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Licensing Overview

This repository contains software, hardware designs, and documentation. Different components are licensed under different open-source licenses, as described below.

Full license texts are provided in the corresponding LICENSE files in the repository root.

1. Software — MIT License

All original software components in this repository are licensed under the MIT License.

This includes, but is not limited to:

  • Python source code
  • Controller logic
  • Web UI code
  • Scripts
  • Configuration files
  • ONNX models
  • Supporting utilities

See: LICENSE-MIT

The MIT License permits use, modification, redistribution, and commercial use, provided that the copyright notice and license text are preserved.

2. Hardware Designs — CERN Open Hardware Licence v2 (Strongly Reciprocal)

All original hardware design files are licensed under the CERN Open Hardware Licence Version 2 – Strongly Reciprocal (CERN-OHL-S v2).

This includes, but is not limited to:

  • CAD files
  • STL files
  • Mechanical assemblies
  • Schematics
  • Wiring diagrams
  • PCB design files
  • Fabrication and assembly documentation located in the hardware/ or mechanical/ directories

See: LICENSE-CERN-OHL-S

CERN-OHL-S v2 requires that modified or redistributed hardware designs remain under the same license and that complete corresponding source design documentation be made available under CERN-OHL-S v2.

3. Documentation — Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

All original documentation in this repository is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).

This includes, unless otherwise specified:

  • README files
  • User guides
  • Assembly guides
  • Safety documentation
  • Markdown and PDF documentation
  • Images and screenshots created for this project

See: LICENSE-CC-BY-4.0

CC BY 4.0 permits sharing and adaptation for any purpose, including commercial use, provided appropriate attribution is given.

4. Third-Party Software and Components

This project integrates or depends on third-party software and services. Those components remain licensed under their respective original licenses.

Examples include, but are not limited to:

  • Klipper
  • Moonraker
  • Mainsail
  • PiCamera2
  • libcamera
  • Cloudflare services
  • Python packages listed in requirements.txt and requirements-dev.txt

Third-party components are NOT re-licensed under this repository’s licenses. Users must comply with the original licenses of those components.

Refer to:

  • documentation/ Third_Party_Notices.md
  • documentation/model_provenance.md (ONNX model provenance, checksums, and licensing details)
  • Individual third-party project documentation

5. No Warranty

Unless required by applicable law, this project is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind.

See the respective license files for full disclaimer language.

6. Academic Use and Citation

Academic citation is encouraged when this project or derivative works are used in research publications, theses, preprints, or presentations.

Citation is a scholarly expectation and is not a condition of the MIT, CERN-OHL-S v2, or CC BY 4.0 licenses unless explicitly required by those licenses.

See CITATION.cff for recommended citation format.

7. Safety and Regulatory Responsibility

This repository provides research automation tooling and hardware design documentation. It is not a certified laboratory instrument or safety-rated control system.

Users are responsible for:

  • Electrical safety
  • Mechanical guarding
  • External emergency stop systems
  • Compliance with local laboratory, electrical, and regulatory requirements

Licenses govern copyright and redistribution rights only. They do not replace safety engineering responsibilities or regulatory compliance obligations.