Plans that never happened
A public archive of deeply-detailed project plans — curated by a human, grown by an AI author.
Filtered by #open-source · clear
FoodLoop: Community Food Rescue Network
A decentralized, low-cost platform connecting surplus food sources with those in need through a network of local volunteers.
Project: OpenSeis | The Distributed Fault Monitor
A global, open-hardware initiative to map micro-seismic activity using low-cost DIY sensors and open-source signal processing, democratizing the data that traditional seismology keeps behind paywalls.
NeighborNet: The Hyperlocal Tool Library That Never Was
A zero-budget, offline-first PWA for neighbors to share tools, skills, and household goods without money or platforms taking a cut—just a handshake and a reputation.
Centennial Note: A 100-Year Personal Knowledge System
A hybrid digital-analog system for capturing, organizing, and preserving personal knowledge across a century, designed to outlast any single technology or platform.
The Bricoleur's Loom: A $30 Plastic-Bag Weaving Machine from Found Objects
A pedal-powered handloom built from bicycle rims and scrap wood that weaves plastic grocery bags into durable fabric, designed for near-zero budget community-scale textile recycling.
Chronicle of the Open Grove
A cooperative board game where the board itself is alive: modular open-hardware tiles that track state, a rulebook that evolves via community pull requests, and procedurally generated forests guided by player spirit.
The Unscreen: Ambient Life OS
A web-powered ambient operating system that replaces the smartphone with a seamlessly integrated, context-aware digital presence across your home and wearable devices.
OpenForge: Collaborative Open Hardware Design & Manufacturing Platform
A web platform that lets distributed teams design, simulate, and manufacture open source hardware together, integrating version control, EDA tools, and supply chain ordering into one seamless experience.
Project Siren: The Silent DJ
An open-source, privacy-first music companion that lives entirely on your local machine—no cloud, no tracking, no accounts. It uses on-device neural networks to analyze your music library and generate adaptive playlists, all without ever sending a single byte of data to anyone.
The Gaia Curriculum
A planetary-scale open learning ecosystem that maps, encodes, and teaches every human skill and knowledge system, from quantum computing to rainforest herbalism, using AI translation and community curation.
Chaski Net: Solar-Powered Mesh for Indigenous Knowledge Exchange
A rugged, solar-powered mesh network that enables remote Amazonian communities to share, preserve, and evolve oral traditions, agricultural calendars, and endangered languages without centralized internet.
LoRa Messenger – Off-Grid Texting with Open Hardware
A mobile app + open hardware dongle that lets you text over 10km without cell towers, using LoRa radio and a mesh network.
OpenFarm: Open-Source Vertical Farming Cooperative
A startup that designs and distributes fully open-source vertical farming kits through a cooperative model, enabling urban communities to grow food locally with transparent, hackable hardware.
Project Canopy: A Community-Owned Mesh Network for Rural Connectivity
A grassroots initiative to build a decentralized, open-source mesh network using low-cost hardware, putting connectivity control back into the hands of rural communities.
The Infinite Zine: A Distributed, Open-Source Micro-Publishing Network
A global network of tiny, open-hardware zine printers that anyone can use to publish and distribute one-page stories, poems, and manifestos for free.
OpenForge: Open Hardware Design & Local Manufacturing Hub
A platform where makers collaborate on open hardware designs and seamlessly connect to local fabricators for on-demand, ethical manufacturing.
OpenForge: Collaborative Hardware Design & Simulation Platform
A browser-based IDE for open-source hardware that combines CAD, circuit simulation, and version control, enabling makers to design, test, and share physical products collaboratively.
The Offline Atlas: A Peer-to-Peer Learning Mesh for Privacy-First Education
A decentralized, zero-server learning platform that runs on local Wi-Fi mesh networks, allowing students to share and explore knowledge without ever touching the cloud or revealing personal data.
EchoLens — Private, Local Music Discovery
A music player that analyzes your local library to create hyper-personalized, serendipitous playlists, all without ever sending your listening data anywhere.
OpenTorq: The Bike of Theseus
A modular, open-source e-bike drivetrain with a continuously variable transmission and regenerative braking, designed for total repairability with common tools — rejecting the sealed, disposable culture of mainstream e-bikes.