This week on Maker Update, 20 seconds of Spotify from your soap pump, MIT’s $100 open source ventilator, safe tools for kids, and the Hackaday calendar of virtual events.

++Show Notes++

-=Project of the Week=-

Scrubber Plays Spotify Jams While You Wash Your Hands by Deep Local
https://github.com/Deeplocal/scrubber
https://www.deeplocal.com/scrubber

-=News=-

NIH-Approved 3D Printed Face Shield
https://www.designthatmatters.org/covid-19

Scuba mask ventilator
https://www.isinnova.it/easy-covid19-eng/

3D Printing Company Issinova Hacks Consumer Snorkeling Masks for Ventilator Use
https://www.core77.com/posts/96434/3D-Printing-Company-Issinova-Hacks-Consumer-Snorkeling-Masks-for-Ventilator-Use

MIT Will Post Free Plans Online for an Emergency Ventilator That Can Be Built for $100
https://scitechdaily.com/mit-posts-free-plans-online-for-an-emergency-ventilator-that-can-be-built-for-100/

MIT E-Vent Official Page
https://e-vent.mit.edu/

-=More Projects=-

3D Print Ventilator Valves By rabbitcreek
https://www.instructables.com/id/3D-Print-Ventilator-Valves/

Cute Little Virus POM POMS By TechnoChic
https://www.instructables.com/id/Cute-Little-Virus-POM-POMS/

-=Tips=-

Krylon Easy-Tack Adhesive Spray
https://youtu.be/Mh0dsenNmu0

Introducing The Hackaday Calendar Of Virtual Events
http://blog.oshpark.com/2020/03/27/introducing-the-hackaday-calendar-of-virtual-events/

Safer Tools For Your Kids by Jude Pullen
https://youtu.be/GZTW4qkAfiY

Old Cabinet Makers trick for fixing a BAD wood joint by See Jane Drill
https://youtu.be/oSV9aIXVuWc

-=Digi-Key Spotlight=-

Digi-Key Remains Open for Shipping Orders
https://www.digikey.com/en/help/coronavirus
https://twitter.com/digikey/status/1243260102217330688

Transcript

This week on Maker Update, 20 seconds of Spotify from your soap pump, MIT’s $100 open source ventilator, safe tools for kids, and the Hackaday calendar of virtual events. 

Hey, I’m Donald Bell, and welcome back to another Maker Update. I hope you’re all hanging in there, staying healthy, and being kind to yourself. For me, that’s meant less making and more TV. For you, maybe keeping your hands and busy is big help. Whatever it is, I hope it’s working for you, and I hope this episode brightens your day a little. So let’s start in with the project of the week.

Designed by the Pittsburgh-based design group Deep Local, Scrubber is a Raspberry-Pi based addition to any soap pump that will play 20-seconds of Spotify every time you wash your hands. 

The system uses a $10 Pi Zero W connected to a $13 Adafruit Speaker Bonnet. You can power it from a battery pack or a power adapter, depending on your situation.

For the software, the first step is to create a personal, non-commercial app through the Spotify developer dashboard. That will generate the ID and secret code that you’ll plug into your Pi code.

For the Pi, the Deep Local github instructions walk you through the process, telling you exactly what command line commands to copy and paste in, so it’s an approachable build even if you’re relatively new to Raspberry Pi.

Mechanically, you’ll need to get a little creative to adapt the design for your particular soap dispenser. Somehow you need to get the Pi’s pin 5 to momentarily connect to its ground pin, which triggers the 20 seconds of music. 

One method they show is to use copper tape, but you could also just use a momentary switch that you manually press for a little musical accompaniment. 

It’s a great project for these times, but it’s also a great recipe to reuse for other projects. Maybe a musical shower timer for drought season or a musical workout timer. You can take this one a few ways.

Now for some news. The non-profit design team, Design That Matters, posted an updated and altered version of the Prusa medical shield. The design has undergone clinical testing and approval from the National Institutes of Health and can be downloaded using the link in the description.

One of the more unique, clinician requested features is a splatter guard above the shield for increased protection. The shield uses a letter sized transparency punched with a standard 3-hole punch.

