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Help Austin’s Makers Help COVID Responders

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Help Austin’s Makers Help COVID Responders

We are ATX Hackerspace, a member-run maker collaborative in Austin, TX. Like many of you, we are watching this pandemic unfold and feeling how important it is for our community to get involved. We are hackers of all kinds: tech experts, woodworkers, metalworkers, shoemakers, and machinists.  You can visit http://www.atxhs.org/ to find out more about ATX Hackerspace.

We have a group of local makers working together to manufacture equipment that will directly assist healthcare workers and COVID response efforts. Currently we are working on three fronts, to make the best use of our equipment and members’ expertise: face shields for healthcare workers; cloth gowns and mask protectors; and emergency ventilators and parts as requested. All devices we make are based on open-source designs that have been vetted by relevant experts, and we are following best practices to safely manufacture and distribute the devices.

We have the ability to increase production across the US, but we need your support to fund our grassroots efforts. 

Many of our members are out of work and producing these essential items on their own time and their own dime, with their laser cutters and 3D printers. With your help, we will have one individual using our facilities to produce in full gear while also supporting members using their own equipment at home by reimbursing their costs. With your help, we can help increase and streamline Austin’s production of these critical items. 

Here’s what we’re making to help with Covid-19 response, first for communities most urgently in need and then for the Austin area (as we’re told our ‘peak’ will come a couple of weeks out from both US coasts):

> Simple face shields Univ of Wisconsin design - https://making.engr.wisc.edu/shield/ (No 3D printer needed) ($3/item). These shields are critical personal protective equipment alongside the quickly depleting N95 masks.  
       * PETG (shield), 1” polyurethane foam, 1” elastic band, adhesive if needed
> 3D printed face shields: Rodrigo Alvarez Icaza’s 3-d printed 3-hole-print design - https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4245846?fbclid=IwAR0vkL-792tnkjtY_walvL37Es3g7vJSUqHsX9XYvyuTHgg4WUIUG_0MySA
       * Filament & shield material
> Our community is also working on cloth gowns from L to 2XL, as requested by our first responders and covid testing crews here in Austin. ($13/item)
       * Cloth, ¼” Elastic, Thread, Ties 
> Cloth covers for N95 masks, which can be machine-washed, and in a medical setting can make a single N95 last longer 
       * 2 layers of cotton Cloth, ¼” Elastic, Thread
> A few members with the drive and capacity are testing out the MIT-designed ventilators -  https://e-vent.mit.edu/ ($500/vent). We need to test our means of production and efficiency in making these vents for the local community. Also, testing out the Rice University model ($300/vent) http://oedk.rice.edu/apollobvm/


We are receiving advice from trusted Austin health care professionals. Though they foresee needing protective equipment in the near future, they agree the first efforts should support New York — currently the epicenter of the US pandemic. Governor Cuomo says he expects over 140,000 New Yorkers to be hospitalized and treated for COVID-19. The front line medical workers are running low on supplies, and massive local manufacturing operations and overseas supplies are still weeks away.

To help fill the gap, we are mobilizing to produce PPE.


So far we have manufactured 50 face shields and will start printing a new design that is shielded on the top, which we understand to give the most protection. We have the ability to produce at least 100 a week. Some of our members are waiting for filament to arrive in order to increase production.  

If we beat our goal, we will invest to accelerate production on this project, and other expertly-vetted technology as requested by COVID responders and public health experts.

WEEKLY UPDATES:

As of April 5th, members have collectively produced 150 face shields this week alone. There are now more volunteers stepping up, as well as more 3D printers coming online this coming week. Two of the members designed a new V19 face shield that will print in half the time. We need to keep up the production because people's lives depend on it!

As of April 15th, we've more than doubled production to 319 3D printed face shields, 1, 000 laser cut face shield parts, 100 3D printed ear guards, and currently working on ventilators! We're moving in the right direction and couldn't do it without your support! Thank YOU!!

As of April 24th, ATX Hackerspace produced and donated approx. 300 3D printed face shields. Members are currently working on building a new plastic injector machine to up-cycle and sterilize plastic, as well as help minimize waste and reduce reliance on outside sourcing/shipment times.


Help Spread the Word!

All the funds that ATX Hackerspace, LLC collects in dues are rolled back into ATXHS to support our operations and the well-being of the Austin maker community, primarily to replace and upgrade tools and machines. ATXHS has no paid staff and is run on the goodwill and effort of its members, our Austin-area makers.

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We are looking for several things:

1. To find hospitals and other medical practices that are in need of PPE face shields. These facilities can sign up by emailing us at [email redacted] 

2. To find other makers who have laser cutters and/or 3d printers that would like to create these shields. We’ll be making all of our creation files downloadable and free of charge. Please email [email redacted] with questions.

3. To ask for funds for materials and more machines to help us increase production. Please share and donate using the following link: https://lnkd.in/g2zqJFy

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Donations 

  • Erin Arnold
    • $100 
    • 4 yrs
  • Laura Latimer
    • $30 
    • 4 yrs
  • Hayley Love
    • $25 
    • 4 yrs
  • Theresa Schwarzlose
    • $50 
    • 4 yrs
  • Jennifer Easter
    • $40 
    • 4 yrs
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Organiser and beneficiary

Rachel Lam
Organiser
Austin, TX
Valerie Grace Wilmot
Beneficiary

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