Working Teams

From Open Source Ecology
Jump to: navigation, search

Introduction

OSE's development process is based on Working Teams consisting of 12 pairs of developers. The pairing concept is taken from Extreme Programming, and it allows for more efficient development. Working Teams work in unison on any development project, and when a team reaches 12 pairs, a new team can be created for doing other tasks in parallel.

Invitation Video

The target audience is new OSE Developers.

Script

Aspirational, productive, efficient, learning environment, rewarding experience.

We are developing [1] a high performing team [2] of open source developers [3] for a distributed, global development effort [4]. For 8 years, we have been working on the Global Village Construction Set - a modular product ecology of critical infrastructure building tools of civilization. We have now developed Extreme Manufacturing techniques for building large machines in a single day, and for building houses in 5 days. We are improving our development process continuously, and our next step (aspiration) is organizing into highly efficient working teams of 12+ people, who takes our development process to 3-month product development cycles. This builds upon modular design, extensive prototyping, part libraries, and Proofs of Concept developed over the last 8 years. Our specific goal is Distributive Enterprise - open source blueprints for enterprises. We believe that distributed open source production is the next trillion dollar economy - and that it can fix pressing issues and regenerate the world. The power of open source is spreading practical knowhow and best practice - across all areas of human endeavor - an idea whose time has come.

Our promise to contributors is that of effectiveness and results. We provide basic training that allows for a common development language. We teach basic skills such as CAD, and follow a formal open source product development process based on modular design and concurrent engineering. Process managers oversee progress to achieve timelines and results according to a clear roadmap. We hold people accountable to professional and constructive behavior. We recruit on an ongoing basis for 3-month project sprints, with a minimum volunteering commitment of 10 hours per week.

In progress

We develop technology by using an open participatory process the core tool that we use is the wiki witch like Wikipedia is open to editing by anybody where we can upload our pictures work logs documents each person on the team keeps a work log such that any other person on the team and can see transparently what anyone else is doing working teams are typically 12 people and we develop all the different steps of the open-source product development process as Guided by the development spreadsheet. Instructions are found for every step of the development process with key tools being used such as free CAD computer aided design embeddable Google Docs for real-time collaboration and kdenlive for video editing. We are looking for not only technically minded people to help develop our Technologies but also individuals such as writers video editors documentaries and just about anything else because of the scope of the global village Construction Set this to build a new civilization we train people by providing open source 101 instructional tunnel the topics of development including design guides for things like the 3D printer construction site or the tractor construction set we approach projects in a concurrent Engineering Process meaning massive parallel development as we break down Technologies into modules so that different teams and people can work in parallel we build and prototype continuously using Xtreme manufacturing one day builds as the culmination of the development process and finally we Produce open business models for producing any of our machines and one day with extreme manufacturing meaning of group-based social production build that is fun educational inspiring and productive.

Team Requirements

OSE is pursuing development of high performing teams as it moves into 2017. Each team needs to have a minimum level of staffing in order to perform at a high level. The recruiting process will continue until a basic team consisting of Process Manager, Specific (to a particular project) Product Owner, and Engineering Team are secured - in addition to the General Heavyweight Product Manager (xPM - for Extreme Product Manager). This basic team must be a minimum of 3 people in number - not counting the

The Specific Product Owner is required to have full knowledge of requirements for a project, including how the project fits within a product ecology of other projects. The Engineering Team and Process Manager produce documentation, unless a more dedicated Documentation Team is secured. It is understood that Human Resources (HR) works in the background to recruit additional team members - where HR must be sufficiently familiar with Process Management to understand which roles need to be filled in. Curriculum Development must occur prior to a team being formed - as new team members need to be brought up to speed. Curriculum Development includes toolchain instructionals, as well as Design Guides - which team prospective team members about design of a given project. Even experienced Product Designers benefit from the Design Guides - as the OSE version will typically be different than industry standard design. And prior to curriculum being developed for onboarding - the IT Team must have the OSE ISO ready so that everyone has full access to the OSE software stack.

Here are the roles defined:

  1. Process Manager- a person who understands the development process of open hardware, as embodied in the Development Template. Assures that both development and its documentation occurs. Maintains
  2. Product Owner - stakeholder who is interested in developing a Distributive Enterprise around a given hardware project.
  3. Engineering Team - doing CAD, calculations, and other design work. Core of this is proficiency in FreeCAD.
  4. Documentation Team - documenting all work. Key to this is proficiency in Google Presentations and basic video production including screen capture. The Engineering Team and the Documentation team are the workhorses of a successful Development Team. Documentation Team also publishes all results on the OSE Minds social network.
  5. Human Resources - acquisition of SME (Subject Matter Expert) and Development team talent. Any successful project begins with building upon past work - and the quickest way to master past work is to recruit SMEs. In addition to recruiting SMEs and team members, HR coordinates with Curriculum Development to assure that team members acquire sufficient training as part of their on-boarding process. HR is responsible for effective on-boarding and off-boarding of team members, with a promise that we are creating serious teams with a clearly stated goal of changing the world via open source product development.
  6. Curriculum Development - team develops training materials in key
  7. IT - assures that the OSE ISO is updated with the latest software and part libraries.

