The 'Bag Valve Masks' That Cuomo Just Demonstated In His Daily Update.....

[global1]

He showed how they could be used - if worse comes to worse - and enough ventilators aren't available. As it is placed on a patient - a care giver needs to squeeze the 'bag valve' to simulate breathing. This has to happen on a continuous basis - which makes them untenable to use.

The thought came to me - couldn't 'robotic arms' be used and be programmed to squeeze the bag at a controlled interval - to take the place of the care giver? Robotic arms don't need to use a mask or PPE.

I would think that it might be easier, faster and less expensive to construct such 'robotic arms' 'than to try and construct ventilators.

I've seen 'robotic arms' used in manufacturing lines - where repetitive tasks must be employed.

Hell - if you go to IKEA - in their kitchen cabinet area - they have a display where a drawer is opened and closed - by using a robotic arm.

Does anyone out there have experience with 'robotic arms'? Is this even a possibility? Does anyone know the companies that make these devices.

We need to be creative - and this might be a simple solution - to help us out in a pinch.

[jberryhill]

1. Already been done

[global1]

3. Thank You For The Video....

This is pretty much what I was envisioning after I saw Cuomo demonstrate the 'bag valve/ambu bag'.

Just as I thought - it is pretty easy and inexpensive to construct. I don't know if Cuomo has seen this video - but you need to get this video in front of him ASAP.

American Ingenuity!!!! We can beat this. I know we can.

There are a lot of companies across this country that have the capability to construct such units. The more companies that can work on these - the faster we can get them into the hospitals around the country. We shouldn't just rely on one company to make these.

[ret5hd]

2. This might need some fine tuning, but...

[projectiboga]

4. U Minnesota has a working design + Reddit OpenSourceVentilators group

Techs from University of Minnesota designed this last week. In the UK another team did it using compressed air and air valves to squeeze the bag with controlled airflow, Maybe more consistent and more able to be adjusted in small accurate increments.

https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalEngineering/comments/fm72qm/easily_manufactured_open_source_lowcost/

https://www.twincities.com/2020/03/26/u-of-m-researchers-designing-cereal-box-sized-ventilator-testing-three-drugs-against-coronavirus/

https://www.reddit.com/r/OpenSourceVentilators/comments/fgr6tr/vent_design_and_prototyping_of_a_lowcost_portable/

https://duckduckgo.com/?t=lm&q=u+minnesota+cheep+ventilator+design&ia=web

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=cheep+ventilator+design&t=lm&ia=web

https://www.instructables.com/id/The-Pandemic-Ventilator/

[RockRaven]

5. If you're gonna build or repurpose a robot, then you might as well just build a ventilator...

no?

It's a bunch of work and specialized materials either way, so why not put that work and materials towards getting the real deal? A ventilator offers much, much more useful control and useful data feedback than a bag valve mask and robotic arm.

[PSPS]

6. I agree but we're stuck in a situation like soviet-era russia. No toilet paper, hand sanitizer, etc.

We're a country of stores full of empty shelves where necessary products would otherwise be.

[global1]

7. If We Weren't In Such Dire Straits Like We Are Today I Would Tend....

to agree with you. But when are backs are up against a wall and the States are running out of money and the price of ventilators is going up because of price gouging - and we haven't hit the apex of this spread yet - we have to think out of the box. That's what Cuomo was doing by just illustrating the 'bag valve' today.

Please take a look at the video in Response #1. They showed it's not a bunch of work with specialized materials and in a pinch - it works.

Ventilators that will be made by GM - will take weeks if not months to get to market. It's a massive undertaking to set up the manufacturing facility to make these and it's going to take time to acquire all the parts to assemble those ventilators.

We need something down and dirty and fast.

[sanatanadharma]

8. Uruguayans were challenged to develop a "Repirador Charrua"

In Uruguay, a challenge went out to the nation to develop a ventilator

[marked50]

9. Another one posted by a DU'er

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100213192092