13Jan

Warming up your home with a thermal camera

Some simple repairs changed my house from chilly to cosy, and - a bonus - during summer it stayed 4C cooler than the previous year!

Here at Pangloss Labs one of the tools we have available is a thermal camera. This one measures from -40C to +550C with a 240x320 thermal resolution. We use it for tuning machining profiles, checking 3D printers, electrical wiring, electronic fault-finding and more. But when the weather is cold, it's extremely useful around your home, to find those little cold patches that turn your home from cosy to chilly, no matter what temperature you have the heating set to.

Last winter, I took the thermal camera home to see what was going on in my home in the Pays de Gex, a terraced house built in the mid 1980s.

Looking from outside, we can see that heat leaks around the garage door.  Not unexpected.  We can see that my neighbours newer garage door is better insulated than mine.  We can see that the roof insulation is OK.  You can also see where the floor and/or ceilings meets the walls.  Some heat is lost there due to thermal bridge effects.

Not a lot to do here.  The garage isn't heated so I don't worry.

Looking at the front door - again from outside - we can clearly see heat leaking all around the door.  I had thought that the door just let the cold through it, but this was additional.  I clearly needed to replace the seals around the door and  pay special attention to the bottom of the door.

Fix

  • Purchase new sealing strips
  • Remove old seal
  • Fix new seal into place

Result

  • Feeling of cold near the front door gone.  The entrance feels warm when we come home in winter.

Moving inside the house, I found that all of the lighting points upstairs looked like this.  The blue shows the cold coming into the house in a continuous stream.

Fix

  • Bought sealed light fittings
  • installed them into ceiling, using new pluggable lamp sockets

Result

  • Cold gone under each light fitting,

This is a full length window that opens like a door.  Looking from inside I found that the window seals - so warm when we moved in 20 years ago, were now leaking.  Further investigation found that they had harded over time, making a worse and worse seal when the windows were closed.  Not much, but enough to see with the camera.

Worse - and this was something I found around every door and window frame - You can see that there is cold leaking in around the window frame.  This was the worst example in the house, but every door and window had this to some extent.

Fix

  • Purchase new insulating strips for the windows
  • Fit them to every single window and door
  • Use paintable silicone sealant to seal around every window and door frame
  • I was afraid that this would be a thermal bridge problem and that nothing could be done without replacing my windows, so I tried a simple solution first.  This thermal image is what happened when I simply put blue painters tape around the window frame.  You can see it significantly limited the cold coming in.  This game me the confidence to seal around them all.

Result

  • No feelings of cold any more around any window or door.

Conclusion

I spent around 2 hours with the thermal camera and some blue painters tape.  I even found some electrical sockets which leaked cold air into the house.

With a combination of sealing strip, silicone paintable sealant, and some sealed light fittings, all purchased from a local DIY shop for around 200 euros, I made my house a lot more comfortable this winter.  And as an unexpected bonus, it stayed a lot cooler in summer too!

Pangloss members can take the thermal camera home for a weekend plus an evening (to check up after you fixed things) for only 10 euros.  Best to do so in the winter months.

Warning: when sealing up drafts in your home, be sure to maintain your home's intended ventilation and not block up the needed air inlets.  Sealing your home completely will lead to mould if you don't have a bidirectional VMC.

By POST CATEGORIES - LABSRead more...
09Jul

Tiers-Lieux and local authorities: how can we work together?

France Tiers-Lieux has written a guide, full of exchanges and discussions with hundreds of local elected officials and engaged public servants, sharing their experiences, must not do's and advice...

See their results at a national levelon their web site (in French)

You can download the guide here, very useful pour local authorities who want a better understanding of tiers-lieux - like us - on their territories.

By POST CATEGORIES - LABS, TrainingRead more...
25Jul

Pangloss Labs receives the “Manufacture de Proximité” label from the Agence Nationale de la Cohésion des Territoires

As part of its Nouveaux lieux, Nouveaux liens programme, the French National Agency for Territorial Cohesion (ANCT) unveiled 61 new Manufactures de proximité on 18 July.

The Pangloss Labs association is proud to have been selected in the 3rd and final wave to become the only Manufacture de Proximité in the entire French Genevan metropolitan area and the 3rd in the department of Ain.

This is the second label received by Pangloss Labs, which has been a Fabrique de territoire since October 2020! Pangloss Labs is also the only manufacture de proximité with a renewable energy sector.

There are currently 100 third-places with the Manufacture de Proximité label, deployed throughout France.

The "Manufactures de proximité" scheme was launched in July 2021 by the National Agency for Territorial Cohesion (ANCT) and the General Directorate for Business, in conjunction with France Tiers-Lieux, to provide long-term support for entrepreneurs and craftsmen throughout our territories, and to provide impetus, within the framework of France Relance, for a programme of economic and engineering support for third-space production sites.

As a reminder, third-spaces are physical spaces for doing things together (coworking, connected campus, shared workshop, fablab... Third spaces are the new places for social links, emancipation and collective initiatives.

What is a Manufacture de proximité ?

Manufactures de proximité are productive third-spaces, which animate and provide services to a professional community. The aim of these local manufactures is to support local economic activity by enabling craftsmen, entrepreneurs and very small businesses to come together in small local production units and to benefit from services and training. The Local Manufactures will become a resource for local industry in order to relaunch the manufacture of products in France.

The Manufactures de proximité will receive grants of an average amount of 250,000 euros over two years to help them invest in local production machinery and equipment to improve their manufacturing capacity, consolidate their business model and purchase equipment for their professional community. The selected Local Manufactures all benefit from an engineering programme that has two components: A four-month incubation phase for project leaders to consolidate the project presented; a two-year tailor-made support phase for each factory, once the funding has been granted, to accompany the implementation of each project. This support aims to create a local economic dynamic and to encourage the promotion of trades, skills and know-how.

Manufactures de proximité are at the heart of the revival of business through territories and the revitalisation of territories through business. I have long defended these third-spaces that bring together VSEs, SMEs and craftsmen around sectors, objectives and values of the future, anchored in people's daily lives. These first 100 labelled structures contribute to our economic sovereignty: they must therefore inspire new ones

Olivia Grégoire Ministre déléguée chargée des Petites et Moyennes Entreprises, du Commerce, de l’Artisanat et du Tourisme

Manufactures de proximité are unique places where production tools and techniques can be shared, and they help to create a new economic and social dynamic in our territories. They are a lever for promoting our unique heritage and know-how. Our territories are a wonderful breeding ground for initiatives: I am delighted that these first 100 manufactures de proximité are helping to revitalise them!

Caroline Cayeux Ministre déléguée chargée des Collectivités territoriales

"Facilitating access to a world of possibilities".

This is the raison d'être of Pangloss Labs, a non-profit association created in 2014. The mission of the association, based in Ferney-Voltaire in the Pays de Gex (Ain), is to create laboratories for experimentation and prototyping to support local entrepreneurial activities.

Pangloss Labs is a third-space that offers easy access to multiple physical spaces to share and pool tools, machines and workspaces, and provide opportunities for collaboration on different projects. Currently, we offer a Fablab, a Coworking space, and a shared wood workshop (the Woodlab), and are developing a metal workshop (the Metal lab) in beta test. The Pangloss Labs association has about 100 members with various skills. They include professionals (engineers and scientists, designers, creators, artists and entrepreneurs), but also students, retirees and passionate amateurs. By offering production tools, machines and professional skills that are simply not available elsewhere in the Pays de Gex, Pangloss Labs has a lighthouse role and thus responds to a need of companies, social actors and citizens of the territory.

Our action plan as a "Manufacture de Proximité" foresees the increase of the manufacturing capacities of our Fablab, the development of a professional services pole to support local companies and the development of professional training activities.

We are developing cross-border cooperation with various universities and schools: USMB, UNIGE and HEPIA. We are providing prototyping and experimentation support for the new renewable energy eco-system that is being developed in and around Hotspot, the first building of the Ferney Genève Innovation project.

