OpenMoko is an open source mobile phone project, which will provide an operating system, electronics, and mechanical design integrated into a product suitable for a wide cross section of phone users. It has progressed rapidly, as in 2007 the developer-oriented Neo 1973 model was first offered, and the more end-consumer friendly Neo Freerunner is anticipated in the next few months. And, as OpenMoko Developer Community Advocate Michael Shiloh suggests in an interview, it should be possible to run Google’s Android phone software on top of OpenMoko, presenting even more opportunities for the platform when the full release of Android comes later this year.

While the open source model is well established for software, it’s in its infancy for electronics, and barely exists for mechanical design. This is why it is so exciting that, in line with its open source mission, OpenMoko released mechanical CAD files for its nascent products. Just as GNU/Linux developers have grown accustomed to being able to modify every aspect of their software environment with available source code and convenient tools, so too may mechanical designers now make custom cases for the Neo phones, or integrate them directly into other products. Say you’re happy with your Symbian phone, but you wish you had a simple, internet connected device smoothly integrated into your dashboard, handbag, or treadmill- now the product design community is set free to fill these niche roles. And customizations like titanium or carbon fiber cases can be created with unprecedented ease.

But although the open source hardware movement is now a step closer to encompassing mechanical design, there are some issues that must be addressed before it can enjoy the same success as open source software. In the hopes that considering them may lead to further progress, four are described here:

File Formats - OpenMoko released the Neo 1973 as STEP and IGES files, and the Neo Freerunner as Pro/Engineer files. The STEP and IGES files imported acceptably well into SolidWorks, but although they accurately represent the geometry, these files do not represent how it was created, and are therefore very laborious to modify. The Pro/Engineer files opened just fine in Pro/Engineer Wildfire 3.0, and of course contained all the information, and are easy to modify (see the above image.) But not everyone has access to Pro/Engineer, which brings us to:

Open Source Tools - GNU/Linux provides a wealth of compilers, editors, debuggers and build tools for software. For electronic design, there are the GPL’ed gEDA tools and the proprietary but free Eagle PCB. But there is still no credible open source 3D solid modeling parametric mechanical CAD tool, and the proprietary ones cost thousands of dollars and each have their own separate user communities. As soon as an open source hardware project chooses a CAD tool, they have shut out a lot of potentially interested developers, and everyone without access to expensive software.

Licensing - OpenMoko released the mechanical CAD files under the Creative Commons ShareAlike license (and therefore, the above image is also CC ShareAlike.) There are a few other choices out there, but this one is as good as any. Still, its standing in court for mechanical CAD is not well established. Furthermore, the CC licenses are all built upon Copyright law, which can only cover certain fairly minor variations on a descriptive model of a mechanical design. To really cover the utility or appearance, one would first have to procure an expensive, time consuming patent, and then license the provisions of the patent. Of course, if they are not quickly patented, these aspects are essentially rendered into the public domain after they are published. This certainly makes the design open, but it does not allow for “viral” GPL like provisions for aspects of the design not covered by Copyright.

Business Model- Companies of all sizes have made significant profits from open source software. A typical method is to offer a useful piece of software for free so that it becomes ubiquitous, and then charge for extensions, support, and special features. Part of this formula is that once the software has been developed, the marginal cost to distribute it is small or nothing, so it does not apply directly to manufactured products. For some number of people, the value of open source hardware will be so great that they will eagerly pay enough to keep companies like OpenMoko in business. However, it may be difficult to expand the market beyond a certain point.

Of course, it took open source software some time to get to the point where it is today, and likewise, with time many of the issues with open source hardware will be overcome. When this comes to pass, designers will be set free to create a range of products difficult to imagine today.