We are living in the middle of the emergency over coronavirus all over the world. The reactions to the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on societies and economies around the world cannot be understated. Because an estimated 15% of COVID-19 patients require hospitalization and 5% require intensive care (Z. Wu and McGoogan 2020), the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has the potential of posing a substantial challenge to medical systems around the world (Remuzzi and Remuzzi 2020; Grasselli, Pesenti, and Cecconi 2020).
Necessity is the mother of invention. A need or problem encourages creative efforts to meet the need or solve the problem. This saying appears in the dialogue Republic, by the ancient Greek philosopher Plato.
“Necessity is the mother of invention” is an English-language proverb. It means, roughly, that the primary driving force for most new inventions is a need. When the need for something becomes imperative, you are forced to find ways of getting or achieving it.
Here are some examples of sort of ingenuity we need now in the middle of pandemia. Already many people contributed those efforts. Check out on those links what is already done if you can find any useful information or can contribute to those efforts you see as good idea. Start your reserach with 7 open hardware projects working to solve COVID-19 article.
I have collected here a list of interesting open hardware project and instructions that can be useful or educational. Hopefully this list I have contributed here will be useful for someone. Keep in mind that many of those ideas are potentially dangerous if the instructions are not entirely correct, implemented exactly right and used by people that know what they are doing. You have been warned: Do not try those at home yourself! We are dealing here with things that can easily injure or kill someone if improperly implemented or used – but at right place the best ideas from those could potentially save lives.
Repairing hospital equipment
The right thing to do in his situation is that medical companies to release service manuals for ALL medical equipment so they can be repaired and maintained where they are most needed.
In the face of ventilator shortages for COVID-19 victims, iFixit is looking to make maintaining and repairing equipment as easy as possible. iFixit Launches Central Repository for Hospital Equipment Repair and Maintenance Manuals
https://www.ifixit.com/News/36354/help-us-crowdsource-repair-information-for-hospital-equipment
Site http://www.frankshospitalworkshop.com offers links many service manuals
Robotics
COVID-19 pandemic prompts more robot usage worldwide article tells that the coronavirus has increased interest in robots, drones, and artificial intelligence, even as some testing of autonomous vehicles pauses on public roads. It is believed that these technologies can help deal with massive staffing shortages in healthcare, manufacturing, and supply chains; the need for “social distancing;” and diagnosis and treatment.
Here are some robotics related links that could be useful:
Medical robotics expert Guang-Zhong Yang calls for a global effort to develop new types of robots for fighting infectious diseases.
https://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/medical-robots/coronavirus-pandemic-call-to-action-robotics-community
Elements of Robotics Open Access Textbook
https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-62533-1
Ventilators
A ventilator is a machine designed to provide mechanical ventilation by moving breathable air into and out of the lungs, to deliver breaths to a patient who is physically unable to breathe, or breathing insufficiently. Ventilators are sometimes colloquially called “respirators”.
A ventilator, also called a respirator, is designed to provide mechanical ventilation by oxygen into and out of the lungs, to deliver breaths to a patient who is physically unable to breathe, or breathing insufficiently. The machines can be used to help a person breath if they have conditions making it difficult to breathe, such as lung diseases, during and post-surgery. For patients critically ill with coronavirus access to a ventilator could be a matter of life or death.
In its simplest form, a modern positive pressure ventilator consists of a compressible air reservoir or turbine, air and oxygen supplies, a set of valves and tubes, and a disposable or reusable “patient circuit”. Modern ventilators are electronically controlled by a small embedded system to allow exact adaptation of pressure and flow characteristics to an individual patient’s needs.
They work by placing a tube in a person’s mouth, nose or small cut in the throat and connect it to a ventilator machine. The air reservoir is pneumatically compressed several times a minute to deliver room-air, or in most cases, an air/oxygen mixture to the patient.
Because failure may result in death, mechanical ventilation systems are classified as a life-critical system, and precautions must be taken to ensure that they are highly reliable. Modern commercial ventilator is a relatively complex piece of equipment with lots of components and a dedicated supply chain.
Because there is a lack of ventilators on many hospitals in several countries, there has been a lot of creative work done to help this problem.
There has been projects going on to repair old and non-working ventilators to a working conditions. For repairing some older devices, there has been problem to get spare parts from the manufacturer and that those spare parts can be very expensive. Also getting the service information for repairing those equipment seems to be hard to get from manufacturer, Ifixit has started a project Help commit industrial espionage for the greater good! to get the service information on-line at https://www.ifixit.com/News/36354/help-us-crowdsource-repair-information-for-hospital-equipment
In middle of the emergency some people have worked on to make their own spare parts when official parts are not available, thus making more devices available. For example a startup 3D-printed emergency breathing valves for COVID-19 patients at an Italian hospital in less than 6 hours. An Italian hospital that ran out of life-saving equipment for coronavirus patients was saved by a ‘hero’ engineer who used cutting-edge technology to design oxygen valves within a matter of hours. At least 10 lives were saved in this way.
So great thinking for 3d printing of valves. Are they sterilized and suitable? 3D printing has been used in numerous cases for medical parts already. Most 3D printing operates at relatively high temperatures and printed objects are actually naturally sterilized when they are made. Anyway the right kind of plastic needs to be selected and the part needs to be built in exactly right way that is works reliably as designed. If they are used and the individual gets worse, does the fact that equipment not medical certified (environment, storage, shipping, etc) put the hospital in additional jeopardy for a lawsuit? All valid questions each medical liability officer will have to address. But if people are going to literally die if you do nothing, then taking a risk with a part that you 3D print seems like an idea that is worth to try.
Links:
A startup 3D-printed emergency breathing valves for COVID-19 patients at an Italian hospital in less than 6 hours
https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-italian-hospital-3d-printed-breathing-valves-covid-19-patients-2020-3?r=US&IR=T
https://it.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-manca-la-valvola-per-uno-strumento-di-rianimazione-e-noi-la-stampiamo-in-3d-accade-nellospedale-di-chiari-brescia/
Firm ‘refuses to give blueprint’ for coronavirus equipment that could save lives
https://metro.co.uk/2020/03/16/firm-refuses-give-blueprint-coronavirus-equipment-save-lives-12403815/
3D printed life-saving valves: already a dozen in operation
https://www.embodi3d.com/blogs/entry/436-3d-printed-life-saving-valves-already-a-dozen-in-operation/
Volunteers produce 3D-printed valves for life-saving coronavirus treatments
Volunteers made the valves for about $1
https://www.theverge.com/2020/3/17/21184308/coronavirus-italy-medical-3d-print-valves-treatments
Another tried trick is try to use one ventilator with more than one patient. Daily Mail writes that ventilators can be modified to help FOUR coronavirus patients breathe at the same time if the NHS is still critically short of the machines when the outbreak peaks, scientists say. Here are some links to material on using one ventilator to more than one patient:
https://emcrit.org/pulmcrit/split-ventilators/
SAVING 4 PATIENTS WITH JUST 1 VENTILATOR
https://hackaday.com/2020/03/19/saving-4-patients-with-just-1-ventilator/
Here has been work going on in creating an open source ventilator design project. Here are some links to this project and some other DIY ventilator designs.
