Sessions

Housetruck: Building a Victorian RV

*
Accepted Session
Hacks
Short Form
osb2010-0401
Scheduled: Tuesday, June 1, 2010 from 4:45 – 5:30pm in Morrison
Session notes

Excerpt

As a "software person," I found the hard technologies of building with steel and wood made for a very different creative and hacking process. At the same time, I discovered many parallels to software development, embedded hardware, and even open-source philosophies.

Description

As a “software person,” I found the hard technologies of building with steel and wood made for a very different creative and hacking process. At the same time, I discovered many parallels to software development, embedded hardware, and even open-source philosophies.

I’ll talk about my methodology of finding inspiration, determining values, establishing functions, researching materials and methods, finding domain experts, building the structure, and solving problems. I’ll also present some ideas to “sensorize” and network the vehicle, while keeping true to the overall design philosophies.

Inspired by gypsy caravans, British “showman’s wagons,” 1960s housetrucks & buses, Japanese architecture, and rustic shacks, the 8′×14′ cabin is handmade of steel, wood, and wool, and is mounted on an Isuzu NPR truck.

With luck, the housetruck will be present onsite for touring and as a host of possibly the tiniest hacker lounge ever.

Tags

design, hardware, hacking, housetruck

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Speaker

  • John Labovitz

    independent

    Biography

    John is a photographer, designer, builder, traveler, programmer, and writer, currently based in Silverton, Oregon. Having been involved in some of the earliest days of the Internet and the Web, he’s now finding his technology meter running backwards; his favorite gizmo is his 1937 kitchen timer. For the last year or so he’s been obsessively creating a housetruck — a sort of Victorian RV — in which to live and explore.

    Sessions