publications

2024

1. 

   Enabling Technology Diffusion with the Open Lab Starter Kit

   Mohammed Omer, Melina Kaiser, Manuel Moritz, and 2 more authors

   2024

   Abs HTML

   In recent years, fabrication laboratories or Fab Labs have challenged the dominant position of conventional large-scale manufacturing by offering low-threshold opportunities to engage with production. Fab Labs are therefore catalysts to the emancipation of manufacturing from primarily industrial to personal and communal contexts. However, various bureaucratic and resource-related challenges make the set-up of Fab Labs difficult and hinder an equitable spatial distribution of Fab Labs; there exists, for example, a great difference in the number of labs between industrialized and developing countries. This is contrary to the Fab Lab idea as it hurts the egalitarian access to digital fabrication machines. In response to this, efforts such as the Open Lab Starter Kit (OLSK) make use of Open-Source Hardware (OSH) and specifically Open-Source Machine Tools (OSMT) to facilitate the establishing of labs. The costs and thresholds of these so-called open labs are significantly lower compared to conventional Fab Labs because the machine tools used in them can be manufactured and replicated locally, using local resources. This chapter presents the OLSK approach to open-sourcing the design and documentation of machine tools, and furthermore examines its scope as an enabling technology for a more inclusive and equitable fab city concept.

2023

1. 

   Exploring the Potential of Open Source Machine Tools for Sustainable Industrial Development in Low Resource Contexts - A Case Study of Migrant-Run Microenterprises in Oman

   Mohammed Omer, Melina Kaiser, Tobias Redlich, and 1 more author

   In Manufacturing Driving Circular Economy, 2023

   Abs

   In low resource contexts, access to technologies is limited. Most firms in developing countries are still using analog technologies and have not attained the industrial maturity required to harness the benefits of industry 4.0, which include increased productivity and a reduced environmental impact of the manufacturing sector. This further exacerbates the unequal wealth distribution pervasive in today’s globalized world. With the democratization of the internet and increasing accessibility to microcontrollers and automation technology, the last decade has seen the rise of open source machine tools (OSMT) such as CNC mills and 3D printers. By facilitating sustainable and inclusive production capacity building, OSMT are a key technology driver that can enable developing countries to leapfrog their industries. However, their potential for cost effective and low-threshold production capacity building in developing countries has been hitherto underexplored. This paper reports the findings of a pilot study in Oman with ten migrant-run microenterprises in the carpentry and steel fabrication industries. Semi-structured interviews and field observations were carried out to gain an understanding of the technology needs and readiness levels of the target group. The study identifies and discusses the challenges that could hinder the implementation of OSMT in a resource constrained context, which include insufficient technological and digital literacy, a lack of formal education, and risk adversity. Based on this, the paper proposes solutions to foster OSMT adoption.

2. 

   Pushing the Frontiers of Personal Manufacturing with Open Source Machine Tools

   M. Omer, T. Redlich, and J.-P. Wulfsberg

   2023

   Abs

   The democratization of desktop 3D printing has opened the domain of manufacturing to the masses. Today individuals can design and manufacture a variety of products in their living rooms. However, scaling a product from prototype to production and setting up a small-scale manufacturing business is often hindered by the expensive machinery and high upfront capital investment required. This paper presents the findings of a unique experiment that was carried out to understand the process of prototyping a relatively complex product (in this case, a 3D printer) in a home setting and then scaling it up to a small-scale production (10 units). In order to partially automate the manufacturing processes, two open source machine tools (OSMT), whose blueprints are freely available in the internet, were built, namely a CNC laser cutter and a CNC milling machine. The experiment reveals the particularities of starting a small-scale production in a home setting and the potential of OSMT to affordably scale up production, while also highlighting the challenges of OSMT adoption.

2022

1. 

   Democratising Fab Labs with Open Source Machine Tools

   Mohammed Omer, Melina Kaiser, Tobias Redlich, and 1 more author

   In Proceedings of the Fab 17 Research Papers Stream, Dec 2022

2. 