There’s A Shortage Of Ventilators For Coronavirus Patients, So This International Group Invented An Open Source Alternative That’s Being Tested Next Week
https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexandrasternlicht/2020/03/18/theres-a-shortage-of-ventilators-for-coronavirus-patients-so-this-international-group-invented-an-open-source-alternative-thats-being-tested-next-week/
Open-source Oxygen Concentrator
https://reprapltd.com/open-source-oxygen-concentrator/
https://blog.arduino.cc/2020/03/17/designing-a-low-cost-open-source-ventilator-with-arduino/
https://www.instructables.com/id/The-Pandemic-Ventilator/
Macgyvilator Mk 1 (3-19-2020) – “ventilator” for disasters and/or low resource environments
Macgyvilator Mk 1 is a disaster “ventilator”, a simple apparatus to compress a bag-valve-mask with some control over tidal volume and rate. Constructed quickly and simply using wood, PVC, velcro, common fasteners, and easily sourced and assembled electronic components.
An Arduino based Open Source Ventilator to Fight against COVID-19?
https://www.cnx-software.com/2020/03/21/an-arduino-based-open-source-ventilator-to-fight-against-covid-19/
Low-Cost Open Source Ventilator or PAPR
https://github.com/jcl5m1/ventilator
Low-cost Ventilators
https://procrastineering.blogspot.com/2020/03/low-cost-ventilators.html
Arduino Respirator Prototype (pen source solution from Reesistencia Team, which is undergoing testing)
https://www.facebook.com/official.arduino/videos/2557115014604392/
OxyGEN project
https://oxygen.protofy.xyz
“OxyGEN is an open hardware project to build an emergency mechanism that automates an AMBU type manual ventilator in extreme shortage situations such as the one caused by coronavirus (COVID-19) in some parts of the world.”
NOTE: Take a look at the expression VILI before thinking about trying one of these. It is hard making a ventilator that doesn’t harm the lungs. It is easy to get Ventilator-associated lung injury or die if the ventilator does not work exactly correctly all the time.
Testing for infection
There are many approaches thought to be helpful to finding out if someone is infected or something is contaminated.
Thermal scanners are effective in detecting people who have developed a fever (i.e. have a higher than normal body temperature) because of infection with the new coronavirus. However, they cannot detect people who are infected but are not yet sick with fever (it can take 2-10 days before infected people get the fewer).
Open-Source Collaboration Tackles COVID-19 Testing
https://hackaday.com/2020/03/10/open-source-collaboration-tackles-covid-19-testing/
Low-cost & Open-Source Covid19 Detection kits
https://app.jogl.io/project/118?
This Open Source Device Can Detect Coronavirus on Surfaces
The Chai team has developed a detection test that works with their Open qPCR tool.
https://www.hackster.io/news/this-open-source-device-can-detect-coronavirus-on-surfaces-3da1d7b1c73a
Prevent touching face
It is recommended to stop touching your face to minimize spread of coronavirus and other germs. People touch their faces frequently. They wipe their eyes, scratch their noses, bite their nails and twirl their mustaches.
Not touching your face is a simple way to protect yourself from COVID-19, but it’s not easy. If you can reduce face-touching, you can lower people’s chances of catching COVID-19. Why is it so hard to stop? Face-touching rewards us by relieving momentary discomforts like itches and muscle tension.
If you you want to change, you can try to replace it with a competing response that opposes the muscle movements needed to touch your face. When you feel the urge to touch your face, you can clench your fists, sit on your hands, press your palms onto the tops of your thighs or stretch your arms straight down at your sides. Some sources recommend object manipulation, in which you occupy your hands with something else. You can rub your fingertips, fiddle with a pen or squeeze a stress ball.
Related links:
This pair of Arduino glasses stops you from touching your face
https://blog.arduino.cc/2020/03/10/this-pair-of-arduino-glasses-stops-you-from-touching-your-face/
Don’t Touch Your Face
Don’t touch your face — easy to say, hard to do. This device, worn like a watch, will buzz whenever your hand aims for trouble.
https://www.hackster.io/mike-rigsby/don-t-touch-your-face-e8eac3
Hand sanitizer
Hand sanitizer is a liquid or gel generally used to decrease infectious agents on the hands. It depends on the case if hand washing with soap and water or alcohol-based hand sanitizer is preferred. For Covid-19 WHO recommends to wash your hands with soap and water, and dry them thoroughly. Use alcohol-based handrub if you don’t have immediate access to soap and water.
It seems that there are many places where there is shortage of hand sanitizers. This has lead to situation where people have resorted to making their own. Recipes for DIY hand sanitizer are popping all over the internet. A quick search reveals news articles, YouTube how-to’s and step-by-step visual guides. But think twice about joining them — experts are wary and even caution against the idea. The World Health Organization even has an official guide to making hand sanitizer. But it’s intended for populations that do not have clean water or other medical-grade products in place. Don’t try to make your own hand sanitizer just because there’s a shortage from coronavirus.
Can’t get your hands on hand sanitizer? Make your own
https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/hand-sanitizer-coronavirus-make-your-own/
Photos show why hand sanitizer doesn’t work as well as soap and water to remove germs
https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-photos-why-you-should-wash-hands-with-soap-water-2020-3?amp
Emergency DIY hand sanitizers (read the description)
“Every time a new health incident occurs there’s a rush on hand sanitizers, often causing shops to sell out.
Here’s how to make some simple emergency sanitizers at home, noting that they are not as effective as just washing your hands, and only some viruses can be damaged by simple sanitizers. These options are offered as a last resort when commercial versions are not available.”
“For the alcohol one the higher the percentage of alcohol the better, up to around 70-80%.”
Make Your Own Hand Sanitizer At Home When It’s Sold Out Everywhere
https://www.forbes.com/sites/tjmccue/2020/03/03/make-your-own-hand-sanitizer-at-home-when-its-sold-out-everywhere/
Sanitizing things
With deadly coronavirus spreading worldwide at an alarming speed, personal hygiene has become paramount importance to contain the infection spread further. Mobile phones are known to house several germ, and if you thing they are contaminated, you should maybe disinfect them. The CDC recommends that everyone “clean all “high-touch” surfaces every day” to protect against the spread of COVID-19.
