Proprietary rights

        This website documents the design of a fairly complex robot which relies on hardware and  software from many sources.  It is our goal that software and hardware will be non-proprietary and open-source to the greatest possible extent.  Where necessary, we will use existing hardware and software designs which may be proprietary to the supplier. 

        Hardware designs and code that is written by participants in this project will always be non-proprietary.  It is our goal that the entire design will be accessible to other builders at a reasonable cost.

Software falls into several categories:

Commercial off-the-shelf: (proprietary)

        This includes all hardware designs which are procured (motors, sensors, processors, etc.)   It also includes software which is sold and is expected to be available to anyone. 

        Windows XP (or other variations)
        Compilers (C,  C++,  Lisp, etc) 

Proprietary, but free:
        Generally includes software provided free (or with hardware) by manufacturers.

        DirectX
        Microsoft Speech SDK
        Device drivers; generally provided with hardware or on the internet
            Webcam drivers
            FTDI USB adapter drivers
            etc.

Non-proprietary hardware and software developed specifically for this project

        All hardware built specifically for this project
       All software written specifically for this project
       Generally,  if a hardware design is described in detail, it will be considered non-proprietary and free for anyone's use.
        If actual software code is provided, it is non-proprietary and will be marked as such in the listing.

Your participation in this design is welcomed.  You may contribute ideas, designs, software or just critiques or comments.   Be aware, though, that everything published on this list is considered Open Source.

Everything on this website that describes methods of assembling a robot,  describes new hardware designs, or custom software will be considered Open Source.   By publishing a hardware design or software design or code,  you agree that you, nor anyone else, retain no proprietary rights to that design or code.

Software should include a license agreement which, at least, permits unrestricted right to use the software non-commercially; and preferably unrestricted for all purposes, commercial or otherwise.  While such licenses do not exist for hardware,  hardware designs submitted to this site should be considered to be under an equivalent license. 

Note that Open Source restrictions do not prevent you from building and selling hardware implementations of any designs or selling software.   They only keep you from preventing others from selling those same designs or implementations.

IMPORTANT:   IF YOU WANT TO RETAIN PROPRIETARY OR PATENT RIGHTS TO ANY OF YOUR DESIGNS OR CODE, DO NOT SUBMIT THEM TO THIS PROJECT.