Open-o-Meter

The Open-o-Meter wants to answer the following questions using an Open Source scale:

• What defines an open source hardware product?
• Which requirements have to be fulfilled for a product to be called Open Source?
• How can open source products be compared in terms of openness?

In addition, it extends existing standards such as the Open Source Hardware (OSHW) Statement of Principles 1.0 of the Open Source Hardware Association (OSHWA).

The Open-o-Meter is a simple scale from 0 to 8 where a product gets one point for each of the following aspects

• (product) all this information is published under a license allowing commercial reuse
• (product) design files are published
• (product) a bill of materials is published
• (product) assembly instructions are published
• (product) published files are shared in original format
• (process) use of versioning control system
• (process) a contribution guide is published
• (process) use of issue management system

It is simple:

• When a product gets 8 points, it conforms to the best practices of open source hardware.
• When a product gets 0 points, it does not seem to be open at all and should not be labeled as open source.
• When a product gets between 1 and 7, it is on it's way!

• Bonvoisin, J., & Mies, R. (2018). Measuring Openness in Open Source Hardware with the Open-o-Meter. Procedia CIRP, 78, 388–393. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procir.2018.08.306