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The idea for the Open Toolchain Foundation arose in the context of the INTERFACER Project that can be seen in the light of the Fab City Initiative that challenges cities to produce everything they consume by 2054. These projects are all about exchanging data globally to produce goods locally, so think of CAD designs, assembly manuals, user manuals, settings for machines, in short all the documentation that is required to produce goods locally.

Unfortunately, we recognize that the software tools to reach the above goal have various problems: proprietary tools have high licensing fees or various restrictions, the terms of these tools may change any time, whereas open source tools are fragmented, some features lack quality, or a consistent user experience or intercompatibility. So we draw inspiration from the open source tools that are available to software developers (compilers, editors, libraries) and aim to create a similar ecosystem of tools for engineering and manufacturing targeting the whole toolchain that is required to manufacture goods.

In short, the Open Toolchain Foundation aims to democratize engineering, making it available to anyone who wants to design, exchange designs, or manufacture products. The Open Toolchain Foundation is initiated by members of Fab City Hamburg, HIWW, and Open Source Ecology Germany. Welcome to our website and feel free to contact us or to join us in supporting our goals!