How to Disinfect Your Smartphone article says CDC recommends that for your smartphone you should use 70% rubbing alcohol or alcohol-based disinfectant spray to wipe down the back and sides of your device. For example Apple recently updated its official cleaning advice, so ccording to Apple, it’s now safe to clean your iPhone with disinfecting wipes if you do it correctly. You should not try to spray any liquid to your phone.
The other option is to use a smartphone sanitizer device that cleans using UV rays. Sanitizers that use ultraviolet (UV) rays to kill bacteria and viruses have been around for a while now and they can kill 99% of bacteria in as little as five minutes. However its efficacy hasn’t been tested against nasties like SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19. Coronavirus effect: Samsung offers UV-C sanitizing service for Galaxy devices. Samsung is using Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) disinfection technology, which uses of uses short-wavelength ultraviolet (UV-C) light to kill or inactivate bacteria, virus, molds and other pathogenic microorganisms on smartphones.
The UV-C light is capable of destroying nucleic acids and DNA. It will kill many things, but you don’t want that hitting your eye or skin. World Health Organization only states: “UV lamps should not be used to sterilize hands, or other areas of skin as UV radiation can cause skin irritation.”
Here are some UV C related links:
https://www.light-sources.com/blog/killing-bacteria-with-uv-light/
https://russellsrandomthoughts.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-gtl3-bulb-simple-and-inexpensive.html?m=1
Good UV versus bad UV. All available on eBay.
Protective masks
The protective mask ratings used by hospitals are typically N95, FFP2 or FFP3. FFP2 protection level is 94%. FFP3 protection level is 99%. N95 protection level is 95%. An N95 FFR is a type of respirator which removes particles from the air that are breathed through it. These respirators filter out at least 95% of very small (0.3 micron) particles. N95 FFRs are capable of filtering out all types of particles, including bacteria and viruses. The N95 mask is mainly for use if you already have the virus to keep it from spreading and many have argued that coronavirus is smaller than the 0.3 micron filter rating of the mask and thus, not that helpful, for people outside of healthcare. In fact, the U.S. Surgeon General wants consumers to stop buying masks.
Due to the worldwide pandemic of COVID-19, there has been a huge shortage of N95 masks. Promoting simple do-it-yourself masks: an urgent intervention for COVID-19 mitigation claims that widespread use of masks by the general population could be an effective strategy for slowing down the spread of COVID-19: “Since surgical masks might not become available in sufficient numbers quickly enough for general use and sufficient compliance with wearing surgical masks might not be possible everywhere, we argue that simple do-it-yourself designs or commercially available cloth masks could reduce the spread of infection at minimal costs to society”.
With masks sold out during the coronavirus outbreak, many people will have to make do with what some scientists have called “the last resort”: the DIY mask. Many people have been working on designs for a DIY mask that may be able to protect those who haven’t been able to secure their own masks. It seems that cotton homemade masks may be quite effective as alternatives and there are also other ideas. For any DIY ideas, be warned that there is no guarantee that those designs are effective. So I don’t recommend to use them as alternative to proper mask when they are available. Bit of proper marks are not available, they can be better than nothing.
Keep in mind the right filter type to use: Hepa filters do have the ability to filter particles and viruses, but they wont protect you 100% of the time. The real secret is layers. The problem is, more layers, more restriction. Keep in mind that charcoal filters will make your air fresher, but have almost no effect on cleaning the air of viruses. Coronavirus virions (or ‘particles’) are spherical particles with diameters of approximately 125 nm (0.125 microns). The smallest particles are 0.06 microns, and the largest are 0.14 microns. This means coronavirus particles are smaller than PM2.5 particles, but bigger than some dust particles and gases.
General information:
Guide to Dust Mask Ratings
https://www.seton.co.uk/your-guide-to-dust-masks-ratings
Can Masks Protect People from The Coronavirus?
https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/coronavirus-pollution-masks-n95-surgical-mask/
Hengityksensuojaimet
https://www.tays.fi/fi-FI/Ohjeet/Infektioiden_torjunta/Mikrobikohtaiset_ohjeet/Hengityksensuojaimet(51207)
DIY project links:
Homemade N95 Masks In A Time Of Shortage
https://hackaday.com/2020/03/18/homemade-n95-masks-in-a-time-of-shortage/
“According to a studied performed at Cambridge University during the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic, while surgical masks perform the best at capturing Bacillus atrophaeus bacteria (0.93-1.25 microns) and Bacteriophage MS virus (0.023 microns), vacuum cleaner bags, tea towels, and cotton T-shirts were not too far behind. The coronavirus is 0.1-0.2 microns, well within the range for the results of the tests.”
What Are The Best Materials for Making DIY Masks?
https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/best-materials-make-diy-face-mask-virus/
“Data shows that DIY and homemade masks are effective at capturing viruses. But if forced to make our own mask, what material is best suited to make a mask? As the coronavirus spread around China, netizens reported making masks with tissue paper, kitchen towels, cotton clothing, and even oranges!”
Can DIY Masks Protect Us from Coronavirus?
https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/diy-homemade-mask-protect-virus-coronavirus/
“DIY masks to protect against from viruses sounds like a crazy idea. Data shows masks work incredibly well, and they’re also really cheap. Surgical masks cost a few pennies, and they’re capable of filtering out 80% of particles down to 0.007 microns (14 times smaller than the coronavirus).”
“The homemade cotton masks captured 50% of 0.02-1 micron particles, compared with 80% for the surgical mask. Although the surgical masks captured 30% more particles, the cotton masks did surprisingly well. The researchers concluded that homemade masks would be better than nothing.”
“The Cambridge data shows that homemade masks made using cotton t-shirts can filter out some particles that are 0.02–1 microns in size. That’s pretty good, however its only one test.”
Professional and Home-Made Face Masks Reduce Exposure to Respiratory Infections among the General Population
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2440799/
Can Masks Protect People from The Coronavirus?
https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/coronavirus-pollution-masks-n95-surgical-mask/
This old hack doesn’t require any cutting or sewing:
http://how2dostuff.blogspot.com/2005/11/how-to-make-ninja-mask-out-of-t-shirt.html
Copper 3D makes the free N95 mask design to fight COVID-19 pandemic spread
https://3dprintingcenter.net/2020/03/18/copper-3d-makes-the-free-n95-mask-design-to-fight-covid-19-pandemic-spread/?fbclid=IwAR2iXJD5ybU8ReADakvCyDKsfzuRDOBEWxZ3ACCjZoz2dKNwvy07htUhon4
“Copper 3D – A Chilean manufacturer of innovative antibacterial filaments designed the own version of the popular N95 protective mask and prepared it perfectly optimized for 3D printing on desktop 3D printers of the FDM / FFF type. The project is released under an open-source license and has been simultaneously patent pending to prevent other entities from commercializing it.”
