Government orders 10k ventilators from Dyson • Hacker News Board

Re: Government orders 10k ventilators from Dyson

#21

Post by redka » Thu, Mar 26, 2020, 9:41 AM UTC

amlozano wrote: post #6

How hard are these things to build? It certainly looks like a complicated medical device, but is there a simpler DIY version that gets the job done?

I read this the other day[1]. See challenges listed in the middle. It does seem like it's not very easy at all.

[1] https://hackaday.com/2020/03/25/ventilators-101-what-they-do...

Re: Government orders 10k ventilators from Dyson

#22

Post by dmos62 » Thu, Mar 26, 2020, 9:41 AM UTC

Are there estimates for how many ventilators coutries are targeting?

Re: Government orders 10k ventilators from Dyson

#23

Post by Slartie » Thu, Mar 26, 2020, 9:43 AM UTC

lnsru wrote: post #2

“Dyson has had hundreds of engineers working round the clock to design the ventilators from scratch.” It blows my mind. Everybody now, instead of cooperating, tries to design a perfect ventilator.

This does make sense. Every company that normally doesn't produce ventilators but wants to make lots of them fast must repurpose as much of its existing tech (production lines, parts etc.) as possible. This requires intimate knowledge of private tech, which only internal teams have.

Re: Government orders 10k ventilators from Dyson

#24

Post by jayflux » Thu, Mar 26, 2020, 9:44 AM UTC

anonsubmit2671 wrote: post #8

They will cost 50k£ each, support Bluetooth, look like a whale, not be repairable, lack necessary features, and last just until the 2 year warranty expires. I hope AvE tears one down and rips them a new sphincter.

I think the 2 year warranty is the last of the govts worries right now.

Re: Government orders 10k ventilators from Dyson

#25

Post by arethuza » Thu, Mar 26, 2020, 9:44 AM UTC

midgetjones wrote: post #16

Didn't Dyson move all his manufacturing to Singapore at the same time as loudly espousing Brexit? Waiting for the v2 of the ventilator that has a ball attached, and costs an extra £100.

Whatever his views on Brexit (and I am Remainer), I think credit should be given to Dyson and his team - they are going to be manufactured in the UK and he is paying with his own money for 4000 of these ventilators to be donated to other countries:

https://www.ft.com/content/4cc667f2-6ee2-11ea-89df-41bea0557...

Re: Government orders 10k ventilators from Dyson

#26

Post by huffmsa » Thu, Mar 26, 2020, 9:45 AM UTC

lnsru wrote: post #2

“Dyson has had hundreds of engineers working round the clock to design the ventilators from scratch.” It blows my mind. Everybody now, instead of cooperating, tries to design a perfect ventilator.

It has to fit their manufacturing process.

Which was likely the bulk of the man hours. Taking a spec sheet, and figuring out how to make it work with existing tooling and processes so they don't have to wait to retool the factory.

Re: Government orders 10k ventilators from Dyson

#27

Post by arethuza » Thu, Mar 26, 2020, 9:46 AM UTC

DanBC wrote: post #4

The government turned down an offer from the EU because Europe which is a bit worrying. There are plenty of medical equipment manufacturers in the UK who've made these exact products before, or very similar products, and who know the rules and regulations well. They've offered to help, but not heard anything back from the government. https://twitter.com/BBCNewsnight/status/1242949236762738692 These are the kinds of t…

It was reported this morning that the Dyson order is in addition to sourcing them from existing suppliers.

Re: Government orders 10k ventilators from Dyson

#28

Post by dirtyid » Thu, Mar 26, 2020, 9:48 AM UTC

So are ventilators actually complicated and frequently modernized equipment or medical TI83s. I was reading one the largest expenditures of PPEs in China after they resolved the supply issue was adjusting ventilator settings. Seems like a wired or wireless interface would go a long way.

Re: Government orders 10k ventilators from Dyson

#29

Post by wccrawford » Thu, Mar 26, 2020, 9:50 AM UTC

lnsru wrote: post #2

“Dyson has had hundreds of engineers working round the clock to design the ventilators from scratch.” It blows my mind. Everybody now, instead of cooperating, tries to design a perfect ventilator.

From what I understand, Dyson is not trying to "design a perfect ventilator." He's trying to design a cheaper, easier-to-produce ventilator that will be good enough for many situations, vastly improving the availability of ventilators for all who need it.

Everyone else seems to be just working on producing the existing, hard-to-produce ventilator.

Re: Government orders 10k ventilators from Dyson

#30

Post by lnsru » Thu, Mar 26, 2020, 9:51 AM UTC

PJDK wrote: post #13

lnsru wrote: post #2

“Dyson has had hundreds of engineers working round the clock to design the ventilators from scratch.” It blows my mind. Everybody now, instead of cooperating, tries to design a perfect ventilator.

Dyson are working with Technology Partnership, a medical device manufacturer. Presumably they're working on a new design that takes advantage of the existing tooling and parts that Dyson have. There's another consortium working to ramp up production of existing designs - seems sensible to try both approaches.

This sounds convincing. Though Dyson’s products do not have much in common with medical equipment. Hair dryer or vacuum cleaner has other power level than ventilator for the lungs.