Weekly wrap-up: Drone enthusiasts unite, Raspberry Rover comes over, and more

Open source news this week: July 8 - 12, 2013

What other open source-related news stories did you read about this week? Share them with us in the comments section. Follow us on Twitter where we share these stories in real time.

• Farm it. Build it. Manufacture it. The folks at Open Source Ecology are embarking on an open source project to develop 50 industrial machines ranging from a backhoe to a bakery oven. The effort is designed to make it easier for aspiring farmers, builders, and manufacturers to start the craft by lowering the barrier to entry. Shareable has the full story.

• Drone enthusiasts unite. NPR has an interview with the former editor-in-chief of Wired magazine who left his post to build a start-up for non-military drones. You can listen to the story or read the transcript, but either way it’s worth a moment of your day, as its laced with some motivational quotes about the open source movement.

• Open data for science education. What if middle and high schoolers were exposed to more real-world phenomena and data instead of more general "cookbook" labs? Would that help increase their interest in science and prepare them for scientific careers? Those are some of the questions Jean Flanagan poses in her thoughtful open data PLOS blogs post. It’s a fantastic read if you want to learn about some of the challenges facing open data in science.

• Want one? Print one. If you want to try your hand at building your own digital SLR camera, check out the OpenReflex, an open source, 3D-printed SLR. All you need is a 3D printer and a roll of film and you’re on your way. Check out pictures and read the full article. 

• Speaking of cameras. While we’re on the subject of photography, have you been to the photo sharing site Photographer.io yet? The founder and main developer announced this week that he released the source code under an MIT license. There’s much to do, so if you want to help, learn more about the project.

• Let Raspberry Rover come over. We love seeing the cool things folks are making with Raspberry Pi. Make Magazine has a profile of the Raspberry Rover, a small RC car controlled via a Wi-Fi network. The Raspberry Rover can stream live video from its on-board webcam and more. Make has details and pics.

Want more news?

Check out the headlines from last week's roundup.