“Copper 3D team quickly got to work on developing the patent for a model similar to a standard N95 mask but with some peculiarities (Antiviral, Reusable, Modular, Washable, Recyclable, Low-Cost), which were completely designed in a digital environment so that it could be downloaded anywhere in the world and 3D printed with any FDM/FFF equipment, even a low cost one. The mask was called “NanoHack”.”
#HackThePandemic site offers the technical details of the N95 mask and download set of STL files for printing on own 3D printer
https://copper3d.com/HACKTHEPANDEMIC/
SaltMask
https://robots-everywhere.com/re_wiki/pub/web/Cookbook.SaltMask.html
https://www.nature.com/articles/srep39956
“This is NOT a straight replacement for a N95 mask. In a real emergency it is recommended to combine a full face shield with a filter mask.”
Prusa Protective Face Shield – RC2
https://www.prusaprinters.org/prints/25857-prusa-protective-face-shield-rc1
“In a real emergency it is recommended to combine a full face shield with a filter mask.”
Promoting simple do-it-yourself masks: an urgent intervention for COVID-19 mitigation
https://medium.com/@matthiassamwald/promoting-simple-do-it-yourself-masks-an-urgent-intervention-for-covid-19-mitigation-14da4100f429
“Since surgical masks might not become available in sufficient numbers quickly enough for general use and sufficient compliance with wearing surgical masks might not be possible everywhere, we argue that simple do-it-yourself designs or commercially available cloth masks could reduce the spread of infection at minimal costs to society”
“Potentially, simply wrapping a suitable, large cloth around the face is easy to implement (Fig. 2), would arguably be more socially acceptable than surgical masks, and would be superior to a complete lack of face mask use.”
1,350 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
How to make Wifi Car with wireless camera (ESP8266),Control with Smartphone (Blynk), Covid-19 Robot
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcz6Z6nl-ho
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.edn.com/covid-19-our-new-normal/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ford’s cop cars can now kill coronavirus with extreme heat
https://www.foxnews.com/auto/fords-cop-cars-can-now-neutralize-coronavirus-with-extreme-heat
Tomi Engdahl says:
Coronavirus crisis shines new light on microbe-blasting UV technology
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronavirus-crisis-far-uvc-light-microbe-blasting-uv-technology-could-kill-covid-19-public-places/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://theintercept.com/2020/05/25/coronavirus-tracking-bracelets-monitors-surveillance-supercom/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Handheld $100 Magnetic Particle Spectroscopy Device Could Offer Accurate and Cheap COVID-19 Testing
https://www.hackster.io/news/handheld-100-magnetic-particle-spectroscopy-device-could-offer-accurate-and-cheap-covid-19-testing-0ac0d9b2d6f7
Housed in a 3D-printed chassis, the prototype handheld device is entering into clinical trials now with a sub-$100 target price point.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Näin Suomen koronasovellus toimii tartuntatautilain väliaikainen
muutos hyväksyttiin tänään
https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-11420551
Tomi Engdahl says:
More than 75% of all vulnerabilities reside in indirect dependencies
https://www.zdnet.com/article/more-than-75-of-all-vulnerabilities-reside-in-indirect-dependencies/
JavaScript, Ruby, and Java are the ecosystems with most bugs in
indirect dependencies.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Singapore issues COVID-19 contact tracing wearables to ‘vulnerable seniors’
https://www.zdnet.com/article/singapore-issues-covid-19-contact-tracing-wearables-to-vulnerable-seniors/
Government has begun distributing Bluetooth-enabled TraceTogether Tokens to the country’s elderly who are not digitally connected and are at higher risk of from the coronavirus.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.porttechnology.org/news/shipping-containers-prove-versatile-in-covid-19-fight/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Human Factors Engineering (HFE) During the COVID-19 Pandemic
While COVID-19 has made face-to-face testing challenging, alternatives such as desk-based analyses, remote testing, and carefully controlled in-person studies offer potential solutions.
https://www.mddionline.com/human-factors/human-factors-engineering-hfe-during-covid-19-pandemic?ADTRK=InformaMarkets&elq_mid=13605&elq_cid=876648
Tomi Engdahl says:
Innovation is Being Redefined During COVID-19
Augmedics helped redefine the word innovation for the medtech industry. But not in the way you think. MD+DI Managing Editor Omar Ford breaks down why and what this means going forward.
https://www.mddionline.com/videos/innovation-being-redefined-during-covid-19?ADTRK=InformaMarkets&elq_mid=13605&elq_cid=876648
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.eetimes.com/taiwans-electronic-fence-system/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Communication in COVID-19 lockdown: Empowering the tech-challenged
https://www.edn.com/communication-in-covid-19-lockdown-empowering-the-tech-challenged/?utm_content=buffer867b2&utm_medium=social&utm_source=edn_facebook&utm_campaign=buffer
Tomi Engdahl says:
A National Mask Mandate Could Save The U.S. Economy $1 Trillion, Goldman Sachs Says
https://www.forbes.com/sites/sarahhansen/2020/06/30/a-national-mask-mandate-could-save-the-us-economy-1-trillion-goldman-sachs-says/?utm_campaign=forbes&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_term=Gordie/#676f7264696
As mask-wearing becomes a political flashpoint—despite coronavirus cases spiking to record levels across the country—new research from Goldman Sachs suggests a national mask mandate would slow the growth rate of new coronavirus infections and prevent a 5% GDP loss caused by additional lockdown measures.
Goldman’s analysts found that wearing face coverings has a significant impact on coronavirus outcomes, and they suggest that a federal mask mandate would “meaningfully” increase mask usage across the country, especially in states like Florida and Texas, where masks are not currently required.
The researchers estimate that a national mandate would increase the portion of people who wearing masks by 15%, and cut the daily growth of new cases by between 0.6% and 1%.
