3 research outputs found
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Designing a Power Tool to Show the Potentials of Additive Manufacturing - Effects of Additive Manufacturing on the Product Development Process
Today Additive Manufacturing (AM) is mainly used for rapid prototyping and
specialized parts for industrial and end-user applications. To communicate the design potentials of
AM to a general audience it is useful to demonstrate it with a visionary product, similar to the
concept cars of the automotive industry. We have redesigned a power tool to show the benefits of
AM on an end-user product. This paper describes the Concept Tool, its different sub-systems and
highlights the range of AM’s applications. Furthermore we present our observations and findings
during the product development process. Based on these findings a design supporting system is
suggested to improve the development process for additive manufactured products.Mechanical Engineerin
Repurposing CPAP machines as stripped-down ventilators
Abstract The worldwide shortage of medical-grade ventilators is a well-known issue, that has become one of the central topics during the COVID-19 pandemic. Given that these machines are expensive and have long lead times, one approach is to vacate them for patients in critical conditions while patients with mild to moderate symptoms are treated with stripped-down ventilators. We propose a mass-producible solution that can create such ventilators with minimum effort. The central part is a module that can be attached to CPAP machines and repurpose them as low-pressure ventilators. Here, we describe the concept and first measurements which underline the potential of our solution. Our approach may serve as a starting point for open-access ventilator technologies