# Key Points from IRC Discussions

• The SKDB (Software Knowledge Database) project aims to create an "apt-get" style system for physical objects, allowing users to install machine designs with commands like "apt-get install microwave-machine" by accessing repositories of parts and tools.

• Participants are developing a system for automated compatibility checking between mechanical parts using geometric tests (volume difference and interference), with the goal of enabling automated design work and detecting incompatible specifications.

• The group is creating a machine-readable database of manufacturing processes using XML to define industrial processes, inputs, outputs, and requirements, which would enable "retrosynthetic analysis" for manufacturing by determining the shortest path to build complex objects.

• DIY fabrication was a major topic, with discussions about photolithography setups using UV lamps and SU8, low-cost cleanrooms, CD-based patterning for submicron scale designs, and building microscopes from webcams.

• Participants estimated that building a personal fabrication lab would cost around $100,000 USD, recommending investment in a quality laser cutter, RepRap 3D printer, and PCB milling solutions.

• The ecosystem of projects discussed includes SKDB, Pink Army (open-source cancer therapeutics), DIYbio, DIY transhumanism, open-source manufacturing, and bioreactor/algae work, suggesting a comprehensive approach to open-source transhumanist technology.

• Participants debated using evolutionary algorithms to create new manufacturing processes by permuting inputs and outputs, which relates to shape grammars and graph grammars in computational design.