This week focused on intellectual property, open source licensing, and planning the dissemination of my final project. I explored the differences between patents and copyright, chose a license that fits my goals, drafted my own copyright notice, and tracked the current status of all final project components.
Develop a plan for dissemination of your final project.
Complete your final project, tracking your progress.
My project matters a great deal to me and I wanted to find the right way for it to be recognized as mine. At the start of this course I was not entirely sure how to approach that. I initially thought patents were a good option, but I was concerned about having to wait at least a year before publishing, keeping everything secret in the meantime, and dealing with everything that process entails — until I learned about copyright, which by comparison is far more accessible and practical.
One of the things I took away from this week was the methodology Neil presented at the beginning of class. These were my notes:
It is recommended to follow Ready → Fire → Aim instead of Ready → Aim → Fire, because Ready → Aim → Fire does not leave room for exploration and surprise.
To make it work you need to meet people you did not know you would talk to.
A copyright is for an original work of authorship. It is secured simply by the act of creating it — you do not have to register it. You strengthen it by putting a copyright notice (e.g., © 2026 Your Name).
— Stories, creative works, characters
— CAD files, circuit designs, computer programs, PCB designs, PCB layouts, PCB masks
Something being Open Source does not mean you are giving your work away for free — you can build a business model around it.
Some standard Open Source licenses are: GPL, LGPL, BSD, MIT, Apache. Neil also presented one that I found particularly well-structured because it is short and establishes copyright, defines rights, recognizes the project name, and disclaims warranty and liability. Before choosing it, I reflected on what I actually wanted for my project.
— The project can be reproduced and modified.
— No one can commercialize it without my written permission, since I may want to scale it into a product in the future.
— People must acknowledge my work if they use it.
— A disclaimer must state that the project has not been certified and that I cannot guarantee it will function correctly.
I got inspired by Neil's copyright notice in mods, which reads:
"This work may be reproduced, modified, distributed, performed, and displayed
for any purpose, but must acknowledge "project none". Copyright is retained
and must be preserved. The work is provided as it is; no warranty is provided
and users accept all liability."I used Claude AI to help draft the notice. This was my prompt:
"This is what I'm looking for. For my final project I want it to be reproduced and it could be modified but I don't want someone else to be able to commercialize it without my permission, if in the future I want to scale it to a selling product. I want the people to recognize my work if used and I will put a warning that I don't have the certifications of the product and that I cannot ensure it will work. And I want you to help me make a copyright notice based on this [Neil's notice]. Give me 3 options."
I chose between the three options, made some corrections, and ended up with this copyright notice:
// Modular Active Air Quality Monitor
// © 2026 Nicole Friederichs Espinosa
// Non-commercial use only. Full license:
This work may be reproduced, modified, distributed, performed, and
displayed for non-commercial purposes only, but must acknowledge
"Modular Active Air Quality Monitor" by Nicole Friederichs Espinosa.
Any commercial use of this work or its derivatives, including sale,
monetization, or incorporation into a product or service offered for
compensation, requires prior written permission from the author.
Copyright is retained and must be preserved in all copies and
derivatives. No patent, trademark, or other intellectual property
rights beyond those stated here are granted; all rights not expressly
granted are reserved. This project has not been certified for
electrical safety or any regulatory standard and is intended for
educational and personal use only; it is provided as-is, no warranty
is provided, and users accept all liability.To sell the project commercially I would need to obtain the relevant certifications and source a more stable sensor. In the future I would also like to expand the system with additional sensors. I have been thinking through different business models that could be applied to this project.
Publish the complete design files (KiCad, STL, firmware) on platforms such as Instructables or Hackster.io under the non-commercial license, and offer a paid "maker kit" version with curated files and assembly documentation for people who want to build their own.
Offer workshops at Fab Labs on how to build the monitor and how to design kinetic origami CAD files. This fits naturally into the Fab Lab education model and could be offered both in-person and as a recorded online course on platforms like Eventbrite or YouTube.
Keep the open source version free for makers and personal use, and in parallel develop a certified, more stable version with a validated sensor to sell as a finished product. This is similar to how Prusa operates: open designs for the community, a paid finished product for those who want reliability.
The origami structure came out better than expected, the folding pattern works and the kinematics are satisfying, though it could use some modifications for more stability. I wanted to make a folding mold to improve consistency, but there is not enough time for this iteration.
The PCB program is working, and the OpenWeather API is working correctly.
The remaining components still need to be programmed: servo, NeoPixel, and RGB LED.
The web interface is functional but has some small details to fix: the data storage API could not be made to work, and there are issues publishing the interface webpage.
The sensor is having trouble with humidity readings. I will purchase a second unit to determine if the problem is a hardware defect in the specific module.
— Will the pogo pins provide a stable enough connection for charging and signal transmission, and what is the best way to physically align and secure them between modules?
— How to attach the origami structure to the servo mechanism reliably so it can expand and contract repeatedly without detaching or tearing?
— Will the base module function correctly as a LiPo charging station when the top module is docked?
Following spiral development, this is the execution order for this week: