Coronavirus Mechanical ventilator

Hello Everyone,

As most people are aware, there is a world wide shortage of Mechanical ventilators.

There are a lot of hobbyists working on this idea to produce quickly to market.

[e-vent.mit.edu]

My idea is to use the RepRamps control board for the control circuit of the Ventilator.

The reason is as followed.
1. It is a well tested circuit
2. Easily available
3.Affordable
4.multiple driver circuits, whereby it is easily adaptable to suit which motor is available, whereby ideally 1 motor would be used but if the motor supplies insufficient torque 2 or more could run in tandem.
5. When this pandemic ends, the Mechanical Ventilator could be turned into a 3D printer or something else - re-purpose - to lower E-Waste.

I would like it fully open source, everyone can see the code progressing and can make changes, that we can bring this idea to everyone as quick as possible to help prevent unnecessary deaths.

Any help would be great.

And who is responsible when one of these machines kills someone?

Any machine will need to get certified, which will take years,

Using ramps boards, which regularly die, is just asking for trouble.

Stick to making face shields, a ventilator is a just a pipe dream (no pun intended)

Just to be clear, with this machine, this is not a substitute to a Medical Mechanical Ventilator.

Whoever will be using one of these machines is classified as dead already because the Professional type is not available.

This is to only be used as a last resort!

So No Certification - we will not sell this - we will make no money from this - we only look to give people, with no chance a chance!

Additionally, with the use of an Ambu Bag, this will reduce the risks because of the in-built safety devices.

The control system only squeezes the bag - nothing more than a programmable mechanical hand - which in turn - if used over extended period will be more efficient than a human.

Additionally, because we are using an Ambu Bag - the Ambu Bag itself would be highly useful especially in countries with high rates of transmitted infections / anywhere in fact, it is more safe to use this Ambu Bag than CPR!

It could be just a pipe dream, but that is what makes us human. 8 years ago, it would have been a pipe dream to have a personal 3D printer at home!

Additionally, collaborating with this company who have now published a working model with instructions and code!

[oedk.rice.edu]

Hi Jimmy, this is amazing work! These people saying "oh just print masks" won't be thinking like this when they are in intensive care and there are no ventilators left.

Are the design files for this available as I would like to see what I an do? Aside from the Ambu Bag I probably have enough electronics, steppers laying about to maybe create something constructive!?

Keep up the good work. The 'red tape' around getting 3d printed parts tested etc is rather silly, there are people dying every day. If there is nothing better then of course these sort of 'hobbyist' projects may actually save lives. It is awful to see NHS staff dressing in bin bags because PPE wear is not available. It is even worse to hear news of people cashing in on the whole thing, in fact a new business was incorporated in the UK just a few weeks ago to help the shortage. I don't see how these people can see this situation as a business opportunity.

Keep going!!