OK I've done a lot of research and have found groups that are working on concrete engineering proposals that can be vetted by health care professionals. The consensus among practitioners is that PPE would have the biggest impact right now.
We have amazing capabilities. We can save lives and bring comfort to a lot of stressed-out practitioners.
But only if we follow a plan.
So for pete's sake don't waste all your filament on something that hasn't passed a design review — and for pete's sake don't waste all your filament until we know which response organization wants it, and can accept it, and that it's their actual most important need
With that off my chest:
The best hub for this is HelpfulEngineering.org — The process of vetting the designs is underway; join the Slack if you have relevant medical expertise and have specific concerns.
I know everyone's rarin' to fire up their printers, but if you actually want to make a dent in the universe we need a team and a plan. It would be a damned shame to use up all your filament on something useless and then get a dire request for help. Here are the concrete steps for this to be a successful endeavor, pursued in parallel:
- Engineering specs that have been reviewed by medical experts
- Hardened, peer-reviewed designs to meet the specs
- Plans for coordinating the manufacturing
- A response organization with active interest in receiving those devices
- All the boring responsibility stuff: liability, quantities, precautions, schedule, delivery, etc.
The board will handle #5, the boring responsibility stuff; and we can help construct a team for #4 manufacturing coordination. I believe that if the first and second pieces fall into place, some response organizations will take the plunge and then others will reach out, solving #3.
The best contribution y'all can make is to review the engineering specs above and turn them into a community plan.
- What are our resources, in ATXHS and in our homes? Here's a spreadsheet to list what you have (3d printer rate, how much filament, etc):
- Who can help make — put your name in the "People" tab.
- Which plan or plans listed above look like the most promising?
- What else needs to be finalized to give machinable/printable parts lists to makers?
- What are the parts or materials to purchase? Need prices, vendors, specific links. How likely are they to run out of stock?
- For each of the parts, how long will they take to manufacture? What is the skill level?
I've put a lot of pieces in place — this email and the research behind it took more than five hours. I am willing to devote as much time and effort to this as possible -- we need the engineering experts to step up and develop a plan. Let me and the board know how else to help you save lives.
Also — if anyone is reaching out to response organizations, please clearly communicate:
- That we understand communicating back about this may be low-priority compared to what they're working on;
- What resources we have that can help, and that we're eager to do so;
- Some concrete suggestions (face masks, ventilator multiplexers, homebrew ventilators) of what we can do;
- ... But that they should be frank about how they would want us to use our time and talent, and about how to not be a tax on their resources and attention.
- That our folks are eager coordinate logistics and a liability release from them.
Hackerspace will do anything possible to help with a formal request from an official response group. We'd need some sort of liability release, and other annoying realities, but we could work on that while things get started.