Reducing the spread of the virus through mask-wearing, the analysts found, could be a substitute for strict lockdown measures that would otherwise shave 5%—or $1 trillion—off the U.S. GDP.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Yes, Apple/Google COVID-19 Tracking Is Now On Your PhoneHere’s The
Problem
https://www.forbes.com/sites/zakdoffman/2020/06/29/serious-new-blow-for-apple-and-google-as-covid-19-phone-tracking-is-rejected/
Australia has now rejected the Apple and Google framework embedded in
the latest versions of Android and iOS, deciding to keep its COVIDSafe
app independent. The reason is simple, the Apple/Google model
“fundamentally changes the locus of control and takes out the middle
person, ” Australia’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer Nick Coatsworth
complains. That middle person is criticalit’s the manual contact
tracer, the expert, “the people who have kept us safe, ” as Coatsworth
puts it.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2020/06/30/automating-the-disinfection-of-large-spaces-with-robots/
What do you do when you have to disinfect an entire warehouse? You could send a group of people through the place with UV-C lamps, but that would take a long time as said humans cannot be in the same area as the UV-C radiation, as much as they may like the smell of BBQ chicken. Constantly repositioning the lamps or installing countless lamps would get in the way during normal operation. The answer is to strap UV-C lights to a robot according to MIT’s CSAIL, and have it ride around the space.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenbertoni/2020/07/01/instagrams-kevin-systrom-built-a-free-covid-19-tracking-site-to-help-you-make-safer-decisions/?utm_source=FBPAGE&utm_medium=social&utm_content=3461367711&utm_campaign=sprinklrForbesMainFB#671e97e52d31
Tomi Engdahl says:
TraceX uses a Nano 33 BLE-based band with a mobile app for contact tracing and social distancing enforcement during the COVID-19 crisis: https://bit.ly/2VD32xX
Tomi Engdahl says:
Will the Pandemic Help with Refurbished Electronics?
https://www.electropages.com/blog/2020/07/will-pandemic-help-refurbished-electronics?utm_campaign=2020-07-01-Latest-Product-News&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=article&utm_content=Will+the+Pandemic+Help+with+Refurbished+Electronics%3F
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a massive effect on the global economy with supply chains struggling, and a massive increase in remote technology usage. Will the pandemic change how we view electronics, and what role will recycled electronics play in the future?
The COVID-19 pandemic has shaken the world with global lockdowns, tanking economies, and a sudden change to everyday life. Offices full of employees are now empty, shops have locked their doors, and the vast majority of the population are confined to their homes. However, just because lockdowns are in force doesn’t mean that the economy stops; those who can work from home are doing so in the millions. Stocks are still being traded, companies are still designing equipment, and factories continue to manufacture goods. But while many aspects of business still carry on, others are beginning to struggle. One area in particular that has hit the world is supply chains with a global shortage on key parts. Back in January 2020, the majority of the world was unaware of the coronavirus, but manufacturers reliant on China noticed long delays on components as a result of the Chinese government extending the Chinese New Year holiday as a result of COVID-19.
Recycled Equipment
The amount of e-waste that is produced globally is astonishing, approximately 50 million tons, which can be visualised as 1,000 laptops thrown away per second, or 10,559 phones per second, assuming each phone is 150g. While consumers generally look to replacing their ageing hardware with the latest tech, global consumerism is seeing laptops replaced in as few as 3 years which can be argued to be inappropriate.
One company in the Netherlands, Aliter Networks, are specialists in reusing IT hardware and it is their belief that the COVID-19 pandemic may be a catalyst for widespread deployment of refurbished hardware.
Tomi Engdahl says:
GM’s Pivot to Medical Manufacturing Is Powered by 3D Printing
https://www.designnews.com/industry/gms-pivot-medical-manufacturing-powered-3d-printing?ADTRK=InformaMarkets&elq_mid=13654&elq_cid=876648
The automaker’s institutional knowledge of additive manufacturing — it began using the technology for rapid prototyping in 1989 — helped it to pivot almost overnight to making medical devices and personal protective equipment.
General Motors has been using additive manufacturing, aka 3D printing, since 1989 for rapid prototyping. Over the years, it has broadened use of the technology and invested heavily in 3D printing equipment.
Earlier this year as the Trump administration scrambled to source medical equipment to avert an expected shortage as COVID-19 infections surged, President Trump invoked the Defense Production Act from the Korean War era to compel GM to sign a contract with the Health and Human Services Department. The $500-million deal contracted GM to deliver 30,000 ventilators to the Strategic National Stockpile by August.
Prior to signing this agreement, GM had been collaborating with Ventec Life Systems. The first VOCSN V+Pro critical-care ventilators produced by this partnership were delivered to medical facilities in Illinois in mid-April. “The deliveries are the culmination of a partnership between GM and Ventec Life Systems that began with a phone call exactly one month ago,” said a news release posted on the GM website on April 17, 2020. “Since then, the combined teams have sourced thousands of parts, transformed GM’s advanced electronics facility in Kokomo [Indiana] for medical device production, contracted with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to provide 30,000 ventilators by the end of August, and launched mass production,” said GM.
“The investment in both our additive manufacturing facilities and training the team to leverage 3D printing for development has enabled us to pivot to making ventilators and personal protective equipment virtually overnight.”
To produce the medical supplies, the team applied additive manufacturing to three core areas: Manufacturing, prototyping and production, said GM.
Nearly all of the tools used to assemble the ventilators that GM is manufacturing with Ventec Life Systems and collaborator Hamilton Medical are 3D printed “nests” or fixtures that hold parts in place during assembly at GM’s facility in Kokomo as well as Hamilton Medical’s plant in Reno, NV. These nests are reverse engineered from part data received from Ventec in Seattle and Hamilton in Switzerland.
“3D printing allows us to make constant, rapid changes to fixtures based on feedback from the assembly teams,”
GM’s 3D-printing expertise also contributed to the development and production of face shields for first responders. GM’s additive manufacturing team started with an open-source design that originated with desktop 3D-printer manufacturer Prusa Research. The team quickly delivered prototypes to local healthcare workers and from there, made three crucial improvements based on healthcare workers’ feedback before producing face shields in large quantities, said GM.
GM then 3D printed parts for more than 17,000 high-quality, comfortable face shields. In many cases, the teams printing the face-shield components were also delivering these shields to local hospitals.
Simultaneously, the team sent the final design to be mass-produced by means of injection molding. Since the final design went into full production, GM has produced more than 250,000 face shields.
GM’s extensive use of 3D printing for medical equipment was enabled by recent investments in additive manufacturing, including two all-new facilities in Warren.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Temple Terrace Public Library would like you to stop microwaving books
https://www.cltampa.com/news-views/local-news/article/21138887/temple-terrace-public-library-would-like-you-to-stop-microwaving-books?fbclid=IwAR3A-BK4d_KwceUc0cR2NEb_flWrTihnYhHhNuMsgrGOAJaLFyGi1LVAC1M
The issue is apparently rampant enough that The Temple Terrace Public Library had to post a reminder to patrons.
