August 15-24, 2015

Maysville, Missouri, USA

Build Yourself. Build Your World.

The Open Source Ecology Bulldozer Workshop is a 10 day immersion experience where we build Open Source Ecology’s largest machine to date – a 12 ton, 168 hp bulldozer. This workshop builds upon our recent production of 6 Power Cubes and the MicroTractor:

MicroTrac from Open Source Ecology on Vimeo.

We are extending these results to build the world’s first Open Source Bulldozer prototype. Our goal is to build a prototype comparable in power and traction to somewhere between the Caterpillar™ D5 and D6 industry standard. In this workshop, we will stack multiple Power Cubes, track units, and modular wheel units – and other lifesize Lego-like modules. The innovation lies in modularizing the design such that a much larger machine can be build from the same components as the smaller version. This is an example of the radical modularity that we are applying to the heavy machines of the Global Village Construction Set:

Workshop immersion involves concept and practice, and includes a crash course in metal fabrication: welding, torching, and other basic skills. Participants become engaged in a part of OSE’s development process, where we produce open source blueprints for the infrastructures of civilization. Participants are introduced to basic principles of collaborative literacy – how the collaborative mindset can be used to solve wicked problems.

We will break up into several teams working in parallel: tracks, universal rotors, idlers, bulldozer blade, and ripper/keyline plow. As one team welds the tracks (6 people), other teams work in parallel on the other modules. The first 6 days are intended for building the components (tracks, blade, universal rotors, frame, ripper, and hydraulics) – and the last 4 days will involve assembly. The workshop capacity is limited to 16 people.

If more than 12 people register for the workshop, and if there is electronics expertise within the team – we will dedicate another team to the build of OSE’s CNC torch table. The CNC torch table is an essential tool for rapid prototyping which allows us to cut parts rapidly. This CNC torch table builds upon the work of the open source Koruza project – a minimalist CNC machine that requires only a drill press and grinder to fabricate.

The nature of this workshop is experimental, in that this is our first prototype of the bulldozer. However – since we are building upon our existing Power Cubes, OSE’s Modular Wheel Units, and our proof of concept on the bulldozer tracks – we are simply stacking several of these modules for the larger machine. The modules are overbuilt so they could be used for larger machines, such as this test of the 2000 lb MicroTrac carrying 6000 lb of weight on idle:

We have also developed techniques to scale the number of Power Cubes indefinitely. We expect to finish the 168 hp base traction system and to do a test drive. We think that the bulldozer blade and ripper are also within the scope of the program, but that will depend on the cumulative skill and collaboration of the workshop participants.

OSE’s intent is to use this machine in September for earthworks to begin implementing our site plan.

This workshop is intended for people interested in immersion, hands-on skills training and practical results. We are especially interested in meeting future collaborators who are interested in developing viable, open sourcce business models around the machines and tools that we are developing.

To help spread this work, we have recruited a dedicated video documenter who will produce an interactive video on this build event.

The overall workshop is designed for people interested in transitioning from Zero to Steward and Maker. We welcome both complete novices and those with experience, as those with experience will also learn a number of skills. The critical part is willingness to learn. There are 2 tracks offered in this workshop:

Full 10 day workshop – $750

Individual days – sign up for any number of days at $120/day.

As a bonus, we are also screening a pre-release of a documentary film on one of OSE’s collaborations, Reversing the Mississippi.

Have questions? Drop us an email: info at opensourceecology dot org

