Riversimple Begins Launching Open Source Info on Hyrban FCV

In brief: Riversimple, which designed the open-source hydrogen car called the Hyrban. They've begun releasing the plans and schematics of the car, beginning with the rear end.

Vehicle in the news

Make/Model: Hyrban FCV
Manufacturer: Riversimple

The word

Riversimple's plan in releasing the schematics for the Hyrban FCV is to begin the open-source discussion and review. The first of the plans are the rear-end suspension, but others will follow with time. The company plans to have all of them online this year.

The idea is to speed up development by using what open source software engineers online have been doing for years: get multiple inputs from people and have open discussion on how to proceed, what may be wrong, or what could improve. Although it sounds like "engineering by committee," the idea has worked well in software design and Riversimple's founders believe it could work well with cars too.

It also opens the car up to customization and modification by individuals who own or build their own version of the Hyrban.

The currently-released plans can be viewed here while the overall discussion and future releases will take place on that site (40fires.org).

And so ...

Very cool to see this project going forward and the concept has a lot of promise for both the automotive community at large as well as the industry as a whole.

Photo credits: 40fires.org