WEEK 19 INVENTION, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND INCOME
Intellectual Property Plan
When I first came up with the idea for this project, my initial instinct, like many inventors, was to look into patenting it.
However, throughout my time in the FabLab network, I have learned that open-source hardware can reach far more people and achieve a much greater collective impact. The core mission of Aquanow is to drastically reduce the massive water waste that occurs globally while people wait for hot water to reach their taps.
There are already similar systems on the commercial market, but they have very low market penetration. In general, consumers prefer to waste that minute of running water rather than invest a significant amount of money in expensive, complex commercial installations.
By making this technology affordable, accessible, and open for local fabrication, everyday users can build their own efficient recirculation systems. This approach could significantly increase the adoption of water-saving tech in households worldwide.
For these reasons, I have decided to release my project under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license.
This allows me to:
- Share the design openly so anyone in the Maker/FabLab community can replicate and benefit from it.
- Ensure collaboration (ShareAlike), meaning any improvements made by others must also remain open to the community.
- Protect the project from exploitation (NonCommercial), preventing third-party companies from commercializing my specific design files, custom PCBs, or code for financial gain without my consent.
Dissemination Plan
As mentioned before, the core objective of this project is to make this technology accessible to as many people as possible.
A single device operating alone makes a negligible impact, but the real strength lies in scalability, having thousands of these low-cost systems installed worldwide is what will truly make a difference in global water conservation.
To turn this vision into reality, the dissemination of Aquanow will be executed through the following channels:
- Open Source Repository: I will publish all the core design assets, including KiCad PCB layouts, firmware source code, and 3D printing STL files for the enclosures, directly on my FabAcademy archive and a public GitLab/GitHub repository. This ensures full transparency and global availability.
- The FabLab Ecosystem: The project will be presented as a fully replicable, low-cost solution for smart home automation and sustainable plumbing. Any FabLab in the world will be able to manufacture it locally using standard digital fabrication tools, such as precision PCB milling and FDM 3D printing.
Future Income & Market Viability
The biggest future challenge for the economic viability of this project is market awareness and user education. Because running the tap for a minute is a deeply ingrained habit, the key to widespread adoption is proving the immediate benefits: once the system is installed, the user experiences a drastic increase in daily comfort (no more waiting in the cold) and a tangible reduction in their water bill.
If I decide to scale this project commercially, the business model will leverage our open-source foundation to build value through three main pillars:
- Pre-assembled & Tested Units: While the design files are open-source, the average homeowner does not have access to a FabLab or the skills to mill PCBs and flash microcontrollers. Selling fully assembled, certified plug-and-play kits would target users looking for an affordable, ready-to-install solution.
- B2B Partnerships with Local Plumbers: Instead of selling directly to the end consumer, a highly viable path is partnering with local plumbing professionals. By providing them with a compact, reliable product, they can offer it to their existing clients as an eco-friendly upgrade during routine maintenance or bathroom renovations.
- Data-Driven Marketing (Proof of Concept): To overcome the awareness barrier, the initial commercial phase would focus on publishing real-world data from beta-testers, showcasing exactly how many liters of water and how much money a typical household saves per month using Aquanow.
Project Status Questions
1. What tasks have been completed, and what tasks remain?
Completed: 3D printing of the enclosure (PETG), laser cutting of acrylic and milling wood parts, custom PCB design and milling, physical integration of the hydraulic system (pump, pipes, and valves), sensor calibration, relay control logic, and IoT dashboard setup.
Remaining: Final cable management inside the enclosure and cleaning up minor documentation details.
2. What’s working? What’s not?
Working: The water recirculation system triggers perfectly based on the temperature sensors, the external relays switch the pump safely, and the oled screen successfully displays real-time temperature data.
Not working: Initially, I faced component challenges with integrated motor drivers due to Vref voltage issues, but I successfully shifted the control method to robust external relays (using pins D8 and D9), and everything is working perfectly now.
3. What questions need to be resolved?
The core system is fully resolved and stable. The only open question is long-term monitoring of the hydraulic fittings to ensure absolutely zero micro-leaks over months of continuous domestic operation.
4. What will happen when? (Timeline)
The project is completely functional. The final integration and validation tests were successfully completed this week, aligning perfectly with the final presentation requirements.
5. What have you learned?
I learned to bridge the gap between industrial maintenance practices and digital fabrication. Specifically, I gained deep insights into designing and milling high-precision custom PCBs, programming microcontrollers for IoT automation, and handling unexpected hardware failures by adapting the electronic design on the fly (shifting from integrated drivers to relays).