   Democratizing Manufacturing – Conceptualizing the Potential of Open Source Machine Tools as Drivers of Sustainable Industrial Development in Resource Constrained Contexts

   Mohammed Omer, Melina Kaiser, Manuel Moritz, and 3 more authors

   Dec 2022

   Abs

   Similar to open source software, the open source hardware (OSHW) movement is seen as a technology driver which can enable developing economies to leapfrog their industries. While machine tools are a subset of OSHW, they have received relatively little academic attention compared to electronic OSHW. This study applies an explorative research approach and analyses open source designs for machine tools freely available on the internet. By coining, the term open source machine tools (OSMT), it determines their applicability in low resource contexts and identifies the potential of OSMTs in democratizing manufacturing technologies. OSMTs thereby encourage diversification, entrepreneurship, and inclusive industrial development, thus contributing to the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal no. 8 which aims to promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth. Specific areas for OSMT application in low-resource contexts and factors and barriers affecting their success are singled out.

3. 

   Community-based replication of Open Source Machine Tools

   Luisa Lange, Michel Langhammer, Sonja Buxbaum-Conradi, and 4 more authors

   Dec 2022

   Abs

   The number of developments of open-source hardware (OSH) has rapidly increased within the last years. One special form of OSH are machine tools, which are developed in an open-source manner, so called Open Source Machine Tools (OSMTs). OSMTs enable the manufacturing of hardware artefacts within open labs, fab labs and open production networks. Additionally, the distributed design and development as well as the replication process of OSMTs are aimed on increasing the technological literacy of its users within a community. The research presented in this paper focusses on the replication process of OSMTs within community-based workshops in the field of Fab City Hamburg. The current state of replication processes of already developed and prototyped OSMTs has been outlined based on interviews, observations and document analyses. First insights were gained whilst participating in community-based workshops as well as through conversations with the workshop participants and instructors along with OSMT designers and engineers. Subsequently the replication process of OSMTs was analysed and areas of improvement have been detected with regards to enhancing the technological literacy of the workshop participants. The authors conclude that OSH build workshops bare great potential of a new, holistic approach to achieving technological literacy within a short period of time. With this paper, the authors identify important interconnections of OSMT replicability and technological literacy through replication workshops and form a basis for further research within this area.

4. 

   Distributed Manufacturing: A High-Level Node-Based Concept for Open Source Hardware Production

   Jorge Cesar Mariscal-Melgar, Mohammed Omer, Manuel Moritz, and 3 more authors

   Dec 2022

   Abs

   Distributed manufacturing is presented as a means to enable sustainable production and collaboration. Rather than rely on centralised production, distributed manufacturing promises to improve the flexibility and resilience to meet urgent production demands. New frameworks of production, based on manufacturing models with distributed networks, may provide functional examples to industrial practice. This paper discusses efforts in distributed production in the context of Free/Open source hardware and devises a conceptual framework for future pilots at which open source machines, such as a desktop 3D printer, may be manufactured in a network of open/fab lab nodes.

2015

1. 

   Design and Analysis of a Composite Chassis for Shell Eco Marathon Prototype Vehicle 2016 using Finite Element Analysis

   Mohammed Omer

   Dec 2015

   Abs

   The aim of this thesis is to design and analyse an optimal lightweight chassis for the GUtech Shell Eco Marathon Team (GSET) prototype vehicle 2016. Considering the fact that increased weight has a detrimental effect on fuel economy, this thesis aims to aid the weight reduction objective set by GSET through designing a chassis that is lighter and stiffer than the previous year’s chassis. The overall proportions of the vehicle are also reduced by packaging the rear end in a more compact manner. Chassis design concepts are introduced and different composite materials are analysed. The newly designed composite chassis is modelled in Solidworks and then simulated in ANSYS Workbench Mechanical coupled with ANSYS Composite PrepPost using finite element analysis (FEA). Several possible loading scenarios are taken into consideration and then simulated in order to achieve the optimum compromise between low weight and adequate stiffness. A sandwich panel structure utilising nomex and carbon fibre reinforced polymers (CFRP) is researched instead of a solely carbon fibre approach. The effect of increasing the sandwich core thickness is analysed using FEA. Furthermore an attempt to implement the engine as a chassis member is looked at with the final composite chassis design weighing in at less than half as much as the previous year’s aluminium chassis. A 55% weight reduction is achieved without compromising on stiffness and in the final chapter fabrication recommendations are provided that would be helpful for the next generation of GSET to fabricate the composite chassis in the University workshop.