While new COVID-19 case numbers are certainly spiking in Florida, there’s plenty of ways to protect yourself and others, like wearing a mask, social distancing and washing your hands. However, one thing you shouldn’t do is nuke library books.
“Temple Terrace and all Hillsborough County Library Cooperative libraries quarantine all materials for 72 hours after they are returned,” reads the post. “Please do NOT attempt to microwave library materials as the RFID tags, located inside, will catch fire. Stay safe out there.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2020/07/03/lidari-valvomaan-turvavaleja/
Anturivalmistaja Sick tarjoaa korona-aikojen turvavälivalvontaan PeopleCounter- ja DistanceGuard-sovelluksiaan ja 2D- ja 3D-lidar-ratkaisujaan. Niiden avulla on aiempaa helpompi pitää turvavälit julkisissa ja muissa etäisyyttä edellyttävissä tiloissa.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Springs for Fighting COVID-19 and Easy Machine Vision
https://www.designnews.com/automation-motion-control/springs-fighting-covid-19-and-easy-machine-vision
In the midst of a global pandemic, companies are still churning out advancements, whether it’s cyber security for semiconductors or tiny power supplies.
COVID-19 can’t stop technology progress. Apparently work-from-home engineers are plenty creative. The products and services features in this collection reveal mighty creativity and progress is moving forward even in our present harsh environment.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.edn.com/communication-in-covid-19-lockdown-empowering-the-tech-challenged/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=link&utm_medium=EDNFunFriday-20200703
Tomi Engdahl says:
High school student Andrei Florian prototyped a MKR GSM 1400-powered wristband to track a COVID-19 patient’s vitals and geolocation, then send data to medical professionals over a cellular network for remote monitoring.
SmartWristband © GPL3+
https://create.arduino.cc/projecthub/LightPro/smartwristband-9369d3
Monitor patients sent to self-isolate with the coronavirus by collecting their temperature, heart rate and location with a wristband.
Tomi Engdahl says:
This low-cost digital stethoscope uses Edge Impulse machine learning to detect COVID-19 symptoms via a collar microphone, stethoscope, and filtering circuit.
AI Enabled Low Cost Stethoscope Guide
https://www.hackster.io/bhanudiehard/ai-enabled-low-cost-stethoscope-guide-f04a06
This is a low-cost stethoscope built from off-the-shelf parts that listen and classify the sound of your lungs.
Tomi Engdahl says:
BrillBox
https://create.arduino.cc/projecthub/kyguy200617/brillbox-5f4549
With the shortage of PPE throughout the world, BrillBox empowers individuals to safely sterilize and ultimately reuse their PPE.
Tomi Engdahl says:
A worldwide web of computing devices is doing the math required to identify proteins that will block COVID-19 from infecting humans.
Crowdsourced Protein Modeling Efforts Focus on COVID-19
https://spectrum.ieee.org/the-human-os/biomedical/diagnostics/crowdsourced-protein-modeling-efforts-focus-on-covid19
Tomi Engdahl says:
The threat of the coronavirus doesn’t loom large enough to outweigh the average person’s unwillingness to trust that their data will be handled responsibly.
Survey Finds Americans Skeptical of Contact Tracing Apps
https://spectrum.ieee.org/the-human-os/biomedical/devices/survey-finds-americans-skeptical-of-contact-tracing-apps
Confusion and skepticism may confound efforts to make use of digital contact tracing technologies during the COVID-19 pandemic. A recent survey found that just 42 percent of American respondents support using so-called contact tracing apps—an indication of a lack of confidence that could weaken or even derail effective deployment of such technologies.
Most contact tracing apps generally try to collect some form of information about a smartphone user’s encounters with other people and notify those users if they were potentially exposed to a confirmed COVID-19 case. But each app has its own approach to privacy and can differ in whether it collects more specific location data based on GPS or merely records close encounters with other smartphones based on Bluetooth radio-wave transmissions. Those differences, coupled with public misunderstanding of different apps, can make it tricky to assess public opinion of specific digital contact tracing technologies.
“We found that there is variation in terms of how willing people are to download the apps based on the features of the app,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
DIY Lightsaber Duels COVID-19: Which will Win?
With the right type of light source, even a Padewan can defeat the dark side disease.
https://www.mddionline.com/covid-19/diy-lightsaber-duels-covid-19-which-will-win?ADTRK=InformaMarkets&elq_mid=13697&elq_cid=876648
Now any do-it-yourself (DIY) techie can battle the COVID-19 dark side if they build the right type of UV light-side saber. It’s been known since the late 1800s that a specific band of ultraviolet light can kill microorganisms by damaging their DNA or RNA. That certain type of UV light is known as UVC,
Artificially produced UVC has a long history of use in sterilizing medical equipment and surfaces in hospitals. The radiation is also used to help sanitize drinking water in municipal water treatment centers as some parasites are resistant to chemical disinfectants such as chlorine.
The CDC confirms that ultraviolet germicidal irradiation has shown the most promise as a potential methods to decontaminate disposable filtering facepiece respirators (FFRs), like N95 masks. CDC researchers suggest applying dosages of 1,000 – 3,000 mJ/cm2 to ensure 99.9% deactivation, in accordance with the current CDC disinfection goals.
If a DIY lightsaber is to win the battle to kill (or rather deactivate ) COVID-19 germs on surfaces, it must use a sufficient UVC light source. Chris Hicks from Hackaday.IO found this cool blue project for building just such a germicidal lightsaber. The parts list is provided on Amazon. According to Chris:
A word of caution: Most UVC disinfection devices use a specific fluorescent-light bulb, which are readily available and often have the word “germicidal” in the name. Aside from the special light source, the rest of the support hardware includes ballasts, wiring and controls similar to any other fluorescent light fixtures.
Oh, and be careful not to point the UVC lightsaber at other living creatures. Only shine its DNA and RNA destroying radiation on the COVID-19 bad guy germs!
UV-C Lightsaber microbe killer. Coronavirus sanitizer light. No soldering!
https://www.amazon.com/ideas/amzn1.account.AETAQU4JT67UBWARGQL3MZAEHSRA/1KMY44AO2DZYN?ref=idea_share
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.mddionline.com/covid-19/diy-lightsaber-duels-covid-19-which-will-win?ADTRK=InformaMarkets&elq_mid=13697&elq_cid=876648
If you’re looking to make a COVID-19 fighting lightsaber that uses a battery instead of a power cord, then consider using UVC Blue LEDs instead of fluorescent UVC light.