Guillaume Cabrié, co-founder of Pangloss Labs and co-director of the Fablab, said: "We have already helped hundreds of local entrepreneurs with their businesses and increased the number of digital fabrication machines in the region. This award is recognition of this and will help us to move quickly to the next stage, making more and better products right here in France. "

For more information, see our Manufacture de Proximité Project or contact us.

https://www.ecologie.gouv.fr/manufactures-proximite-100-manufactures-laureates-61-manufactures- nouvellement-labellisees

https://agence-cohesion-territoires.gouv.fr/manufactures-de-proximite-100-manufactures-laureates-6 1-manufactures-nouvellement-labellisees-918

https://francetierslieux.fr/manufactures-proximite/

 

By Communiqués de presse, Fab Lab, PRESS RELEASESRead more...
24Mar

Pangloss Labs and COVID19

The short version: the fablab is capable of fabricating some medical things locally if needed.  Read on for details. UPDATE: Working with the Region Rhone-Alpes, we have been supplied with materials for fabricating face shields.  If you are in the Pays de Gex and need some, please make a request at the Visiere Solidaire web site and we'll be in touch Even if our fablab is currently closed, Pangloss Labs members have been studying the possibilities for making the equipment needed to help fight COVID19 in case we are needed. The open source community around the world has stepped up magnificently.  There are a number of groups online, designing and testing different types of equipment. From face masks to face shields to automated ventilators that provide oxygen to patients in difficulty. Designs are undergoing medical tests in Ireland and Spain.  The most active seems to be this one on facebook which has a crowd sourced document on potential solutions and needs for fighting COVID19. We have been solicited by the region Rhone-Alpes Auvergne to tell them of our capacities for digital fabrication and have done so. More than 130 3D printers have been made available across the region. Some people around the world started immediately 3D printing face masks, which is certainly feasible, if a bit slow. However, 3D printed face masks have a number of downsides, not least of which is that filament-based 3D printed objects are difficult to sterilise (not impossible, but more difficult than an injection moulded plastic design) and, of course, they do not conform to national standards.

So what is feasible to do in a Fablab?

We have 3D printers, laser cutters and mechatronics capabilties.  We are not, for the most part, medically trained. We have collected together some of the open source designs that would be feasible to fabricate in our fablab :

3D printed door handle extenders

These are designed to make it so doors can be opened with arms instead of hands - reducing the spread of COVID19. Materialise have created an open source collection of designs for different types of doors. These take 2-4 hours to 3D print.

3D printed door openers

this time so a person can carry it from door to door and not have to touch them with their hands to open it. Thingiverse has a collection of designs. These take roughly 30 minutes to 3D print.

Facemasks

Making filters for facemasks is a simple process of cutting the correct shape from the appropriate filter material. In the event that facemasks and the proper materials are really not available, studies have been done to find "last resort" replacements For cloth facemasks, you don't really need a fablab. Scissors and a sewing machine will work fine.

3D Printed Facemasks

Many enthusiastic 3D printing communities have designed and printed facemasks on the grounds that they are better than nothing. . There are a number of different designs from HEPA filter based, to simple frames for a cloth mask. It's impossible to choose which ones would be useful locally, but if there are clear local needs, there are plenty of open source designs available for us to use or modify.

Face shields

If masks are not available, then face shields can protect medical staff against direct droplet infection - like from a cough. Face shields can be laser cut from clear plastic which is much faster than 3D printing. There are even designs which use A4 plastification sheets.

Ventilators

In a more serious pandemic situation, we could certainly provide small scale production of open source ventilator designs to help patients breathe.

Oxygen concentrator

Reprap has started work on an open-source Oxygen Concentrator.

Valves and other complex parts

There has been at least one case where a hospital in Italy has had valves for reanimation devices 3D printed when they weren't available from the supplier. We have machines in our fablab that can do this.

We are willing to do our part

Our production capacity in the fablab is limited but we have links with other fablabs/makerspaces/hackerspaces around us. To local doctors, the Pays de Gex medical centres, local hospitals, and the Mairies around us we make this simple statement.
"If you need us, we will help".
If any of this will help you, contact us at fablab[at]panglosslabs.org and we will be in touch to discuss your precise needs. And if it turns out that we have all the medical equipment we need, so much the better, we will stay home like everyone else.
By Fab Lab, Health LabRead more...
11Dec

Closing the loop: Innovation for a Circular Economy

On Wednesday 6th December, 2017, Paul Bristow represented Pangloss Labs along with 5 other startups with innovations in the circular economy in Brussels .  We were chosen from across all of the EU to participate in a high-level policy discussion at the European Parliament, hosted by Nespresso and the EU40. MEPs Franc Bogovic (EPP, Slovenia) and Davor Skrlec (Greens/EFA, Croatia) hosted the roundtable debate preceded by six start-ups that pitched their innovations and spice up the discussion. (more…)
By Fab Lab, Sustainable Development Lab, Read more...
19Jun

Pangloss @ #UNHCRNGOs

On June 14th 2017, representatives from Pangloss Labs were invited to participate to the UNHCR annual consultation with NGOs.  From the sustainable development innovation lab, Paul, Charlie & Gianluca decided to dedicate one day to this.  With our partners from the Global Humanitarian Lab (based at the Palais de Nations), we exhibited some of the things that digital fabrication - and more importantly the entrepreneurial, problem solving mindset around it - could enable in refugee environments.    It was an eye-opening day for all of us, and each of us decided to tell the story in our own words. (more…)
By Fab Lab, Sustainable Development Lab, Urbanism LabRead more...
19Jan

Pangloss Labs in Geneva

On the 12th of January a small, determined group met at Pangloss Labs in Ferney-Voltaire to discuss why there isn't yet a Pangloss Labs Geneva site and what to do about it. In a nutshell, although we have found some spaces in Geneva that meet our original half office / half workshop criteria, they are very few and far between.  With the rent costs being much higher in Geneva than neighbouring France, to replicate directly what we did in France would need 45 people willing to pay a proportion of the rent, before we have the space.   In addition, leases in Geneva tend to start at 5 years.  With some of the offers we have, on projects under development, we'd need 45 people willing to commit to contribute to a collaborative association for 5 years, starting in 1-2 years time.  That's almost impossible to do. So, with the facts on the table, and with the aid of some decent French wine, we brainstormed on the possible ways forward.  With lots of whiteboards, and different experiences and backgrounds we came up with the following plan:
  1. Make a list of all the spaces and similar initiatives around innovation in Grand Geneva.  Create working partnerships where possible.
  2. Simultaneously, use co-creation to decide amongst our Pangloss Labs community in Geneva, which set of Innovation Labs make sense for them.  This may well be a very different set from the 10 chosen in the Pays de Gex.
  3. Build up the space requirements for each Innovation Lab.  See if each Lab can start using time and space in existing physical spaces around Geneva.  If so, partner with the appropriate physical space, and do that, resulting in a win-win for Pangloss members and existing physical spaces, along with cross fertilisation between communities.
This doesn't solve the problem of a large maker space in Geneva, but it does solve the problem of how to get the other Innovation Labs really working for those members unable to easily get to Ferney-Voltaire and it provides something concrete as a partnership with our other innovation space friends around Geneva. Once things are up and running, we can decide if we need another physical space in Geneva, or if working collaboratively with existing spaces is sufficient. What do you think?
By Business & Economics, Urbanism LabRead more...
16Jun

The Business Benefits of Open Source Modular Design

The modular design of technology, facilitated by an open source approach, could be a key feature of a circular economy – and it could open up significant business advantage in the process. This article was written by Pangloss Lab's own Paul Bristow and published at Circulate News, the news website of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. Read it there:   http://circulatenews.org/2016/06/business-benefits-of-open-source-modular-design-for-the-circular-economy/
By Mechatronics Lab, Sustainable Development LabRead more...
16Jun

Business Benefits of Open Source Modular Design

The modular design of technology, facilitated by an open source approach, could be a key feature of a circular economy – and it could open up significant business advantage in the process.  This article was written by Paul and published at Circulate News, the news site of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. http://circulatenews.org/2016/06/business-benefits-of-open-source-modular-design-for-the-circular-economy/
By Mechatronics Lab, Sustainable Development Lab, , , , Read more...
20Mar

Making things for a good cause

One of the great things about being based in Geneva is the interesting people you meet. While working on innovation for “International Geneva”, I met up with the ICRC’s innovation team. They have been working on a global makeathon for humanitarian causes. One thing led to another, and I ended up giving a webinar on rapid prototyping and following that up with a long blog post which you can read on the Enable Makeathon’s site
By Business & Economics, Fab LabRead more...
10Feb

Is Lake Geneva ready to make stuff again?

Globalisation only flows one way. At least that’s the experience of the last 30 years. Manufacturing fled Europe, looking for more and more economies of scale, making millions of identical objects for the cheapest possible price.

Mass manufacturing has changed the world, but every process comes to an end. When something becomes “the only way to do things”, innovation kicks in and find a alternative. Open Source distributed manufacturing is that alternative. New, open source technologies have reduced the costs of machinery by a factor of tens to hundreds. Things that were complicated and expensive, like accurate positioning in 3D space, have become trivially simple and ridiculously cheap. The result is that it has become much less expensive to make individual customised objects – something that mass manufacturing cannot do at all. FabLabs, like this one, are described as a place when you can make “almost anything”. We know what the things we cannot yet make are, and many of the projects in these spaces are open source machines to overcome these limitations. Just in the last two years we have seen machines for knitting clothes, printing fabrics, printing concrete, and laminating wood/carbon fibre composites, as well as DNA sequencers, projects to grow bricks, produce all sorts of energy efficient vehicles, and build your own energy efficient houses. These projects are not developed by individual geniuses in their garages. The internet was designed as a collaborative tool, and has delivered magnificently. Local communities of people interested in making things have found each other online, and joined together to create physical spaces where they can collaborate together. These projects, in turn collaborate online in globe-spanning open source projects, creating amazing collaborative answers to problems that might not be solved in any other way. Right now it’s not for replacing the things you can buy in the shops, more for replacing the things you cannot buy in the shops. How often have you searched and not found the thing you were looking for? Simply not been able to buy a spare part, or not found a table the right size in the right wood. Those are the sorts of things maker-spaces can produce using parametric design and shared resources. In twenty years the very idea that you would buy something that is the same thing that any of your neighbours have will seem quaint, like Henry Ford’s “any color you like as long as it’s black”. You will be able to easily customise the object you want to suit your exact needs and have it quickly manufactured in your local fabrication centre. Or have a brand new thing designed just for you from scratch using open source tools, technologies and techniques. Around Lake Geneva, this is a work-in-progress. On the 27th of June 2015, the makers of the Lac Leman region unified for the first time to put on the “Leman Make” Festival. At the start, we knew of two hackerspaces in the region. One year later we had dozens of local fabrication spaces involved in the festival, all of whom were making stuff right here. Technology should be a slave, not a master. It’s time it stopped being exclusive – something for other people far away to master – came back home, and was made accessible to everyone. As children we were all taught to share, and it turns out that sharing really can change the world for the better.So the answer to the question “is Lake Geneva ready to make stuff again?” is definitely a resounding yes. We hope you’ll join in.
By Fab LabRead more...
01Sep

Pangloss is participating in the Salon des Associations

We will be at the Salon des Associations at the COSEC in Ferney-Voltaire on Sunday, September 6, 2015 from 13h to 17h, to present our activities, including our initiation to robotics, 3D printing, and a presentation of the activities and upcoming events in our new creative space in Ferney-Voltaire. This is a great chance to come and meet local associations and stop by our booth.
By EVENTS, Read more...
01Sep

Our community space now available in Ferney-Voltaire

We have just opened our space for innovation and creativity in Ferney-Voltaire. While we work to design a unique experience for our users, we are every day improving day our equipment, layout and decoration, to be ready in the coming weeks to welcome you. In addition to the tools and machines, we seek to live the values of our association in this new space. Take the opportunity to join us and help create your space!
By EVENTS, PRESS RELEASES, , , , , , , , Read more...
07Apr

3D Printing in Geneva

Gadget Guru is a short weekly radio show on World Radio Switzerland that I do with Tony Johnston. Here's the show from April 7th, 2015:
Here's the usual set of links & videos from the show: For more information about 3D printing, MAKE magazine is a great place to start: To try 3D printing in Geneva, you can go to Post Tenebras Lab, the Geneva Hackerspace on any Tuesday night. It's open to the public from 19h00 and they even have a communal meal. You might even see me there. We've just completed a major upgrade to our 3D printing capabilities and have 3 new printers including a Lulzbot TAZ 4 (a really big one!). There's the new Replik3D shop in Acacias. You'll find their website here. Give them a call before you go to visit them as they are very new and sorting out their opening hours. Their website is in French but both Matthieu and Giovanni speak great English. They sell 3D printers, supplies and do printing services and more. You can even get a 3D scanned bobble head made of yourself in full colour! You've also got Romain at Les Voisins coworking, and Sebastien at Onl'fait who both offer workshops and 3D printing services but you will need to speak French for these two.
By PRESS RELEASESRead more...
31Mar

Reality in all its forms

Gadget Guru is a short weekly radio show on World Radio Switzerland that I do with Tony Johnston. Here's the show from March 31st, 2015:
Here's the usual set of links & videos from the show: Virtual Reality A Rollercoaster Simulator on the Oculus Rift https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMrhaLb6UeQ There's an open source system for VR gaming https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxeQVBwyh8Y Augmented Reality Google glass - not dead yet. Navigation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IwDqah3a6c LayAR https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZR4eSmmPCxg Mixed Reality Microsoft Hololens https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aThCr0PsyuA and you can even try for yourself with the iPad Ikea catalogue https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDNzTasuYEw
By PRESS RELEASESRead more...
10Mar

Tech at the Geneva Motor Show

Gadget Guru is a short weekly radio show on World Radio Switzerland that I do with Tony Johnston. Here's the show from March 10th, 2015:
Here's the usual set of links & videos from the show: From the Mobile World Congress we had the LG Flex2 self-healing phone... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjig8CkuenY But this week is mostly about the Geneva Motor Show, which runs from the 5th to the 15th of March The ED Design Torq - Electric Driverless Racing Car - which apparently could have a racing driver inside, but who'd want to without windows? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HP5MdxC8iJo Bentley EXP10 Speed 6 with 3D printed parts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8v5d9fmkSw The Quant F and Quant Quantino Nanoflowcell cars have a range of up to 1000km between refills with ionic electrolyte fluid. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q05Oc9M9V4o The EDAG Light Cocoon (for the blinky light fans) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoTIw9SMxOE The Aston Martin all electric DBX concept https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7r53N9cDv1c The Swiss Rinseed Budii that will hand the steering wheel to you if you feel like driving https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GPkw_qdbjc There is also the completely bonkers Koenigsegg Regera "hybrid" which does 0-400km/h <20 seconds https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWm8xEapjuQ There are 76 cars at the motor show which emit less than 95g of CO2 per kilometer, and most of them are in production Oh, and this week Apple launched the most personal computer ever designed. This goes on sale in France on April 10th, and in Switzerland "sometime in 2015" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-waTi8BPdk See you next week!
By Media LabRead more...
03Mar

Mobile World Congress (hah!) and Virtual Private Networking

Gadget Guru is a short weekly radio show on World Radio Switzerland that I do with Tony Johnston. Here's the show from March 3rd, 2015:
Here's the usual set of links & videos from the show: For the Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnYtWWDor2s The Virtual Private Network (VPN) comparison site I mentioned is https://www.bestvpn.com Just to be safe, I suggest you use either Paypal or an e-card (one time use card number) from your bank to make the payments to these companies. It's not that they aren't safe, but I've noticed that they come and go over time. Open source routers will allow you to VPN to your own home, but I won't give you a link. If you don't know how to find these, you shouldn't be attempting it. Surf safely! And remember - a VPN is just a pretend (really long) network cable. For details of the next Pangloss events click here.
By Media LabRead more...
25Feb

Internet of Things

Gadget Guru is a short weekly radio show on World Radio Switzerland that I do with Tony Johnston. Here's the show from February 24th, 2015:
Here's the usual set of links & videos from the show: The Internet of Things market is expected to be huge, with pretty much all market forecasts in the high billions of dollars. By 2020, there are expected to be more than 100 billion devices connected. The home monitoring (air quality, temperature etc) system I have is from Netatmo My little drone is the Parrot Minidrone Rolling Spider, available from 1000ordi in Geneva for 135-7 CHF. They also have a range of Connected Objects and speak English (not a lot, but enough!). The lighting system from Philips that's getting towards what I'd like And of course, the build it yourself option with the Arduino Micro from Sparkfun and the Femtoduino We held the first Pangloss Labs Internet of Things meetup on the 23rd of February in Eaux-vives.   For details of our next events click here.
By Media LabRead more...
17Feb

Flying free like a bird

Gadget Guru is a short weekly radio show on World Radio Switzerland that I do with Tony Johnston. Here's the show from February 17th, 2015:
Here's the usual set of links & videos from the show: If you've ever wanted to fly like a bird you need to catch up with the BIRDLY bird simulator. https://vimeo.com/91069214 And the amazing EPFL telescopic contact lense is here. The Pangloss Labs Internet of Things meetup will be held on the 23rd of February in Eaux-vives.  You don't need to be an expert - just bring an object and tell us how you'd like it to be connected (or not!)  For details on this and all our events click here.
By Media LabRead more...
10Feb

