Good morning from my Robotics Lab! This is Shadow_8472, and today, I am joining the fight to the best of my ability using my 3D printer. Let’s get started!
The CCP Corona Virus has been spreading around the world for months now. Medical supplies have run short, and hoarders reduce availability further. Across the world, people on the front lines are turning to improvised equipment to mitigate the chances of transmission. And when the CDC says that even a bandanna over the face can help, you know it’s serious.
As part of the effort, companies have been bolstering the medical field with products they can adjust their assembly lines to produce. But even with the increased production rate, the demand still greatly exceeds the supply, and will continue to do so as long as an abnormally spike of people are being treated.
Enter: everyday people. With a major percentage of the population stuck at home, people have been seeking out places where they can join the fight. The Folding@Home project has mustered over an exaflop of computing power from donated CPU and GPU time. Seamstresses, such as my mother, have been sewing masks, and 3D printer communities are printing parts that hospitals need.
Good intentions are nice and all, but amateur craftsmen need to realize that quality is an important factor. That is where online communities come in. My mother connected with a local group who is making masks for hospitals. Even though she is giving her masks directly to family, friends, and church members instead of the group, she has learned to make a mask that should be almost as good as the gold standard N-95 masks.
And that brings it up to now, where I just joined a similar group where I can learn what works and what doesn’t work. For me, I need to get my print quality back up, as I discovered when I went to print a number of bias tape folders for the above-mentioned group.
I can’t just use the slicer I had going before because of my recent transition to Debian on that computer, and vanilla Cura doesn’t come with all the settings pre-tuned for my model.
After I finish tuning my printer in, I’d like to look into building face shield parts to compliment my mother’s work, but I’ll see what is needed most when I get there. I’ve already run half an experiment involving layer height and printing temperature. A group should be able to help me calibrate my machine faster.
Final Question: What can you do to help in this fight?