Episode #551: From Trash to Tools: The Open Hardware Revolution Powering Solarpunk Science

About this episode

Stewart Alsop III interviews Joshua Pearce about the open source hardware revolution and its impact on scientific research and accessibility.

In this episode of the Crazy Wisdom Podcast, host Stewart Alsop interviews Joshua Pearce, the John Thompson Chair in Innovation at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Ivey Business School at Western University, about the revolution in open source hardware for scientific research. They discuss how three-dimensional printing, Arduino controllers, and open source designs are dramatically reducing research costs—often by 85-95%—while democratizing access to lab equipment worldwide. Pearce shares stories from his 2013 book "Open Source Lab" and explains how the movement has exploded since then, covering everything from filter wheel changers and ball mills to metal three-dimensional printers and battery research equipment. The conversation explores recycle bots that turn plastic waste into filament, the role of AI in accelerating hardware development, and how open source licensing creates a global knowledge management system where improvements are shared across the scientific community. For those interested in learning more, Pearce recommends checking out the journal HardwareX , repositories like Thingiverse and My Mini Factory , and appropedia.org for open source…

People in this episode

Host: Stewart Alsop III

Guest: Joshua Pearce

Topics covered

• open source hardware
• scientific research
• three-dimensional printing
• democratization of technology
• recycling and sustainability
• AI in hardware development

Keywords

• open source hardware
• three-dimensional printing
• Arduino controllers
• research costs
• recycle bots
• AI development
• scientific tools

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Western University, HardwareX, Thingiverse, My Mini Factory, appropedia.org

Books & works: Open Source Lab

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