LIFT to Space

Gadget Guru is a short weekly radio show on World Radio Switzerland that I do with Tony Johnston. Here's the show from February 10th, 2015: Here's the usual set of links & videos from the show: The totally brain-resetting LIFT Conference web site so you can see what you missed.  The presentation from my workshop on Designing Alternative Currency Systems can be found on the Pangloss Labs site. The BikeCityGuide can be found in the app stores for iOS and Android, or take a look at their web site.  The Geneva map basically goes from the Jura to the Saleve. You'll need to use google translate or the Chrome browser (which has google translate built in) to read the Norwegian findmysheep.com website, but it's worth it to find out how to get those 21st century cowbells. Being more serious, the European Space Agency Technology Transfer program is designed to bring space applications into our daily lives, so if you are a startup company, you'll want to take a look. You know about the awesome Solar Impulse project, but have you heard of Solar Stratos - using solar power to get to the edge of space?  Another local project, as is Swiss Space Systems - who are hiring. The Pangloss Labs Internet of Things meetup will be held on the 23rd of February in Eaux-vives.  You don't need to be an expert - just bring an object and tell us how you'd like it to be connected (or not!)  For details on this and all our events click here.
By Media LabRead more...
06Feb

Designing Alternative Currency Systems workshop at LIFT15

I organised a workshop about innovations in Finance at LIFT15 on Feb 6th. We had 41 participants and 37 design ideas for currency design! With only 4 similar ones. Here's the presentation from the session: And here's your chance to get started designing your own currency: Thanks to everyone who participated and if you do create a new currency, let me know!
By EVENTSRead more...
27Jan

Robots!

Gadget Guru is a short weekly radio show on World Radio Switzerland that I do with Tony Johnston. Here's the show from January 27th, 2015: Here's the usual set of links & videos from the show: Our list of Pangloss Labs events so you won't miss our next robot workshop The Open Source (hardware and software) Thymio robot from EPFL and it's programming environment https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTi7DjqlGO8#t=42 The NAO robot https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8-SSwKMGnY and the much more serious and large ATLAS robot from Boston Dynamics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27HkxMo6qK0 And one of my favourite French open source robot projects, InMoov: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2L4MCFubLs Isaac Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics:
  1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
  2. A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
  3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
Have a good week, and remember that according to the original Terminator movie humanity should have been destroyed by now, so we are definitely not in that future.
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21Jan

Social Innovation talk at Impact Hub Geneva

Paul was asked to speak at Impact Hub Geneva's crowdfunding launch event yesterday.  The round table was about Social Innovation.  With such people in the audience as representatives from the UNHCR and the ICRC he talked about the impact of crowdsourced open source hardware. Projects described included Data Canvas Sense Your City real-time environmental monitoring,  Publiclab - the citizen science portal, the Open Source Beehive project, Local Motors and the awesome E-NABLING the  future project, providing low-cost customised prosthetic limbs all over the world and making people smile. http://youtu.be/KcPjwq9-sDc  
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20Jan

French – English translation on the go & a giant robot suit

Gadget Guru is a short weekly radio show on World Radio Switzerland that I do with Tony Johnston. Here's the show from January 20th, 2015: Here's the usual set of  links from the show: The Google Translate app for iPhone and iPad The Google Translate app for Android The Kuratas Giant mech suit from Suidobashi Industries in Kyoto on Amazon for $1million Why would you want one of these?  Just watch... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iZ0WuNvHr8
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13Jan

CES Roundup 2015

Gadget Guru is a short weekly radio show on World Radio Switzerland that I do with Tony Johnston. Here's the show from January 13th, 2015: Here's some links from the show: More information than you ever wanted about CES. A round up of wearable technology from Engadget. How to get and avoid tech neck (hint - lift your phone up). The Belty smart-belt is easier to see than read about. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOwCNWTUAqo and the Sharp freeform display technology, so I can get my hexagonal screens :-) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiDWqFw4UDM
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09Jan

Pangloss Labs dans l’avenir – in the Future

Mon rêve serait que finalement nous construisons un nouveau bâtiment pour accueillir physique Pangloss Labs soit par impression avec une imprimante 3D comme ceci:
My dream would be that eventually we build a new physical building to house Pangloss Labs by either printing it with a 3D printer like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SObzNdyRTBs ou de le fabriquer avec de bois local comme ceci: or making it out of local wood like this: The wikihouse open source house project
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08Jan

