# Key Technical Discussions from #hplusroadmap IRC Logs

• Participants were developing SKDB, a hardware package management system that represents physical objects in standardized YAML format, including metadata about components such as screws with properties like grade, length, and thread specifications.

• The group debated whether CAD files could be automatically processed to extract metadata for SKDB, with disagreement about how much information could be derived from geometry files without manual annotation.

• Users collaborated on PyMates, a Python-based mechanical part mating system that uses matrices and visualization with spheres to represent connection points between components.

• Participants discussed creating a comprehensive materials database by scraping data from MatWeb.com (approximately 80,000 entries), focusing on properties like tensile strength, conductivity, and density, with challenges in representing dynamic properties that change with temperature or pressure.

• Technical work was being done with OpenCascade and PythonOCC (Python bindings for OpenCascade) for 3D modeling, including specific challenges with vector transformations, converting between shape representation formats, and creating gears by extruding curved shapes.

• DIY lab equipment projects were shared, including homemade electrophoresis setups using household items and plans for affordable MRI alternatives using helium for lung imaging and atomic magnetometers as cheaper alternatives to SQUIDs.

• The group planned to present their work on hardware package management and industrial literacy at an upcoming H+ Summit in Chicago, while expressing frustration that many transhumanist groups focus on existential risk without taking practical technological action.