# Key Ideas from #hplusroadmap IRC Discussions

• DIY photolithography was a major topic, with participants exploring cost-effective alternatives to expensive commercial equipment, including repurposing CD-ROM drives (capable of 26,000 RPM) for spin coating applications instead of purchasing $1,000 commercial solutions.

• Participants discussed practical approaches to creating DIY clean rooms for microelectronics fabrication, suggesting simple solutions like removing carpets or covering them with plastic to reduce dust contamination.

• The conversation covered modular "Microfluidic Assembly Blocks" (MABs) as an accessible approach to building microfluidic systems without requiring advanced fabrication expertise, alongside toner-mediated lithographic techniques for rapid prototyping of glass microchannels.

• Technical challenges with GraphSynth 2.0 software were discussed, including XML file loading issues between different Windows systems and troubleshooting version control problems.

• Several open-source hardware projects were referenced, including DIY book scanners (diybookscanner.org), e-book reader designs (positron.org/projects), and the BeagleBoard platform (elinux.org/BeagleBoard).

• Participants debated the importance of version control systems for effective collaboration in open-source projects, with specific discussion of Git repository management issues and SVN revision number embedding.

• Neuroengineering research was mentioned, including work at the University of Barcelona and DeMarse's research at the University of Florida on in-vitro neural systems.