Instructables user vishalapr has shared plans for making just such a lightsaber. The project is simplicity itself in terms of materials:
2 Any color LED’s you want
Paper
A box with a lid with a hole in its middle
Battery
Momentary switch
As with UVC fluorescent light bulbs, UVC LEDs are also readily available. But don’t be confused: ordinary LEDs for general-purpose illumination do not generate UV light. In particular, blue LEDs have typically ~450 nm, with a width of about 20 nm. They do not emit UV, which has to be below 400 nm. According to the International Ultraviolet Association: “The portion of the UV spectrum (the ‘germicidal’ region) that is important for the disinfection of water and air is the range that is absorbed by DNA (RNA in some viruses). This germicidal range is approximately 200-300nm.”
Aside from energy efficiency and smaller size compared to fluorescent lights, UVC LED’s have the additional benefit of being more environmentally friendly as they do not contain harmful mercury, and do not produce ozone.
Once again: Be careful using UVC light. Humans and other living creatures can be seriously harmed from UV Type C radiation.
https://www.instructables.com/member/vishalapr/
Tomi Engdahl says:
This Arduino device keeps track of how many people enter and exit a room to avoid overcrowding during COVID-19.
Room Occupancy Counter
https://www.hackster.io/ryanchan/room-occupancy-counter-3b3ffa
A device that keeps track of how many people enter and exit a room, and alerts them if there are too many people.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Harvard biomedical engineering professor to launch nasal spray that could reduce COVID-19 transmission risk
https://techcrunch.com/2020/07/08/harvard-biomedical-engineering-professor-to-launch-nasal-spray-that-could-reduce-covid-19-transmission-risk/?tpcc=ECFB2020
A new product developed by Harvard Professor of the Practice of Biomedical Engineering David A. Edwards is set to launch this fall, and claims to be able to provide a nearly 100% reduction in the particles present in exhaled air — thus reducing the potential transmission of SARS-CoV-2 both into, and out of, the lungs while breathing. That could mean a significantly reduced risk of contracting COVID-19, particularly for frontline health care workers when used in combination with other PPE like face masks.
The product, called FEND, and produced by Edwards’ tech startup Sensory Cloud, is set to be available in September. It’s a saline mixture (essentially a “salty mist”) that contains no drugs
The mist, when delivered via deep nasal inhalation in misted form, has been shown in peer-reviewed research published on Tuesday by Sensory Cloud in medical journal QRB Discovery to clean upper human airways of particles that are less than a micron in size that aren’t typically filtered out by most conventional mask designs.
Still, across the sample group, the researchers found that it reduced transmitted particles per liter of air by around 99% — with most of those particles blocked being ones that would’ve been too small to be filtered by conventional masks.
Sensory Cloud contends that FEND could provide “anyone at risk of SARS-CoV-2” with additional protection — in terms of scrubbing the airways of both inhaled particles for those who don’t yet have the virus, and also for preventing the expulsion of viral particles for those that do.
The startup plans to price FEND, including the mister delivery device, at $49 for a two-pack — with individual refill bottles priced at $6 each afterward. Each refill provides around 250 total uses with each use providing the cleaning benefits described above for roughly six hours, based on the company’s research.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Surge in cases renews focus on effectiveness of CovidSafe app
On RN Breakfast with Hamish Macdonald
https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/surge-in-cases-renews-focus-on-effectiveness-of-covidsafe-app/12437178
Contract tracers in Victoria and New South Wales are scrambling to track down people who may have come into contact with a confirmed coronavirus case amid concerns that there simply aren’t public health workers on the ground.
The surge in cases has also renewed focus on the security and effectiveness of the Government’s much lauded CovidSafe app.
6.5 million Australians have downloaded the app and the Government says it’s been used to track potential exposure to COVID-19 nearly 100 times.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Build your own Magic Leap 1 COVID-19 detection system using TensorFlow, Unity, and a Raspberry Pi 4.
Magic Leap 1 COVID-19 Detection System
https://www.hackster.io/AdamMiltonBarker/magic-leap-1-covid-19-detection-system-d67cd4
Build your own free Magic Leap 1 COVID-19 Detection System. This project uses Magic Leap 1, TensorFlow, Unity & Raspberry Pi 4
Tomi Engdahl says:
This USB bottle generates surface sanitiser from water and salt.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5kcER2Z4-8
Initially I was sceptical about this device since it shares a common appearance to the “hydrogen water enrichers”. But in reality this odd USB spray bottle does actually make sodium hypochlorite sanitiser from plain tap water and salt using a process called electrochlorination.
And it works really well. The water stinks of chlorine afterwards and an ill advised taste test gave a strong salt and chlorine taste. When it was poured into tea/coffee stained mugs it had a profound cleaning effect when left for a while.
Here’s a link to the Wikipedia article about the technology:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrochlorination
Tomi Engdahl says:
NASA, University Hospitals Join Forces in Response to COVID-19
https://www.medicaldesignbriefs.com/component/content/article/mdb/stories/blog/37257?utm_source=TB_Medical_News&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20200709&oly_enc_id=2460E0071134A8V
NASA’s Glenn Research Center and University Hospitals (UH) in Cleveland have collaborated to develop new methods and technologies for decontaminating personal protective equipment (PPE) for aerospace applications and for safeguarding the health of workers caring for patients with coronavirus (COVID-19).
A team of researchers recently developed and tested two new approaches that could enable healthcare professionals to sanitize masks on-site and safely reuse them. These approaches also may be useful to the aerospace community when traditional sterilization techniques might not be available.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Creating a contactless thermometer for COVID-19 with cloud connectivity.
Selfcheck Contactless Accurate Body Thermometer
https://www.hackster.io/vaclav-jirovsky/selfcheck-contactless-accurate-body-thermometer-8afda4
Detect body fever with a professional body thermometer modified to be contactless… and connected to cloud!
Tomi Engdahl says:
21 Stores That Had The Absolute Perfect Response To People Not Wearing Masks
“No mask. No Tacos.” Very effective.
https://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/face-mask-signs?utm_source=dynamic&utm_campaign=bffbbuzzfeedtasty&ref=bffbbuzzfeedtasty&
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/05/global-contact-tracing-international-proposals-track-covid-19
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/shaharziv/2020/07/07/2000-a-day-fine-for-obstructing-coronavirus-contact-tracing/?fbclid=IwAR0jQN31sWI1j_-zT-QOYQJ4Jz1zfLOaDB0yDKqoPQie6dGhyfswCjBe-sQ#73bdb0b9402b
Contact tracing is one of the few tools that public health officials have in their arsenal to fight coronavirus outbreaks until a vaccine is safely developed.
