Prototyping Kits offered by the Public Lab Kits Initiative are in-development kits which we send out for people to help prototype and experiment with, in order to refine and improve. These help support the development of new techniques for monitoring environmental problems. We call these **Prototyping Kits** and they come with a list of challenges and problems to solve. Of course all Public Lab projects are continuously improving, but Prototyping Kits are a way to "boost" development by getting a larger group engaged in hands-on experimentation. They may include extra materials, for example. ### Why prototype? This is an important part of how Public Lab kits come to be, and improve -- by engaging a broad community in testing, hacking, modifying, and refining the kits through their entire lifecycle - from early, rough prototypes to more robust, well-tested tools that have been put through their paces. The Public Lab non-profit does not do traditional in-house product research and development; instead we focus on facilitating across our network to provide mutual support in the Community Science model. The [Mini Balloon Kit](/wiki/mini-balloon-kit) and [Mini Kite Kit](/wiki/mini-kite-kit) from the [2017 Balloon Mapping Kits Kickstarter](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/publiclab/kickstarter-gold-balloon-mapping-kits/) are examples of Prototyping Kits -- each also lists a set of questions, unsolved problems, and goals. [](https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/022/827/original/IMG_20170610_174338_397.jpg) ## Questions [questions:prototyping-kits] ...
| Author | Comment | Last activity | Moderation | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| liz | "Heard through @mathew (who was excited): "We made a kit that had a bunch of simple, DIY accessible material parts and that could be taken apart ea..." | Read more » | about 9 years ago | |||
| mathew | "I think @cfastie's point about raw materials being a problem for crafty objects is certainly true. The dividing line is fuzzy between repurposing ..." | Read more » | over 9 years ago | |||
| cfastie | "I agree with jwms that the two go together, and I don't quite understand the distinction between the two. Found objects rarely fit the need perfect..." | Read more » | over 9 years ago | |||
| liz | "Great to hear @jwms ! @Btbonval , thanks for these great points. " | Read more » | over 9 years ago | |||
| jwms | "Markdown I think that found object and crafty go together, or occupy much of the same space. If you can do one, the other is required to some exte..." | Read more » | over 9 years ago | |||
| btbonval | "Hrm, I'm not sure if there is a "best" for community engagement as a general subject. I think improvization might be key to the question of engage..." | Read more » | over 9 years ago |