” >> “docs” >> “My Project” >> “Design_Files”), so that you could download them and replicate or remix them for your own use.
1-5-1. Mobile App¶
I used MIT App Inventor as an IDE for designing the mobile app.
Please note that the above apk file only works with my own Alarm Device by inputing the MAC address of my BluetoothLE peripheral. In order to customize the App to serve for your own purpose, you have to download the aia file and import it to the MIT App Inventor IDE in your laptop so that you could modify the original code in accordance with your own requirements.
Once you finish customizing the interface and the program code for your mobile, you will build the app and get the icon. If you tap the icon on your mobile, then you could go to the TOP page of the app “Passport Security”.
Then here is the operational procedures:
TOP Page
First, switch on the batteries on the Alarm Device, then it automatically starts BLE advertising. Then tap the mobile app and call the Top page. There are four active buttons.
| SN | Button | Action | Response and Next Step |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Scan | Tap | The app starts searching for the BLE peripherals which are adversizing. All the active BLE peripheral devices are listed. |
| 2 | Stop Scan | Tap | The app stop the list of active BLE peripheral devices so that you could tap the one you want to pair up. |
| 3 | Connect | Tap | After tapping the BLE peripheral device you want to pair up, please tap “Connect”. Once it’s connected, you will see the RSSI indications. |
| 4 | Disconnect | Tap | The app disconnect the BLE peripheral device. |
Once your Mobile is connected to the Alarm Device, the BLE peripheral device (Alarm Device) starts sending a beacon. The BLE central device (Mobile) will read the RSSIs sent from the BLE connected device, and once the RSSI crosses the threshold of -70 dBm, the app automatically shifts to the “Siren On” page. You can monitor the RSSI status by the indicator placed in the bottom of the TOP page.
Second Page “Siren-On”
Once it’s shifted to the Second page, which means that the Alarm Device (and your passport) is already 10 meters away from you (and your Mobile), it automatically starts alerting you on your valuables as well as sending a signal to the Alarm Device to turn on the panic buzzer. There is no way to turn off the buzzer on the Alarm Device side (except for switching off the battery packs themselves).
There are only three buttons on the Second page.
| SN | Button | Action | Response from the Devices |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mobile-Stop Siren | Tap | Stop playing the siren on your Mobile. |
| 2 | Device-Stop Siren | Tap | Stop playing the siren on the Alarm Device. Make sure that your passport is near enough from you. |
| 3 | Return to TOP Page | Tap | Once you find your passport, you could close the Second page and move back to the TOP page. |
You had better not tap the “Device-Stop Siren” button easily until you secure your passports. But you could also monitor the RSSI strengths to search for your passport with the RSSI Status Indicator, shown in the bottom of the Second page. If the RSSI is greater than -70 dBm, the passport is within approximately 10 meter radius range.|
Once you secure your passport and are ready to get back to normal mode, you can close the Second page and return to the TOP page. However, it doesn’t mean that your Mobile is disconnected from the Alarm Device automatically. At this point of time, the only way to resume the normal mode is that you switch off the battery on the Alarm Device side and switch on once again. Then you are able to resume the BLE connection.
The code blocks written with the MIT App Inventor are detailed in 6. Bluetooth Connection.
1-5-2. Alarm Device¶
For making the Alarm Device locally, you have to get the following items ready for use. Some of the tools may be available in the local FabLab. But the availability of the board, materials, electronics parts and measures for adhesion may be different from one country to another. When you approach the local lab, please consult with the local fab instructor. If your office could make an institutional arrangement for the international purchase of the goods and materials and if you are already sure about the items to purchase, it may be a good idea to place an purchase order in well advance.
| Category | Items Required |
|---|---|
| Components | Raspberry Pi PicoW (1) / Voltage Regulator (1) / Capacitor (2) / Piezo Buzzer (1) / Inductor (1) / Resistor (1) / MOSFET (1) / Coin Battery Holder (2) / Coin Battery (4) / PCB (1) / Screws (3) / Hex Nut (3) |
| Machines | 3D printer / PCB milling machine |
| Tools | Soldering Kit / Cutting Matt / Nipper / Wire Cutter / Screwdriver / Multimeter / Ultrasonic Cutter (if possible) |
Piezo Buzzer
Coin Battery Holder
PCB Blank
Raspberry Pi PicoW RP2040 board
For the details of the components, please see the above BOM.
Then I started with the electronics design of the PCB board with Fusion Electronics. The process is detailed in Week8 Electronics Design and 18. Systems Integration. The whole design process is saved here in terms of the Fusion Electronics archive file: Downloadable Data.