There are a lot competing design solutions for face shields right now, and it’s pretty inspiring to see how quickly the revisions can be turned around and tested. Chances are by the time you see this there will already be a new favorite.

But while face protection is a high priority for our health care workers, those infected with Covid-19 are still in need of ventilators and specialized ventilator masks, which is a much more complex design challenge. 

One maker organization tackling the mask problem is the Italian 3D Printing company Issinova. They found a snorkeling equipment manufacturer called Decathlon willing to share the CAD drawings of their mask, since medical ventilator manufacturers were bound by regulations. 

They then designed a new valve for the mask allowing it to connect to traditional ventilator equipment. While the mask isn’t medically certified, it gives hospitals an emergency option if C-Pap masks are in short supply. You can find a link to the valve design in the description.

As for open source ventilator hardware, MIT has publicly released a design that can be made for $100. 

The device fits around a medical grade ambu-bag, which are designed to be squeezed by hand. The Arduino-based MIT device automates the squeezing. 

I’ve seen a number of similar designs and approaches to this same idea. What makes this one particularly robust is that the code and system has been designed to be fault tolerant and the components have been selected to provide millions of cycles without failure. 

You can find a link to the plans and bill of materials using the MIT link in the description, though you’ll need to register a free account to see everything.

Now for more projects. Speaking of snorkel hacks, Robert Werner, whose snorkel projects I’ve featured on the show before, created a new Instructable of this 3D printed valve design. It’s a one-way valve that uses a flap, preventing the recirculation of exhaled air.

Robert’s design is made for ventilators, and can be easily sized up and down in Fusion 360 for different tube diameters. 

The only thing you can’t 3D print is the silicone flap. However, Robert includes a 3D printed template to make it easy to cut the precise shape you need from silicone sheeting. 

I also like that Robert added little arrows to the outside ring, indicating the direction air can travel. Again, it’s not a medical-grade component, but it’s nice to know that it’s available in a pinch.

This next one, maybe it’s too soon, maybe it’s insensitive, or maybe it’s exactly what you need for a little laugh in these weird times. 

On Instructables, Natasha from TechnoChic shows how to create these googly-eyed virus pom poms. Aside from being a quick and crafty project, Natasha says that turning her fears into cute puppets was both theraputic and fun. 

Now for some tips and tools. On the Cool Tools channel, Sean Michael Ragan shows how Easy Tack Krylon spray changed his process for stenciling designs to raw material. It’s a low-tack spray adhesive that you can use to turn any paper design into a stencil that can be repositioned more easily than label paper.  

Hackaday has shared a calendar of virtual events, including online talks and meetups, classes and show & tells. If you’re looking for a way to connect with the maker community and maybe learn a thing or two while you shelter in place, check out the calendar to see if there’s anything coming up that might interest you.

On his YouTube channel, Jude Pullen goes over some of the best, safest tools for children. If you’ve got a kid at home who’s eager to cut and and drill and glue things together, Jude has some great suggestions here.

Finally, maybe it’s just me, but the more time I spend at home the more I see all the little imperfections — the squeaky hinges, the cabinets that don’t stay closed, the crooked paint lines. In her latest video, Leah from SeeJaneDrill shows how to fix a bad wood joint by making your own filler paste. Her channel is full of great, approachable home repair guides. Definitely give it a look.

For this week’s Digi-Key spotlight I just want to let everyone know that because of Digi-Key’s status as a Critical Sector business for manufacturing, health care, defense, and IT, they are open for business and available to ship your orders.

If you have a part that you’d normally get direct from a manufacturer, but they’re shut down or delayed, chances are you can get that part from Digi-Key with same day shipping. 

There’s a link in the description where you can learn more about what’s going on.

And that does it for this week’s show. Be sure to subscribe, leave a comment or leave  thumbs up. Let me know what you’re doing to stay calm during these weird times. That seems to be my major challenge. A big thanks to my Patrons on Patreon and to Digi-Key electronics for making this show possible. Thanks for watching, and I’ll see you next week.