Custom PC - UK (2020-08)

respirators – face masks designed to filter out

particles as small as the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

‘I have been 3D-printing wearables for years.

You can 3D-print a bikini because your body

conforms to the plastic – which is flexible but

not really soft,’ Wu explains.

‘The bones in your face don’t conform this

way.A TPUmaskis notsoftenoughtocreate

anairtightseal.N95airfiltershavesignificant

resistance.If youdon’thaveanairtightseal

you’lljustbesuckinginairfromthesidesof

themaskandbasicallyhavea coughshield/

surgicalmask.Exceptplasticdoesn’tabsorb

droplets,soyou’releftwitha wetmess

strappedtoyourface.3D-printedmasksaren’t

a usefulthingatthemoment.’

Wuhassomeadviceforthoseinterested

in supplyingfacemasks,oneofwhichis

modifyinganoff-the-shelfsnorkellingmask

witha HEPAfilter,althoughshewarnsthat

testingit withouta CO2sensoris alsoa good

waytokillyourself.’Anothersuggestion

ina basementtoa nationalhealthservice,is

freetomanufacture,remixanditerateeach

designinordertofinda setupthatworks.

Themasks

Noteveryoneis capableofdesigninga medical-

gradeventilator,ofcourse,buttheyaren’tthe

onlyequipmentinshortsupply.MakerNaomi

Wu(twitter.com/RealSexyCyborg) recently

raisedthealarmovera seriesofdesignsfor

3D-printedFPP2-andFFP3-equivalent

is turning to more traditional materials for

surgical-style face masks and gowns. ‘A sewing

machine is a formidable home machine tool,

and possibly the best one we have to fight this.

Sew masks and PPE.’

Those eager to use their 3D printers have

another option: Face shields, which protect

medical staff by introducing a physical barrier.

In the UK, 3DCrowd (3dcrowd.uk) had, at

the time of writing, delivered more than

65,000 3D-printed face shields. However,

with 600,000 requests and climbing, more

volunteers are required.

Those lucky enough to have access to a laser

cutter, meanwhile, can produce face shields at

a considerably faster rate than people with 3D

printers. Hobbyist electronics specialist Kitronik

(kitronik.co.uk) has teamed up with Smoke

and Mirrors’ Dominic Morrow to create a rapidly

producible design, which is downloadable for

free from the company website.

Many hands

The commonality between all these projects

is that they’re open, published either as public

domain efforts or under permissive licences.

They’re open for anyone to get involved,

and most of them allow for pull requests or

equivalents – suggested changes to the design

that could improve efficacy, producibility or cost.

In an ideal world, these projects wouldn’t

exist; supplies of medical equipment and

PPE would be plentiful, and any shortages

quickly addressed. In the real world, however,

maker-led projects such as these ones can

literally mean the difference between life and

death. Heartfelt thanks must be given to all

those involved, whether they’re creating novel

designs, or simply making use of a 3D printer

or sewing machine that would otherwise be

gathering dust.

One project looks to repurpose unused breast bumps

into emergency ventilators

The Makers for Life project’s design is impressively

put together, and currently undergoing testing

ThinkPadsgetFedora Linux

Lenovo has announced a partnership with Red Hat to ship

a trio of ThinkPad laptops with Fedora Linux pre-loaded.

Initially, the Lenovo Linux Community Series Fedora Edition

devices will be limited to three models: the ThinkPad P1 Gen2,

ThinkPad P53 and ThinkPad X1 Gen8, with UK pricing and

availability not yet available. ‘Lenovo is excited to become

a part of the Fedora community,’ Lenovo’s Mark Pearson

claims. ‘We want to ensure an optimal Linux experience on

our products. We’re committed to working with and learning

from the open source community.’

N EWS I N BRI EF

Marco Mascorro’s ventilator

is powered by a Raspberry

Pi and an Arduino Uno