Schematic Design / Data
PCB Design / Data
Thus I prepared four PCB board design files in terms of PNG files to bring to the PCB milling process.
| SN | Image | Data for Downloading |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
PCB1_Trace |
| 2 |  |
PCB2_CopperRemoval |
| 3 |  |
PCB3_Holes |
| 4 |  |
PCB4_Outline |
These files should be uploaded to the job control program one by one in the above order. The detailed process for PCB milling is described in Week4 Electronics Production.
After milling the PCB board, I soldered the RPi PicoW board, the piezo buzzer and the coin battery holders.
Next I proceeded to the box design to mount the PCB board and other components. I used Fusion360 and here the experience in the parametric construction in Week3 Computer-Controlled Cutting and in 3D design in Week5 3D Scanning and Printing helped me. In order to ensure that the cover and main body could be tied up to the level we could open the cover smoothly enough, I created two hooks in the cover and two small holes on the side surfaces of the main body.
Case (Main Body) / Data
Case (Cover) / Data
Rendered Image / Fusion360 Archive Data
Printing with FDM 3D printer
I made the first set with the FDM 3D printer. However, since I wanted to make a clear case cover, I decided to make them again with an SLA 3D printer and clear resin. This process is described in the Final Project sub-page 7. Making of the Box and Wallet.
Once the case was made, the last step is fitting. With the screws and nuts I tied the PCB board to the main body. I just put the piezo buzzer and the coin batttery holders into their respective compartment. They could perfectly fit. I will post the hero shot of the finished Alarm Device.
1-5-3. Leather Wallet¶
This system is designed with the assumption that the Alarm Device always stays with the passport or any other valuable. In order to ensure that the Device and the passport will always move side-by-side, I designed a leather wallet to keep both items together.
One of the objectives of the system is to encourage the newbies to go and visit a FabLab near them no matter if they have zero knowledge and experience in digital fabrication or communication with the FabLabs. I am hoping that the newbies could get the first hands-on experience in machine operations by undertaking the activities described in this project.
However, if it’s only about the production of the Alarm Device alone, users will experience PCB milling and 3D printing only. If you additionally make the leather wallet, you could further experience lesercutting of the leather cloth. In the prototyping phase, we used black cowhide for cutting. You can select any other material for lasercutting as per your preference. The original design data for cutting is attached herewith:
This wallet is designed with the size of the passport and the Alarm Device:
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Passport: 128mm x 91mm
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Alarm Device: 135.7mm x 72.5mm x 9.3mm
A few snapshots on the fabrication process are posted in the sub-page 7. Box and Wallet. If you want to carry them not in a wallet but in other type of bags or pochettes, you can work on your original design.
1-5-4. Users Manuals¶
The prototyping process and device operations described in details in this web-site are summarized in the following two manuals: “Local Production and Assembly Manual” and “Operations Manual”. The first edition of the two manuals are prepared both in English and Japanese languages so that they could also serve for the Japanese users.
Version 0 (June 30, 2024)
Local Production and Assembly Manual: English / Japanese
Operations Manual: English / Japanese
1-6. Prototyping Process¶
This section only deals in the documentation of the finalized design of the project components. The record of my trials-and-errors is documented in the Individual Assignment pages and Final Project sub-pages.
1-6-1. Weekly Individual Assignments and Activities¶
The following weekly activities have been contributing to my project design.
| Week | Module | How It Contributed to My Final Project |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Principles and Practices, Project Management | Website development |
| Week 2 | Computer-Aided Design | 2D design |
| Week 3 | Computer-Controlled Cutting | Lasercutting and Vinylcutting |
| Week 4 | Electronics Production | PCB milling and soldering |
| Week 5 | 3D Scanning and Printing | 3D design and printing |
| Week 6 | Embedded Programming | Arduino and MicroPython IDE |
| Week 8 | Electronics Design | EDA design |
| Week 9 | Output Devices | Buzzer and Speaker, PWM control |
| Week 12 | Molding and Casting | 3D design of the Alarm Device box cover |
| Week 13 | Networking and Communications | Bluetooth Low Energy (MIT App Inventor) |
| Week 14 | Interface and Application Programming | Mobile Appr IDE (MIT App Inventor) |
1-6-2. Specific Activities for Final Project¶
The following is the list of the modularized activities to integrate to the Final Project. For the details of my daily struggles, please go to each sub-page.
Making of the Case and Leather Wallet
1-7. Issues Unsolved¶
The following is the problems and challenges I faced during the prototyping process and left unsolved.
1-7-1. Alarm Device¶
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Board Selection: I started this journey hoping to use Seeed Xiao ESP32C3 as my development board. But I faced lots of issues in coding with Arduino IDE and at the very last moment I switched to RP2040 on the Raspberry Pi PicoW. With regards to Arduino IDE, I still do not understand why I faced so many compilation and uploading errors.
