- SKDB is building three complementary tools: a “compatibility score” for part-based designs, an algorithm that turns raw point-cloud data into boundary-representation CAD or Bézier splines (code in skdb/import_tools/surf.py), and integration of the GraphSynth graph-rewriting library to automate assembly-graph manipulation (mirror at http://adl.serveftp.org/skdb/thirdparty/graphsynth.py).

- Collision detection in the 3-D toolchain was rewritten to use OpenCASCADE’s bounding-box methods, yielding acceptable performance; meanwhile, PythonOCC compilation was documented to require OpenCASCADE 6.3.0 and careful wrapper-path fixes.

- Parametric Action Representation—Air-Force-funded research for jet-maintenance documentation—was highlighted as a path to automatic generation of step-by-step service manuals, with papers and images collected at http://adl.serveftp.org/papers/instructions/.

- A complete low-cost DIYbio viral-detection protocol was outlined: isolate DNA/RNA with spin-column kits, quantify on a Nanodrop or EtBr dilution, perform RT-PCR if RNA virus, run a 1-hour gel, and interpret band size; reagents cost ~$6 per primer and ~$0.50 per PCR reaction, and most chemicals ship directly to homes.

- Participants criticized UML/SysML as overly complex and advocated lightweight, text-based formats (e.g., YAML) for hardware descriptions and robot protocols, while praising Lego Digital Designer for its part catalog and automatic build-instruction generation as a potential input for robotic Lego assemblers.

- A “ghetto” gel-electrophoresis chamber can be built in 10 minutes from Tupperware, plant-store agar, and a 220 V supply; polyacrylamide (2–20 %) from plant-store granules serves as the PAGE matrix, and microcontact printing with hot-wax peel lithography was cited as a low-cost microfluidic fabrication route (http://www.rsc.org/Publishing/ChemTech/Volume/2007/03/hot_wax_and_peel.asp).

- Jonathan Cline is reverse-engineering a commercial liquid-handling robot, decoding its proprietary ASCII command set (“D1,OV420P30M0R”) to create open Perl/Python drivers that replace the vendor’s closed-source Visual Basic tools.

- An augmented-reality “smartbench” concept was floated: a webcam plus OpenCV would overlay step-by-step pipetting arrows and tube labels on the physical lab bench to reduce human error in DIYbio workflows.

- OpenModelica and the Modelica Standard Library v3.1 were discussed for component-level simulation, with connectors using “p” and “n” variables to enforce Kirchhoff-like constraints; integration with SKDB hardware packages is being explored, and a UT seminar by Prof. Christiaan Paredis on model-based systems engineering is available at http://adl.serveftp.org/lab/talks/2009-09-16-paredis-utexas.html.