You probably heard about this project before. Let's sum it up:
The Power Progress Community (PPC) was created to release to the public all design material to build a PowerPC laptop. These documents will be released as Open Source.
When this design is done, a production of such laptop could be launched. So in other words, this is the best chance we have to get our hands on a PowerPC based laptop with AmigaOS running natively.
Ok, it's not for tomorrow but still interesting. Why? Because with the help of all the people interested by Open Source, we can reach this goal. If you don't want/can't donate to this crowdfunding, spread the word around you. It is also a good way of contributing to this project. There are many people interested to promote open source in any form. With this project, the hardware design will be released as Open Source. We need to use these channels to reach the more people we can.
This will give us a better chance to have a portable AmigaOS one day.
@Elwood Why isn't the crowd-funding being done using a legit platform like Kickstarter, or (a IMHO semi-legit one) like IndieGoGo? Is it because they want the donation period to be very long / open-ended? edit: Ah, OK, they gave an answer: Quote:
We cannot make use of commercial crowdfunding platforms because they are aimed at backing the production of a product, and moreover, they require a working prototype to start campaigning. We are not making nor selling a product, we are making and supporting research and development instead
In order to solve the situation, in 2016 we approached the Italian firm ACube Systems a company that have some experience in designing PowerPC motherboards. We were lucky, as we found a group of passionate people that shared the long-term advantages of the Open Hardware philosophy, and their prior experience in designing a variety of PowerPC motherboards makes them an ideal choice as a partner. Together with ACube we will be able to get the electronic design done, but a professional electronic designer has to be paid.
This would be great! I've always wondered why there never has been a laptop released, always assumed it was due to the high-temp that PPC architecture seems to run at; that's why Apple never released the G5 in a laptop.
I'm assuming design of newer PPC may have found a solution to circumvent this issue. If nothing else, could go with a G4 chip.
I think you'll find that the reason no manufacturer has been able to produce a modern PPC laptop is the huge cost of NRE (Non Recurring Engineering). For our limited market, the cost of the design (which could be 10-100k Euro) must be spread over very few machines, making them too expensive to sell.
I'm working on something that'll cost much less. Of course, it's not going to be everyone's "cup of tea," but it's a faster and more feasible path to a working AmigaOS laptop/portable.
Incidentally, *if* one were to have a usable 3D pattern that enabled one to run off plastic cases at will, what would such a case cost to a buyer in order to make you a minimal profit? Of course, I'm asking not about a "production run" of 100, but individual cases, say 5-10 total.
I'm asking because I have no idea of the cost of material or electricity to run the machine, or the time taken to produce a saleable unit.
Incidentally, *if* one were to have a usable 3D pattern that enabled one to run off plastic cases at will, what would such a case cost to a buyer in order to make you a minimal profit? Of course, I'm asking not about a "production run" of 100, but individual cases, say 5-10 total.
No idea yet. I'll figure that out later once I know how much plastic goes into one case and how much electricity is used (I have a power meter).
You have a 3D printer , but it's a deposition printer, i.e. uses a melted filament to build up the item onto a substrate. Slow and looks a little grainy unless you have one with a really high resolution.
Have you looked at the type where you build up the item by repeated dipping into a tank of UV curable liquid polymer? (CLIP - Continuous Liquid Interface Production)
More expensive to set up but possibly cheaper in the long run to do larger runs.
This guy prints a hollow 3D ball in less than 10 minutes. His model uses a special glass which is oxygen permeable but there are other ways, mainly where a platform dips into a tank, raises, say, 200 microns to allow the liquid to flow back under the platform, then goes back down 100 microns for each layer.
Ed. Added info
Edited by OldAmigan on 2017/12/2 10:05:12 Edited by OldAmigan on 2017/12/2 15:39:32
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