Community and individual challenges vary greatly from place to place, and the following FabLab field applications are just a reflection of this diversity. Please visit this page regularly as we are going to update it with new applications from FabLab sites around the world.

CARTAGO, COSTA RICA (July 2002):

At the Costa Rica Institute of Technology -- called TEC -- FabLab tools are used in the LuTec -- Luthiers or instrument builders of Technology -- project on a regular basis by teams of students from local Technical and Scientific High Schools, mentored by undergraduate TEC students from three disciplines -- Electronic Engineering, Computer Engineering and Industrial Design -- to prototype solutions for addressing various local educational, community development and economic challenges.

The LuTec group has developed many prototypes of new technologies for use in schools, interactive museum exhibits, environmental sensing systems for agricultural applications, and public outreach programs of research institutions like INBio. Here is sampling of projects by LuTec from Chris Lyon's thesis.

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VIGYAN ASHRAM, INDIA (JANUARY 2003):

Vigyan Ashram is a small educational community just outside of Pabal village in Maharashtra, India. The economy of Pebal is supported by a small industry producing diesel-powered engines, which are used to drive motorized carts and provide electrical power for a wide range of applications in the community. Since these engines are crudely built, they lack precision, leading to very poor fuel efficiency. It is estimated that almost 60% of fuel is wasted due to poor engine tuning. One of the initial FabLab applications at this site was to improve their engine design process, and by doing so, increase engine efficiency to reduce fuel costs and strengthen their economy as a whole.

The Diesel Engine Meter (DEM) was the result of this project, which in turn demanded that we introduce a group of enthusiastic community members to enough basic electronics to continue refining the design of DEM. A more detail presentation of the eletronics workshops and subsequent DEM work that was done in Vigyan Ashram can be found in Chris Lyon's thesis about the Tower System and its applications.

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SOLVIK GÅRD in TROMSØ, NORWAY (June 2003):

The Norway FabLab site in Solvik Gård in Tromsø, Norway focuses on the needs of local farmers. In close collaboration with CBA scientisits, Telenor engineers, and UPM-Kymmene researchers, members of this forward-looking farming community are working on two key projects:

Sheep Radios: The goal of this project is to track sheep for their entire life cycle, from birth to market. The sheep radios, being developed by Telenor, are eartags for sheep that will be used to "scan" a field, and see where the flock is. The same eartags will be used to ID from birth to the slaughterhouse, to the market. Everyone -- from the farmers to the end customers -- will have access to the a history of each piece of meat. Though currently Telenor is fabbing the tags, the goal is for the farmers themselves to be able to make them on FabLab Modela milling machines.

Distributed 802.11 Antennas: The goal of this project is to give farmers the means to build a 802.11 sensing and communication infrastructure that can be incrementally extened. The FabLab vinyl cutter is currently being used to build and test an assortment of antenna designs out of copper sheets. This image shows four types of antennas built at the FabLab: micropatch, microsot, parabolic, and yagi.



In a related activity, one of the farmers used a couple of the FabLab tools, specifically the vinyl cutter and Towers, to prototype a wireless antenna aiming device. Note that one Tower monitors the buttons that created on the vinyl cutter, and a second Tower is used to adjust the orientation of the antenna according to the commands it receives from the first Tower wirelessly. (Pictured on the right above.)

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