Surviving The Pandemic As A Hacker: Peering Behind The Mask

We’re now several months into the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with most parts of the world falling somewhere on the lockdown/social distancing/opening up path.

It’s fair to say now that while the medical emergency has not passed, the level of knowledge about it has changed significantly. When communities …read more

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Hackaday Links: May 17, 2020

Consider it the “Scarlet Letter” of our time. An MIT lab is developing a face mask that lights up to alert others when the wearer has COVID-19. The detection technology is based on sensors that were developed for the Ebola virus scare and uses fluorescently tagged DNA fragments freeze-dried onto …read more

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Halloween Costume Turned Positive Pressure Suit

As a general rule, you probably shouldn’t be getting your Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) from the party store. But these are exceptional times, and rather than potentially depriving medical professionals the equipment they so desperately need on the front lines, the team at [Robots Everywhere] has been looking into improvised …read more

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Defocused Laser Welding Fabric Proves there’s Many Ways to Slice It

Laser cutters are certainly a Hackerspace staple for cutting fabrics in some circles. But for the few fabrics derived from non-woven plastics, why not try fusing them together? That’s exactly what [Dries] did, and with some calibration, the result is a speedy means of seaming together two fabrics–no needles necessary! …read more

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PPE, COVID-19 Medical Supplies Targeted by BEC Scams

FBI said that government agencies aiming to buy critical items like ventilators have unknowingly transferred funds to threat actors. Continue reading PPE, COVID-19 Medical Supplies Targeted by BEC Scams

Clever Suction for Robot Arm Automates Face Shield Production

We’re certainly familiar with vacuum grabbers used in manufacturing to pick items up, but this is a bit different. [James Wigglesworth] sent in some renders and demo video (embedded after the break) of the Dexter robot arm and a laser cutter automatically producing face shields.

It’s a nice little bit …read more

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The Real Lessons About 3D Printed Face Shields: Effective Engineering Response in Times of Crisis

3D printed face shields and other health equipment is big news right now. Not long ago, Prusa Research rapidly designed and manufactured 3D printed face shields and donated them to the Czech Ministry of Health. Their effort is ongoing, and 3D printers cranking out health equipment like the NIH approved …read more

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Brainstorming COVID-19 Hack Chat

Join us on Wednesday, April 8 at noon Pacific for the Brainstorming COVID-19 Hack Chat!

The COVID-19 pandemic has been sweeping across the globe now for three months. In that time it has encountered little resistance in its advances, being a novel virus with just the right mix of transmissibility …read more

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FDA Says PPE Can Be Reused After Trip Through Shipping Container Decontamination System

We are hearing so much in the news about shortages of personal protective equipment, or PPE, for healthcare workers. Factories are being asked to perform the impossible when it comes to production be the need is so real, so immediate, and so widespread.

The problem with rapid consumption of PPE …read more

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