Sugar / Olpc / Google and OpenHardware

Now we have Google interested in Open Hardware,

http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2011/05/why-google-choosing-arduino-matters-and-the-end-of-made-for-ipod-tm.html

This developing platform [Android Open Accessory Kit] based on Arduino, basically enables hardware and software developers to adapt devices to Android phones and in general to Android apps.

Reading this news I remembered some efforts that We have been doing since more than three years with olpc and sugar in this sense:

http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Open_Hardware

http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Peripherals

At the software front people of the sugar community have worked on Arduino connections to Turtle Art , Turtle Blocks and Etoys.

http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Development_Team/Arduino

There is now a thoughtful plan to have different software for various educational robotics kits like Lego Wedo in olpc builds.

http://wiki.laptop.org/go/11.2.0/Robotics_plan

Mostly we have been focusing on platforms for robotics learning, but I think we can move forward and make a real physical computing integration, making easy to develop both software and hardware than can talk with the XO and Sugar, taking advantage or ideas from the Google open accessory kit and its possible integrations with different industries that work with hardware devices.

We must bring these physical computing innovation to

a more wide base of people and learners (This kit is very costly), and we have this opportunity because the already begun efforts are based on the low cost platform Arduino; the combination with free software can make this a reality!.

Imagine the same quality of Google developer platforms but for lower costs and accessible for the almost two millions children that use Sugar.

Would be anyone interested in founding such an effort?.

Maybe Google ? Nahh..I'm too optimistic :).