The 5th Conference in India is definitely on!

It will be the week of August 17, 2009 held in Pune, India.

If you haven’t already, email to register and to get more info : fab5@fabfoundation.org

UPDATE:  Please see http://cba.mit.edu/events/09.08.FAB5/ for information on conference content.  This will likely continue to change slightly over the next several weeks.  Please note that there is one part that is “open to general public” (Thursday) and attending the remaining require registration.

The weirdest thing happened today: the Shopbot is square, level, and plumb.

The thing is, it was basically level and plumb by itself - only had to raise one foot by a little bit. And when Sherry held the other end of the tape measure and we moved from corner to corner — less than 1/64″ off. The table was square, all by itself!

Bermeo Fab Lab during construction. The Epilog is going to go at the end of the long silver hose where the electrician is standing. The Shopbot actually looks kind of small and cute in this GIGANTIC space.

I was kind of dumbfounded by this. Since the gantry arrives pre-assembled, all we had to do was get a bunch of guys (conveniently available) to lift and set it on the rails. And… we’re done!

Now just to install and plug in all the motors, sensors, and control box.

Am I dreaming?

There’s a lot of stuff here, in boxes… somehow this will all become a fab lab this week.

See also: DenokInn Blog.

Some local users, including some super long term expats, participated in a FabFi build and configure workshop. We cut out and painted up a few reflector sets before hand to make the build go a little faster. In all, 4 more FabFi nodes were made and added to the network.

Two FabFi antenna sets - aren't they adorable? - and the GATR on deck in Jalalabad.

The public hospital was kind enough to allow us the use of an office and conference room for the assembly and router configuration. Half of the pairs have to be installed on the water tower at the hospital, anyway, so it’s a logical and convenient location to have everyone meet. It’s also really easy to get to for everyone since most everyone lives much closer to the city than to the FabLab.

Turns out it is possible to put Kenny’s “it only goes together one way” reflector together incorrectly. It doesn’t quite go together right but all the pieces get used… Unsupervised the novices beat on the pieces with a hammer and ignored that the pieces weren’t really together all the way. This was somewhat dissappointing because it indicates that the local fabbers still don’t completely understand the need for quality and correctness. Dissassembling and reconstructing correctly was pretty simple and no one seemed to mind the extra work.

Router configuration is by far the most challenging part of the build because everything - from the instructions to the operating system to the script - are in English and require a modicum of knowledge about computers and networking. Keith’s script made the install really super easy once you got to the point of correctly hooking up a computer to the router. The experience led to some great corrections and additions to the worksheet and guide.

Talwar turned out to be a super star leading people through the Configuration Worksheet. He both understood the English as well as the technical question at hand. He also made copious notes along the way and demonstrated significant learning from each set to the next.

The sun set before we were able to put the AP antennas on the tower and install the STA antennas at the users’ sites. But the Afghans were excited. Nearly everyone met again the next morning at 5AM to climb the water tower with the new antennas and install the antennas at their own sites. This time I was unable to be available to help and the Afghans were very apprehensive about going at it alone. But they persevered - around 10AM I got a call from Talwar saying they had made one link work completely (a few hundred feet from the water tower). The second came online around 4PM (nearly 1km from the tower), and another pair came online the next day (a few hundred feet but through some trees).

A big wind storm with hail, rain, lightning, and thunder hit Jalalabad quite late in the season.

A Brief Update (from Day 1)   (Joe, can you please post on the blog, too?)

The fab lab is awesome - I took some photos and sent super low res to Joe Murphy and asked him to post on the blog, look for those in a day or two.  (they are posted~joe)It’s super clean and organized, nothing like the small debris and dust laden, box cluttered state in January.

Students from Bagrami and other villages nearby have started coming to the lab since a month ago.  They’re being taught in 1 hour shifts but in smaller class sizes, between 8 and 16 students per teacher.  The topic appears to be “Windows XP” with somewhat confounding skills like
changing the caption size of windows and icons or the background image.  Nonetheless random students were able to demonstrate for me what they learned and what the effect was of what they were doing. There are approximately 200 of these new students with only slightly under half female.  A female adult “guard” is present in the lab who is also the cleaner and lab housemother - in particular she is something like a chaperone and her presence a key enabler for the students to attend.

