• Speaker: Trevor Johnson
• Room: 250
• Time: Friday, Oct 23rd 15:00 – 15:20

• Format: Talk (20 min)
• Difficulty: Beginner
• Track: Community
• Additional Tags: Open Hardware, 3D Printing, Knowledge Sharing, Conductive Filament, Open Source
• Experience: Builder and problem-solver who develops open-source software and hardware under the Johnson Farms name and publishes reproducible research with the Idea Fields Institute.

Open hardware and open source run on shared knowledge, but we mostly share the things that worked. The dead ends and half-broken attempts stay private, even though they often save the next person the most time. This talk makes the case for sharing those failures as well.

Using the example of a flashlight 3D-printed from conductive filament, the speaker will walk through the evolution of the project—from a first version that was a “limited success” to a second version that worked. By providing real measurements and a straight answer on the strengths and weaknesses of the filament, the session demonstrates how cheap, printable, open hardware makes it low-risk to share the messy parts of the creative process.

Project URL: https://ataary.com/3d-printed-flashlight-with-conductive-filament/

Target Audience:

• Open hardware and 3D printing enthusiasts
• FOSS developers and documentation writers
• Makers interested in the philosophy of open, reproducible research