I guess the first question you should ask yourself is: What is your motivation is for taking on such a project? Then share those reasons with us. Do you just want to do it for fun? Is there a business need? You want to learn new skills? Are there capabilities you need that no existing product can give you? Do you want to own the means of production? I'd suggest that you need to know and understand the answers to those kinds of questions before you can proceed, and then share them with us.
Even for pro engineers, it often takes years of development to go from prototype to a finished board if you are starting from scratch. Even Erv Plecter himself has been working for months on his latest project and he is recognized as one of the best in the business and he is a pro electrical engineer to boot. If that doesn't scare you, then more power to you; I encourage anyone who wants to learn to do so. Just be aware of what you're getting into. If you have no background in electrical engineering or software development then you're in for quite a learning curve.
With all of that said, quite a bit of open-source stuff already exists. Google "Universal Saber Library", "FX Saber OS", "Proffie OS" for examples of open-source saber projects. If all you are after is code, there is a ton of it out there to start with.