Most of these students plan on attending “full time” through the summer.  There are two female teachers and two male teachers plus Talwar.  Wahida is likely to be in the USA for the summer and will ask Fawzia to come to the lab in her place during the summer.  Yesterday was my first visit and the students talked a little about some summer hopes (the smallest girls really lit up and beamed when they decided to build a dollhouse/playhouse).

OLPC XOs are technically working but worse for the wear - see in a couple photos the keyboard covers are all … rotting.  Keys have fallen off and the entire rubber piece will fall off if the computer
is tipped or inverted.  There is a lot of pen ink on the covers and working parts of the XOs.  There are only 10 instead of 16 - we’re going to have to figure out where the others are.  (There are 9 in the
lab and one is with Naqibullah).

Inveneos, Dells, and projector seem to be fine though I haven’t done a detailed review.  The staff are working towards a review presentation around 1 June.  Guards, teachers, students, everyone has requests for more of everything, from computers to salaries to tea and sugar.

FabFi antennas on the Taj roof are ok, they have started to look a little funny as repeated wet - sand/dirt - wet cycles attack them. The GATR ball is similarly fine though dirty.  Most components, such as the rubber stopper feet on the cable pulleys or the coating on the cables, have become melted/brittle/welded shut or other “accelerated” aging. There appears to be something amiss with our transmit path to the satellite, hence non-working internet and intense sadness from all the internationals.

I’ve talked with OpM folks and still need to talk with the other two groups interested in a FabFi workshop, that will get scheduled for this coming week.  Also this Friday at least a couple of the t-shirt
club kids and I will (hopefully) go visit the PRT bazaar and discuss a summer program of a t-shirt booth there.

Today (day 2) I get to meet with the full time female project manager that will lead the summer’s development projects and get the internship/job shadowing awards made. The interns will be the assistants to the USAID Afghan PM for Jbad/Gardez and include tasks like will include going to the project sites to take photos and create weekly updates on the computer as well as a end-of-summer report … possibly with a presentation to the Mayor at the end of the summer!

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Scout is adorable and walks nicely on a leash.  I’ve taken her on short walks outside the compound.  She has a 1.5 year old german shepherd friend, Jack, who comes over several nights a week.

I’m convinced it’s a couple hundred degrees but apparently it’s only in the mid to high 90’s.  I haven’t caught up on sleep and the heat contributes to me passing out shortly after dinner.  Jbad and
surroundings are gorgeously green and the distant Nuristani mountains still have snow.

(They’re all like this.)

Can anyone help reduce these knitting machine requirements for our Afghanistan Fab Lab down to a few suggestions:

Budget: aprox $300-450 or $1,000+ if computerized

Usage: mostly utilitarian knits, unless digital interface in which case would want to do sheets with letters and words

Gauge: as all purpose as possible.  I’ve seen yarn available locally that is just a little thinner than the cheapest stuff you buy in bulk at the craft stores here.  Interested in using non-standard yarn, ie, tightly twisted plastic bags.

Software: is there such a thing as a digital / computer interface?  In particular if you can scan in an image (clipart, not necessarily a complex photo) and have a resulting pattern magically knitted?

Width: I need to be able to ship through the USPS so the box can’t exceed 46″L x 35″W x 46″H, 70 pounds.

Are there other considerations I need to know about?  I’ve never used a machine before.

Thanks, Amy.

Hi everyone, I’m buried in writing and deadlines (and a little bit of math) but everyone wants an update with Afghanistan.  Lots going on, very exciting….

• Full time female staff funded and selected, through end Sept (with my hopes to find continued funding).    She’s going to be responsible for economic development projects, women’s resources, help with organization/budgets/reporting for various projects, and possibly lead organization of a grass-roots women’s medical needs training & fabrication program.
• Two full time internships funded - shadowing western project managers and helping with reporting, ledgers, and all aspects of project managing.
• We’ve got about $700-800 set aside for the machines and materials to go in the women’s resource center.
• I’m 95% likely to go in late May/early June to get several projects underway, I’ve got about 75% funding.
• Virtual beginners’ FabFi workshop in late May / early June!
• Post Fab5 FabFolk trip to Af shaping up with business and med projects focus.  That’s late August through September.
• Summer activities with education curriculum, in particular a joint effort with educators in San Diego and Jalalabad via iEARN.  Also an implementation of the first Fab Academy module : The Laser Cutter.