This project could use support that doesn’t require joining anything: grants, donations, below-market or free use of space or equipment, or contributed labor. I’m not sure how realistic any of this is at this stage, but I’d rather ask plainly than not ask at all.
Space and equipment are a real, specific need. I already have a building and a range of equipment — CNC machines, a laser cutter, 3D printers, welding equipment, an electronics lab — that I’m making available to this project at zero or low profit rather than gifting outright (see Why This Has to Start This Way for the reasoning behind that choice). Anyone in a similar position, with access to space, tools, or equipment they’d be willing to make available on similar terms, would be directly useful to how this actually gets built.
Legal support is one of the most specific and valuable forms of help this project could use. Beyond the trust’s formation, this project will eventually need an ongoing legal relationship — ideally in-house or of-counsel — spanning trust and governance law, general corporate matters, and intellectual property (patents and trademarks). If you’re an attorney with relevant experience in any of these areas, and especially if you also have some familiarity with automation or manufacturing, pro bono or reduced-fee involvement now, with the possibility of a more permanent relationship later, would be genuinely valuable.
If you believe in what this project is trying to do and have resources — money, space, equipment, expertise, or time — that could move it forward, I’d like to hear from you, even if you’re not sure it’s a fit.