motorola’s project ara modular smartphone hardware system

motorola’s project ara modular smartphone hardware system
all images courtesy motorola

led by motorola’s advanced technology and projects group, ‘project ara’ has been developed as a free, open hardware platform for creating highly modular smartphones. similar to the phonebloks concept by designer dave hakkens, the system does the same for hardware as what google’s android platform has done for software: create a vibrant third-party developer ecosystem, increase the pace of innovation, and substantially reduce development timelines. the design for ‘project ara’ consists of an ‘endoskeleton’ (endo) and modules – the endo is the structural frame that holds all the modules in place, and the module can be anything, from a new application processor to a new display or keyboard.

‘project ara’ has been developed as a free, open hardware platform for creating highly modular smartphones

this type of open hardware ecosystem feeds off of the advances in additive manufacturing and high-end 3D printing equipment, ultimately giving users the freedom to decide what their phone does, how it looks, where and what it’s made of and how much it would cost.