The process for building a high performing team involves recruiting area Generalists - such as an HR Generalist or Engineering Generalist - where we all work on different projects together rather than working on projects within a specialty of a certain SME. This is because we are pursuing integrated design - as opposed to the less integrated designs typical of mainstream design. To put it this way: if integrated design were the norm, we would all be living in a world of eco-industry where regeneration of the environment was the standard byproduct of industrial production.

edit


Working Teams Roadmap

edit

Development Process Working Doc

See also OSE Development Priorities.

edit

Pulling Together

A common development language includes understanding of software and processes. Basic curriculum is a necessary prerequisite for all team members, and the curriculum includes:

Curriculum Development Strategy

See Curriculum Development Strategy

Software 101s

Prerequisites

  • Wiki 101 - registering, editing, starting Work Log, embedding google docs, pictures, videos, 3D. History and file history.
  • Google Docs 101 - working with and embedding Google Docs for global, cloud-editable collaboration
  • Picture and Video Uploads 101 - where, when, and how to upload picture and video media for project use

Working Proficiency

More

Advanced

  • Web Admin 101 - Understanding server specifications. Setting up a website server. Setting up a mailing list, a mediawiki, wordpress. Keeping backups and security. Maintaining a development repository.
  • Mediawiki 101 - setting up a MediaWiki instance, modifying configuration, using templates. Wikifab extension for instructionals, and basic of semantic wiki for organizing content.
  • Python 101 - already preinstalled in Debian/Ubuntu - here is a crash course for basic proficiency
  • Creating a Linux Distribution 101 - how to create a USB or installed linux distribution with preconfigured software.
  • FreeCAD Programming 101 - how to modify FreeCAD by using scripts, creating new workbenches, and creating new tools in existing workbenches. FreeCAD builds from source and pull requests.
  • HTML + CSS 101 - formatting withing the wiki and websites
  • CAE 101. Using FreeCAD CAE Workbench and OpenFOAM to do various computer-aided engineering calculations.
  • Marlin 101 - understanding Marlin 3D printing firmware to make modifications
  • Franklin 101 - scalable 3D printing Franklin firmware
  • Email List 101 - how to use open source newsletter software for mass communications and automated emails, including setting up a newsletter server.
  • QGIS 101 - QGIS is a powerful GIS package
  • Cura 101 - creating 3D printing profiles in cura and software modifications

OSE Software

Design and Collaboration 101s

For Developers:

  • Microfactory Construction Set 101 (3DPCS) - learn how to build a scalable, modular, universal CNC axis for applications from non-contact 3D printing to 500lb force heavy duty machining. H
  • CNC Torch Table Construction Set 101 - learn how to design an oxyfuel CNC torch table using the OSE Universal CNC Axis system. Includes solar oxyhydrogen generation for off-grid operation.
  • Heavy Duty Machining Construction Set 101- building upon the 3DPCS, and combining metal parts, you can now design your own heavy duty CNC machines. Drill, router, mill, lathe, metal rolling, ironworker, forge press.
  • Tractor Construction Set 101 - Using the tractor parts library, you can design any tractor or bulldozer.
  • Universal Controller Construction Set 101 - designing a generalized platform for machine control, automation, sensing, and IoT using Arduino and other open source electronics
  • 3D Printer Design 101- learn to design and build a 3D printer from scratch
  • CNC Torch Table Design 101 - how to design a torch table - a key tool - within the 3D Printer Construction Set; SEBD
  • 3D Scanning 101 - how to use an open source 3D scanner for generating STLs. Then converting those to Fabrication Drawings.
  • OSE Mechanics 101 - basics of drive, motion, range of motion
  • Hydraulics 101 - basics of hydraulic design: tractor drive, cylinders, rotors
  • Tractor Construction Set 101 - combining frames, Power Cubes, Uniersal Rotors, wheels and tracks, and hydraulics to various heavy machines
  • Universal Rotors 101 - covers design of rotary implements, 1-200 hp in size
  • Articulated Joints 101 - covers the design of backhoes, articulated steering, and other articulated design with hydraulic cylinders.
  • Power Cube 101 - how to design various instances of solar, electric, and IC power cubes
  • Aquaponic Greenhouse Design 101 - general principles of designing an aquaponic greenhouse
  • Seed Eco-Home Design 101 - basic principles of designing a foundation, walls, second story, and roof of a seed home.
  • Basic Shop 101 - using a torch, welder, ironworker, drill, bandsaw, grinder, and other hand tools in the metal shop, up to MIG casting and heat treating
  • Plumbing 101
  • Current Control 101 - controlling AC and DC current
  • DC Current Control 101 - how to run and control solar welders, battery welders, solar hydraulic hybrid tractors, and how to control DC motor speed
  • Power Measurement 101 - measuring electrical power.
  • Electric Motor Design 101 - how to design small electric motors for tools and utilities using 3D printing and basics of windings; designing pancake DC generators, powerful brushless DC motors, DC outrunners, normal utility AC motors (1/100-1 hp scale), and Universal Motors

