Informal standardization in African DIY

Alex Soojung-Kim Pang — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 15:53:09 -0800

Description

AfriGadget reports on informal standardization practices among African machinists and fabricators:

One of the things that I find most interesting in my travels around Africa is the similar uses of technology to meet the varied demands of different types of mechanics and workers. The particular case I’ve been thinking over is the use of a simple frame and different engines to meet a specific need.

Many of the same components are used from one machine to the next. The fabricators know that each machine has a different use, but that the parts used to make them unique are not that many....

The machinery setup is a good example of low-cost fabrication using a modular setup. All of the local fabricators tend to use the same frame setup so that they can mix and match with each others work.

This is significant because we're starting to see stories of African inventors doing interesting things, and observations like this remind us that most inventive activity involves independent but not completely solitary inventors: successful inventors tend to be members of communities of practice, who share ideas and technical skills, and have to work together. They compete, but they also have to cooperate.

Source

http://www.afrigadget.com/2007/11/08/africas-modular-machines/

Mubarak Abdullahi’s home-made helicopter

Alex Soojung-Kim Pang — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 08:33:57 -0700

NOTE: This content was aggregated from RSS feed. Original source is http://www.afrigadget.com/2007/10/22/mubarak-abdullahis-home-made-helicopter-takes-nigerias-kano-plains-by-storm/

AfriGadget reports on another example of African inventors:

Yahoo! News (among other sources) carries a story from October 21st about Mubarak Muhammad Abdullahi of the Kano Plains of Nigeria who has built a working helicopter over the last 8 months using scrap aluminum and parts from a Honda Civic, an old Toyota and from the remains of a crashed Boeing 747.

This inventor has had no formal training in flying and his helicopter has never flown higher than 7 feet of the ground. In an interview, he talks about how the machine works:

“You start it, allow it to run for a minute or two and you then shift the accelerator forward and the propeller on top begins to spin. The further you shift the accelerator the faster it goes and once you reach 300 rmp you press the joystick and it takes off,”