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Buzzer: In order to scare those who try to steal our valuables, buzzer volume should be as loud as possible. Due to time constraints, I compromized by applying PWM control. But I feel that I should try more options to make the buzzer sound alarming enough so that everyone around it could pay attention to it.
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Power Consumption: This device is designed with 12V power supply. If you keep it on for 24 hours, the voltage may go down to the level where it could not send a signal strong enough for your mobile to detect it while scanning. I found this phenomenon in the last moment and am still working to rectify the problem.
1-7-2. Mobile App¶
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RSSI Read: I took the orthodox approach by looking at the mobile phone as a BLE central device. At the initial stage, I considered writing a program that the BLE peripheral, the Alarm Device, would read the RSSI and start/stop playing the buzzer on the peripheral device side alone. However, at the last moment of the prototyping process I found that it was the central device that would read the RSSI. That forced me to reconsider the user interface. So far, I set the threshold RSSI as -70dBm, which is proxy to 8 to 10 meters.
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But I haven’t been successful in writing the program code for the case the Alarm Device keeps moving around -70dBm threshold. The current program code is designed so that the device would turn on the buzzer if it crosses the threshold just once. Even if it moves back within the -70dBm range, it would not stop the buzzer. I dropped this scenario expecting that the theives just simply want to run away as quickly as possible.
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Mobile Phone as BLE Peripheral: I learned that there would be an alternative approach: What if I look at the mobile phone as a BLE peripheral device? However, expecting that it would take much longer time to remake the mobile app and write a new code to have the Alarm Device read the RSSI and find the trigger to play the buzzer. This option needs to be explored in the long run. But for the Final Project presentation in the very short-run, I thought that I should stick to the initial approach of mobile phone as a central device.
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User Interface: The current program requires the users to customize the program to the size of their mobile phone and the MAC address of their PicoW board. In the current program, users have to complete the customization in the MIT App Inventor. If they could do it in their mobile app display screen, it would be more user-friendly. But again, I noticed this at the last moment and had no time to rewrite the program code to improve the UI. In the long run, this should be addressed as a matter of top priority.
1-8. Project Evaluation Scenario¶
As I wrote in 1-6 above, I consulted with the officials of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) at the initial stage of the project and agreed that I would make the presentation on my prototype after the Final Project presentation in the Fab Academy. They apply for official passports for their officials sent out to developing countries every year to the Government of Japan. The prevention of official passports lost or stolen has been a critical issue for JICA for so many years and they are searching for a solution to reduce such cases to zero. Hopefully my project could be one of the candidates and become the baseline for further discussions to apply technologies to further reduce the human errors.
After the functional evaluation at the Head Office level, it will be brought to another evaluation, about the adoptability at the country office level. Since each country office has to approach the FabLab in the country and the staff have to undertake the local production and assembly, we have to see if these technological elements in this project, such as 3D-printing, lasercutting, PCB milling and soldering, debugging etc., could remain in the acceptable level for those staff who do not have much knowledge about digital fabrication.
1-9. Project Dissemination Scenario¶
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In the beginning of this journey, I consulted with the JICA officials and briefed the outline of my idea for Final Project. We agreed that once my prototype is ready, I would make a presentation to them. Besides, it is scheduled that I should make a 15-minute presentation about global FabLab network, Fab Academy and my Final Project at the bi-annual conference of the Japan Society for International Development (JASID) on June 15, 2024.
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In the long run, I am hoping to set up a mini FabLab near the JICA training institute in Komagane, Nagano prefecture, the venue for the pre-departure training of the Japanese voluteers to be dispatched under the JICA Volunteer Program. My project could be integrated to their training program so that the candidates could be sensitized to FabLabs and digital fabrication before they are dispatched to the countries of their services.
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As part of my preparation for the registration of my product, I took access to the Creative Commons websites and tried the Lisence Chooser. After I answered the first two questions, the Lisense Chooser recommended CC0 1.0 Universal as the best suited lisence to my requirement. I am expecting that my initial project design will be downloaded and remixed according to the availability of the materials, machines and facility in their locality. Of course, I am hoping that they will keep me in the loop so that we could be connected to each other globally.
Source: Creative Commons
1-10. Acknowledgement¶
Finally, I must thank the following fab gurus for their guidance. If they had not been there standing by to advise me and keep encouraging me, I could not have brought my Final Project to this level.
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Yuichi Tamiya, Instructor, FabLab Kannai, Yokohama City, Japan
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Masato Takemura, Support Instructor, FabLab Hamamatsu/TAKE Space, Hamamatsu City, Japan
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All the fab gurus in the Asian Review sessions, including Rico Kanthatham, Miriam Choi and Yosuke Tsuchiya.
Also, I would like to thank my teammates at FabLab Kannai for staying with me in the local sessions and motivating me with the progress of their documentation and Final Projects.