Week 19 — Invention, Intellectual Property, and Income
Group assignment
There was no group assignment for this week.
Individual assignment
Develop a plan for disseminating the final project and describe its future opportunities.
Learning outcomes
The learning outcomes are to develop a plan for sharing the work, formulate future opportunities for the final project, and communicate the essence of its development.
Checklist
Created a dissemination plan for the final project. Explained the ownership and potential licensing of the work. Described how other people may use the project. Developed possible productization and distribution models. Outlined future opportunities for Seebscribe.
Documentation
Dissemination plan
Dissemination means more than uploading files to one platform. GitHub is useful for storing versions, source files, releases, and future contributions, but it is only one part of how I will share Seebscribe. My Fab Academy website provides the complete development history, including experiments, failures, fabrication, programming, system integration, and the final result. The presentation slide and video communicate the project in a shorter form, while the downloadable files allow another person to study or reproduce it.
I prepared a public source package for the repository named Subscribe. It includes the final XIAO ESP32-C3 and AD8232 firmware, diagnostic firmware, dashboard material, communication descriptions, printable enclosure files, and instructions for wiring, uploading, assembling, testing, and troubleshooting the prototype. I removed my personal Wi-Fi name and password and replaced them with placeholders before publishing the firmware.
I can also disseminate the project through Fab Lab demonstrations, workshops, exhibitions, open-hardware communities, wearable-technology communities, and biometric-art projects. In these contexts, Seebscribe can be presented not only as a finished object but also as a practical example of integrating sensing, electronics production, embedded programming, networking, interface design, and digital fabrication.
Copyright and open-source rights
Open source does not mean that anybody can take the work without conditions or that the author gives up ownership. I remain the copyright holder of my original Seebscribe designs, code, photographs, writing, and documentation. A license gives other people specific rights and explains the conditions under which they may copy, modify, manufacture, distribute, or commercialize the work.
Seebscribe contains software, hardware designs, and documentation, so one license is not ideal for every part. My proposed licensing model is to use the MIT License for the Arduino firmware and dashboard code, CERN Open Hardware Licence Version 2 — Weakly Reciprocal for the PCB, Gerber, STEP, 3MF, and other hardware design files, and Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 for the written documentation, photographs, diagrams, and instructions.
Under the MIT License, another person may use, modify, redistribute, or sell software based on my code as long as the copyright and license notice remain. The CERN-OHL-W-2.0 allows people to study, manufacture, change, distribute, and commercialize the hardware while preserving the license obligations for modified licensed design material. CC BY 4.0 allows the documentation to be copied, translated, adapted, and published when I am credited as the original author and changes are identified.
This approach supports education, creative experiments, research, and future commercial use without removing my authorship. Every release should retain the correct copyright and license notices. Seebscribe must also be described as an experimental creative wearable and not as a certified medical device.
Potential productization
The first productization direction could be an open maker kit. It could contain the carrier PCB, electronic components, electrodes, elastic strap, battery, enclosure parts, and assembly instructions. A maker would solder and assemble the device, upload the firmware, connect it to Wi-Fi, and open the live dashboard. This form is close to the current project and would be suitable for Fab Labs and people who already have basic electronics experience.
A second direction could be an educational kit for teaching biometric sensing, PCB fabrication, embedded programming, wireless communication, interface development, and system integration. The hardware could remain open while the educational package adds structured exercises, sample data, troubleshooting material, and workshop instructions.
A later direction could be a finished wearable product. This would require more development than the current Fab Academy prototype. The enclosure and chest strap would need longer comfort testing, the battery and charging system would need stronger protection, and movement-noise rejection would need improvement. Manufacturing consistency, electrical safety, product testing, labeling, and regulatory requirements would also need to be considered, especially if the product made any health or medical claims.
Distribution model
The Fab Academy website is the main documentation channel because it explains how and why the project developed. GitHub is the source-management channel where users can obtain current files, compare versions, report problems, and contribute improvements. Stable downloadable release archives can combine the firmware, Gerber files, CAD models, bill of materials, license files, and build instructions so that a reproducible version is not mixed with unfinished experiments.
Physical distribution could begin through Fab Lab workshops and small batches of kits. A workshop model would let participants build the device while learning how each subsystem works. A kit could be sold near cost or with a small margin that supports preparation, testing, documentation, and continued development. If Seebscribe later becomes a finished product, it could use a commercial distribution channel while the licensed source material remains available under its corresponding terms.
Final project source files
The printable enclosure lid and Arduino firmware uploaded to the XIAO ESP32-C3 are available directly from this page.
The software documentation includes the embedded dashboard setup instructions, ECG live dashboard, and ECG streaming instructions.
The communication references include the Wi-Fi communication schema, future BLE communication schema, and future MQTT communication schema. The present completed prototype uses Wi-Fi.
The complete reproduction material includes the build and assembly instructions and the AD8232 diagnostic firmware.
Future development
Future versions can improve filtering, electrode contact, battery life, and enclosure comfort. The project could support remote heartbeat sharing, multiple viewers, recorded sessions, and additional biometric sensors. These developments can be published as clearly numbered releases so users understand which version is stable, which features are experimental, and which fabrication files belong together.
Reflection
I learned that uploading files is not the same as dissemination. A platform can host a project, but it does not explain the audience, rights, reproduction path, product possibilities, or the way people will discover and use the work. Dissemination requires documentation, presentation, stable releases, appropriate licenses, and a clear explanation of what another person is allowed to do.
I also learned that open source does not remove copyright. The author keeps ownership and uses licenses to grant permissions. Separating software, hardware, and documentation licenses gives Seebscribe a clearer foundation for educational sharing, community development, workshops, kits, and possible future commercial production.