Processes

For Process Managers:

  • OSPD 101 - modular breakdown, concurrent engineering, heavyweight product management, cloud collaborative software, and crowdfunded crowd design toolchains for open product development
  • HR 101 - basics of HR in a nutshell, 3 interactive videos.
  • Collaborative Video Editing 101 - Interactive video, cloud-collaborative editing via YouTube videos; process for script writing and editing to produce 1 quality video per month in 40 hours using full open source toolchains including video editing and compositing.
  • Development Template Process 101
  • Test-Driven Design 101
  • Distributed Production 101 - digital fab, using fabricators, Haxlr8r, contract manufacturing,
  • Product Ecologies 101 - how the 50 GVCS relate to one another, and common submodules.
  • Reverse Engineering 101 - going from technical drawings, real objects, and concept drawings to technical CAD
  • Calculations 101 - Power, Speed, Torque, Holding power, Heat Transfer, FEA, Range of Motion, Volume, Energy, Production Rate, and other calculations. The goal is to have basic proficiency within the Engineering team to do back-of-envelope performance calculations.
  • Design for Fabrication 101 - principles of designing things for easy fabrication and lifetime of maintainability
  • Design for Sourcing 101- principles for designing such that supply chain issues are addressed by design. Easy, local sourcing.

Collaborative Literacy

Success of OSE relies on selecting and training for a high level of Collaborative Literacy within and between all team members. This means that team members share a common language of development: understanding the tools and processes by which development takes place. This includes technical skills of tool use and design principles - but more so it includes the ability of anyone in the world to see the work - with the intent of helping the work go forward.

Team members must be willing to function as parts of a much larger, open effort. The key ingredient to effective collaboration is keeping a Work Log to document everything that one does for the project - with the assumption that others can see and build upon work without any communication inefficiencies. For example, it is inefficient to have to ask someone where they are on a project - if that information can be documented as work product on someone's log. The assumption is that we have open team boundaries, where others can participate in the development process by getting oriented on others's activities - without even having to ask for permission or access. This is a cultural aspect that many people may find awkward at first - but it is a natural way of how we operate at OSE.

In the mainstream world - people function in secrecy - as commercially-significant information is at stake. At OSE we function openly - because the distribution of economic power is our goal. At OSE, we don't take patents or sign Non-Disclosure agreements - as these are forms of Competitive Waste. The effectiveness of open source relies on elimination of all competitive waste - and replacement of such waste with unleashed creativity.

Development Template

OSE has been refining its Development Template to foster Module-Based Design as discussed on the main OSE site (http://opensourceecology.org/development/):

Currently, the Development Template is mature (as of Nov. 2015), and can serve as a basis for a unified development process. The Process Manager understands the Development Template, and knows where to find each development asset of the Development Template on the Wiki. The OSE Wiki is the main development platform of OSE.

Part Libraries

An effective, large scale development process for open hardware within the Global Village Construction Set (GVCS) involves modules and product ecologies. Modules are components that are used throughout the set as part of different products. Product Ecologies refers to designing for a minimum parts count and maximum inter-operability of the entire GVCS. This means that each machine or product is developed within the context of a larger Set, not as an individual item.

To coordinate the development of many machines and many modules, a Part Library is used. The Part Library is an accepted set of parts that we work with in the GVCS. This may include entire GVCS machines, their submodules, and individual parts. These parts are iterated over time, but the current set is found at the Part Library.

Currently, the Part Library is largely incomplete. Common materials that are used throughout the GVCS need to be added to the Library - including plumbing fittings, lumber, and any other modules from the Open Building Institute.

OSE Linux and Software

Linux is ubiquitously available around the world as a freely-downloadable operating system. The OSE development stack relies on using open source software wherever possible. All the software that OSE uses on a regular basis is bundled as the OSE Linux distribution, which can be downloaded for free. Any OSE Developer is required to download OSE Linux. OSE Linux also includes existing Part Library repositories, so that all OSE Developers can work with current design files.

OSE Linux is being built to save thousands of hours of download times for OSE Developers. A one time install will provide all the software without hassle - to make sure all OSE devs start at a common and uniform place with any software. This also avoids and incorrect software versions, unresolved dependencies, or any other computer hardware incompatibilities.

Common sofware used by OSE developers includes:

2017

2016

  • Development Working Teams
  • IT/Web Team - standardizing a collaborative, federated web infrastructure for OSE and Chapters
  • Development Method Team - formalizing protocols for OSE's open hardware development method
  • Wiki Team - developing templates, structure, and semantic structure for the OSE wiki


High Priority

Signup

Please see OSE Developer Initial Application to join as an OSE Developer.

Links

Notes

  1. states clearly what are we doing up fornt
  2. sets expectations clearly
  3. it is not likely that those people who have not heard of open source have both the culture and technical literacy to work out
  4. scope is large