zdi vs. Corona: With 3D printers against the spread of COVID-19

Protect medical staff from infection with corona viruses with the help of milling machines and 3D printers? zdi actors make it possible! Across the country, zdi student laboratories, network partners and locations of zdi networks are involved in the vital production of protective visors for the face. Ascending trend.  

In the rooms of the zdi student laboratories SchoolFabLab@BC Moers and the FabLab Kamp-Lintfort at the Rhein-Waal University of Applied Sciences, the 3D printers have been running at full speed for more than a week. Head straps are produced for the fixation of protective visors for the face. These protective visors are urgently needed in hospitals and medical practices and are used to protect against Covid-19 infection.  

Photo: Christian Spiess, TROK-MEDIA.

The lack of hygienic protective clothing becomes a problem
In particular, the protective visors made of hard plastic are essential for doctors and nursing staff, because they enable particularly hygienic treatment of sick people.  

For the good cause shall In the FabLab Kamp-Lintfort also ssaturdays and sprinted on Sundays like crazy. With successAn just a weekend arise like this mmore than 200 head straps for that fixation of Protective visors urgent are needed.  

Four factors are central to production. The visors have 

  • of protection and before a covidd-19 infection offer, 
  • comfortable to wear and 
  • disinfected breast, and 
  • quickly and in large quantities can be produced. 

Been since last week die self-printed Visors of the FabLab Kamp-Lintfort nun at the St. Bernhard Hospital in Kamp-Lintfort tested.  

Appeal to makerspaces to get involved in production

The FabLab in Kamp-Lintfort appeals to others FabLabs and zdi-student laboratories, to participate in the production of the protective visors. Dhe needs and demand are big time 

Photo: Christian Spiess, TROK-MEDIA.

Other FabLabs and Makerspaces are already participating. The important protective visors are also manufactured at the Geldern vocational college. The first batch of protective masks is to be delivered to the St. Clemens Hospital this week. The FabLab at the Ruhr-West University in Bottrop is also involved in the production of the visors, as is the MakerSpace at the HS Niederrhein, which is the network partner and location of the zdi network KReMINTec. Both are part of the Maker vs. Virus network. This is a project that connects people, institutions and associations nationwide who can produce 3D prints or have a laser cutter. In this way, the production of the required protective equipment can be better coordinated. 

A special project can be found in the district of Coesfeld. Here, the zdi network for the district of Coesfeld coordinates the production of protective shields for six secondary schools, which have a total of 15 3D printers. After a three-week production phase, the students and teachers of the schools were able to distribute the first 60 protective visors to various facilities in the Coesfeld district at the end of April. More information about the project can be found here.

Prospective zdi-Regions with Makerspeace can themselves under www.fablab.hochschule-rhein-waal.de/visier inform. Here you will find instructions (open source) for the 3D printing of the protective visors as well as contact addresses for networking.  

Information on the "Maker vs. Virus" project and the possibility of registering is available at www.makervsvirus.org. The site also contains an overview map of all participating FabLabs.

Pupils also have the opportunity to try out 3D printing. Since this week, the zdi networks in Bochum, Herne and Recklinghausen have been inviting people to the Germany-wide virtual 3D printing competition "Print your thing in 3D!". The competition takes place as part of the BMBF campaign "We stay smart".
Here Learn more. 


3D technology, FabLab, Makerspace - what exactly is that?

Makers are people who work with digital and analogue tools creative driving ideas. makers can be young or old, they can in tinker at work or in my free time, shape, construceproduce or 
repair. Im The focus is that Lernen and the self-employed EResearching practical solution methods. 

The Fabreason Laboratory, FabLab for short, is egga workshop with upscale 
digital equipment. In the FabLab you can Maker Try things, make thingsrepair and share their knowledge with each other. become FabLabs usually operated by associations, universities or private individuals. Another name for a FabLab is “makerspace". 

3D-pressure is a technologybased on their objects automatic-mechanical from liquid or powdered materials getting produced. Based on a print template the 3D printer creates objects by gradually adding several layers applies and thus creates three-dimensional objects.

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