Open Source Hardware at TEDx

Just before Christmas I was lucky enough to go to TEDxPlaceDesNations, where Javier Serrano from the open hardware group at CERN gave a fantastic talk about the benefits of using open source hardware. You can see the talk in it's entirety right here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqHzV5ty4Kk  
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08Jan

Changes in Autoentrepreneur formalities

autoentrepreneur Lots of small autoentrepreneur changes came in on January 1st, with the most important one being that now you must have a separate bank account for your autoentrepreneur business. Good news in that social charges have reduced, and a new requirement for using online tools for uploading your accounts if your turnover exceeds a certain threshold. More details at the APCE web site in French./Droit d'auteur: / 123RF Banque d'images

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06Jan

New Years Resolutions and Fitness Tracking

Gadget Guru is a short weekly radio show on World Radio Switzerland that I do with Tony Johnston. Here's the show from January 6th, 2015: A few links from this show: If your new years resolution is to get fit there's no better way than eat less and move more. Technology can't (yet) stop you eating but it can help with the moving, so here are some of the fitness trackers you can get from Fitbit, Withings and Jawbone. Prices start from around 65 CHF. Or you can just use an app for your smartphone like Moves but then you must carry your smartphone all the time. If you put it down it won't track your steps. If you want to hack your life then If This Then That is the site you need. Make the internet work for you doing things that usually only coders can :-) If you want a heads-up on CES there is a useful CES preview at TechRadar. Plenty of wearables. My VOIP provider that lets me have a UK incoming phone number is LocalPhone but there are others, including Skype. As expats living on an international border having multiple incoming phone numbers in different countries can be useful. Here's the Octopus: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvvjcQIJnLg and here's the four-finned robot cuttlefish: Next week we'll look at the output from CES.
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23Dec

Christmas Gadgets, the Santa Tracker

Gadget Guru is a short weekly radio show on World Radio Switzerland that I do with Tony Johnston. Here's the show from December 23rd, 2014: A few links from this show: 3D Printed cookie cutters can be downloaded from thingiverse or you can design your own.  The best place to try 3D printing is your local hackerspace. Post Tenebras Lab in Geneva has an open evening each Tuesday. Fixme in Lausanne has an open evening each Wednesday. FabLab La Cote in Nyon has it's open evenings on Mondays. The Christmas Shopper Simulator from Game in case your shopping was too easy this year The Norad Santa Tracker The cool magnetic levitation hoverboard http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSheVhmcYLA and the noisy one that you can make yourself
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08Dec

The Fab10 Documentary

In July 2014 I went to the 10th annual gathering of FabLabs.  I wanted to see if a FabLab was a useful tool for building a new way to manufacture open source hardware.  This documentary gives you an overview in 35 minutes of what I spent 8 days immersed in.  And, yes, I came back to Geneva convinced I should build an ecological FabLab. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyMl_Qedd7c
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13Nov

A new open dynamism for Grand Genève’s entrepreneurs

  • Open innovation laboratories and collaborative space
  • Ecological fablab to reinvigorate local manufacturing
  • New innovation models of the type “Zero Marginal Cost Society”
Prévessin-Moens, 13 November 2014 - A group of passionate entrepreneurs joined up to create Pangloss, a non-profit association aimed at creating and animating co-working spaces, and bringing innovation back to our town centres. To all engineers, designers and developers, working from home or in small teams, Pangloss offers the chance to join with other entrepreneurs. Together we’ll benefit from mutualising our overheads, exchange ideas and experience and develop synergies with other projects. The new association is organised around open innovation laboratories, experimentation and rapid prototyping.  Concretely, Pangloss wants to establish creative spaces for meeting, exchanging and co-working, along with new types of training.  The association will offer access to innovative services and fablab machines such as 3D printers and laser cutters, which can use recycled materials and are much less energy hungry than traditional machines. The first projects which brought us together cover the sectors of education, health, nutrition, digital media, design, gaming, art and tourism. By helping local entrepreneurs with new projects, Pangloss’ ambition extends to pushing for local growth, accelerating the digital transition and reinvigorating our town centres.  Pangloss will be active with events in both the Pays de Gex and in Grand Geneva. Please contact us for more information and/or to receive our press pack.. PR team: Maria Carmela Rubio-Torset, Paul Bristow, Arnaud Blain, Yves Zieba contacteznous@panglosslabs.org, 0952118168 www.panglosslabs.org Association Pangloss, 86 chemin pré de planche, 01280 Prevessin
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