“A role of government is to protect individuals and their families as well as health care workers and other essential workers,” wrote Dr. Tom Frieden, who headed up the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during the Obama administration and oversaw responses to H1N1, Ebola, and Zika, and Dr. Kelly Henning, the director of public health at Bloomberg Philanthropies and a former professor of infectious disease at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. “The hard, skilled work of contact tracing is akin to hurricane warnings: People are alerted so they can protect themselves and their families. . .we need to play the hand we’ve been dealt as well as we possibly can to save lives, reduce spread and help restore our economy.”
Sadly, New York City and other places that have embraced contact tracing, have struggled with its execution. In New York, less than half of city residents who had tested positive or were presumed positive provided information to contact tracers. In Massachusetts, only 60 percent were responding and in Louisiana, fewer than 50 percent were answering.
Up until now, most coronavirus prevention efforts, including quarantines and contact tracing, have only been loosely enforced. When you have imbeciles in Alabama throwing Covid parties to see who can get infected first and selfish vacationers in the Ozarks crowding pools without masks, we need to wake up to the fact that voluntary efforts are inadequate.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Evaluating Technical Worth During a Pandemic
What’s it worth to attend a virtual tradeshow rather than one in-person?
https://www.electronicdesign.com/altembedded/article/21136474/evaluating-technical-worth-during-a-pandemic?utm_source=EG+ED+Analog+%26+Power+Source&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CPS200710081&o_eid=7211D2691390C9R&rdx.ident%5Bpull%5D=omeda%7C7211D2691390C9R&oly_enc_id=7211D2691390C9R
COVID-19 has really done a number on the economy, leading to reevaluation of the need and worth of just about everything. The pandemic has forced the cancellation of almost every tradeshow, and large gathering, especially those not employing masks and social distancing, have caused major spikes in infections and deaths.
Cancellation of large events and closing of things like schools has forced many to turn to teleconferencing and video conferencing. Virtual conferences are now the name of the game, along with webinars.
Distance learning has changed from the exception to the rule, while other areas that were doing some remote interaction like telemedicine are seeing massive growth in only a few months. Tools such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams have becoming ubiquitous rather than a growing niche.
Unfortunately, going from an in-person interaction to a virtual one isn’t always easy.
Distance learning is neither cheap nor easy, and the results aren’t always great if the sufficient effort and proper methods aren’t employed. Likewise, those using and supporting these solutions need to keep in mind that the different approaches may be better or worse compared to the alternatives. Often, it’s easier for attendees to watch recorded sessions at their leisure rather than try to match the schedule at in-person events. In theory, someone utilizing recorded sessions could see more sessions because they no longer must include travel time and scheduling is obviously easier.
The question is: How valuable are remote interactions versus in-person meetings? Obviously, remote meetings are the norm these days because of the pandemic. Do the advantages of remote meetings offset disadvantages compared to in-person meetings, and should the cost of using remote access be higher or lower?
Many encounter the “free” versions of these tools or the cost is absorbed by the provider. A related issue is that some revamped in-person conferences that charged for attendance were now “free” as they went virtual. Switching back to a paid conference and still remain virtual could be a challenge. Likewise, telemedicine is having issues with some insurance companies wanting to pay less for remote sessions, even though they may actually take more time for both parties.
These cost issues aren’t unique to one environment. Users may not be aware of other possible costs. For example, telemedicine security requirements and associated software will likely be higher than hosting a webinar that’s open for registration to anyone. There are even opportunities such as the ability to more easily track attendees and/or provide incremental pricing—for instance, making keynotes free, having a fixed set of sessions for a fee, and maybe additional fees for specific training sessions.
One certainty is that the focus on remote-access solutions has skyrocketed and innovation is coming in this area. It means examining new options for marketing and learning, as well as in areas such as development, service and support.
Tomi Engdahl says:
From bioluminescent testing kits to disinfecting robots, Horizon examines six nascent innovations to tackle the coronavirus
Six innovations to tackle coronavirus
https://horizon-magazine.eu/article/six-innovations-tackle-coronavirus.html#utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=share&utm_campaign=coronavirus_innovations
Tomi Engdahl says:
Heading out in public? Help ensure social distancing with this LED-blinking, alarm-sounding wearable device.
COVID-19 Ultrasonic Distance Warning Tool © CC BY-NC-SA
This tool signals optically and acoustically in several stages when the minimum safety distance is undershot.
https://create.arduino.cc/projecthub/dl1ekm2/covid-19-ultrasonic-distance-warning-tool-8bda4c
Tomi Engdahl says:
Some biohackers have got together and are guiding open source D.I.Y. Covid-19 DNA vaccine courses. You might be familiar with some of their work with CRISPR and in making genetic engineering more accessible to the Do-It-Yourselfer. Basically it is intended to provide the student with a foundation for creating and experimenting with their own DNA vaccines or whatever other related work they might want to pursue. It is based entirely on the hacker ethos and I find them to be really interesting so I wanted to share it with the group here. I know there are probably others that would be interested as well. It just started and the previous classes are on the various instructors’ YouTube channels. You should be able to find most of the related information from the syllabus here.
Do-It-Yourself: From Scientific Paper to Covid-19 DNA Vaccine
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1l8_5vY83bh-fG1G6S6lO7F4NLIW-_FgZsnLZq0mL_Tw/mobilebasic
Tomi Engdahl says:
Deadline to join the COVID-19 Detect & Protect Challenge is TOMORROW! Submit your low-cost, open source projects to help prevent the spread of coronavirus in the developing world.
https://www.hackster.io/contests/UNDPCOVID19
Tomi Engdahl says:
Demand for robot cooks rises as kitchens combat COVID-19
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/demand-for-robot-cooks-rises-as-kitchens-combat-covid-19
HAYWARD, California (AP) — Robots that can cook – from flipping burgers to baking bread – are in growing demand as virus-wary kitchens try to put some distance between workers and customers.
Starting this fall, the White Castle burger chain will test a robot arm that can cook french fries and other foods.
Tomi Engdahl says:
“Small, capable, and affordable” have been an elusive combination for robots. But a new startup seems to have found the formula with its new Stretch robot. Learn more: https://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/home-robots/hello-robots-stretch-mobile-manipulator
Tomi Engdahl says:
The news is about as good as it could be.
https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/peerreview-confirms-covid19-vaccine-stimulates-antibodies-for-first-time/
For the first time, a peer-reviewed trial of a vaccine against Covid-19 has shown recipients produce antibodies against the virus. Side-effects were common in the phase 1 trial, but not severe. Larger trials have started, or soon will, to address the many questions this study could not, but for the moment the news is about as good as it could be, given the limitations of the testing so far.
More than 100 teams around the world are rushing to develop vaccines against Covid-19, many of which have already entered clinical trials. However, some have rushed to report positive findings that have not been peer-reviewed, and often lack details, making it hard to assess their validity.