General > General Technical Chat
What did we learn from the "open source ventilator" mess.......
schmitt trigger:
Daqq;
From the sentence in your post: "All they needed was this balloon, a motor and a lot of duct tape.".............
You forgot an Arduino. Indeed, definitively an Arduino. ;D
Sal Ammoniac:
--- Quote from: filssavi on July 07, 2020, 04:53:12 am ---if all open source software stopped working today, we would be thrown back to the late 1800 basically
--- End quote ---
How did you come up with this ridiculous assertion? Do you think open source software was running the world in, say, 1950? 1970?
So what is all of this open source software that runs the world? Linux? Apache? Sure, these are widely deployed open source applications, but you do realize, don't you, that there are other things out there that could take their place? Sure, you may think things like Windows Server and IIS are products of the Evil Empire, but they are perfectly functional and if open source alternatives didn't exist they would fill the gap.
Sorry about the rant, but I'm getting tired of people claiming open source is the savior of the world and the only possible solution...
SiliconWizard:
--- Quote from: schmitt trigger on July 09, 2020, 04:06:08 pm ---Daqq;
From the sentence in your post: "All they needed was this balloon, a motor and a lot of duct tape.".............
You forgot an Arduino. Indeed, definitively an Arduino. ;D
--- End quote ---
:-DD
ZaphodBeeblebrox:
--- Quote from: EEVblog on July 09, 2020, 07:35:16 am ---
--- Quote from: Smokey on July 08, 2020, 11:51:15 am ---I'm a little surprised how casually some of you are suggesting Medtronic should have just "ramped up"
--- End quote ---
I'm saying that if the government put in a huge order Medtronics (and others) could have ramped up production, and done so vastly easier and quicker and to certification than anyone dicking around with the source files they released.
--- End quote ---
With this I wholeheartedly agree.
The effort put into trying to manufacture the same ventilator (or a similar design) but without the actual knowlegde and/or resources to do so is not something to take lightly. A company already having said knowlegde and a supply chain in place only requires incentive to ramp up production (hey, capitalism has its advantages too!).
Yes, I know, "we don't have the production capacity" or "we are unable to obtain parts". The former can actually be adressed by outsourcing production and the latter, well, the same thing applies: put in a huge order and watch the magic happen. Besides, the open source community didn't seem to have this "unable to obtain parts" thing (correct me if I'm wrong here). Does this mean it is easy for a company to "simply ramp up production": no, far from it. But is easier for a company having the experience than for a group of volunteers new to the task.
Also, don't get me wrong: I think it was a great idea from the community to help out where needed by making ventilators. Alas, the execution of that thought went wrong somewhere along the road. I too must admit that there are open-source designs out there where I would rather take my chances without - because all you need is one single ESD event nearby and your lungs are ruptered.
Sorry for the rant.
DrG:
--- Quote from: ZaphodBeeblebrox on July 09, 2020, 07:57:06 pm ---
--- Quote from: EEVblog on July 09, 2020, 07:35:16 am ---
--- Quote from: Smokey on July 08, 2020, 11:51:15 am ---I'm a little surprised how casually some of you are suggesting Medtronic should have just "ramped up"
--- End quote ---
I'm saying that if the government put in a huge order Medtronics (and others) could have ramped up production, and done so vastly easier and quicker and to certification than anyone dicking around with the source files they released.
--- End quote ---
With this I wholeheartedly agree.
The effort put into trying to manufacture the same ventilator (or a similar design) but without the actual knowlegde and/or resources to do so is not something to take lightly. A company already having said knowlegde and a supply chain in place only requires incentive to ramp up production (hey, capitalism has its advantages too!).
Yes, I know, "we don't have the production capacity" or "we are unable to obtain parts". The former can actually be adressed by outsourcing production and the latter, well, the same thing applies: put in a huge order and watch the magic happen. Besides, the open source community didn't seem to have this "unable to obtain parts" thing (correct me if I'm wrong here). Does this mean it is easy for a company to "simply ramp up production": no, far from it. But is easier for a company having the experience than for a group of volunteers new to the task.
Also, don't get me wrong: I think it was a great idea from the community to help out where needed by making ventilators. Alas, the execution of that thought went wrong somewhere along the road. I too must admit that there are open-source designs out there where I would rather take my chances without - because all you need is one single ESD event nearby and your lungs are ruptered.
Sorry for the rant.
--- End quote ---
With regard to:
Yes, I know, "we don't have the production capacity" or "we are unable to obtain parts". The former can actually be adressed by outsourcing production and the latter, well, the same thing applies: put in a huge order and watch the magic happen. Besides, the open source community didn't seem to have this "unable to obtain parts" thing (correct me if I'm wrong here).
Here is an interesting video featuring Erika Earl, whom I *think* could be described as an audio engineer (and more) https://www.namm.org/nammu/contributors/erika-earl As I understand it, she was enlisted by the JPL VITAL team with a specific function for parts procurement (and some other things I guess, but that is the part I am focusing on). She speaks in the video of the Supplyframe platform https://supplyframe.com/ and yes, it almost sounds like a commercial.
She found it valuable and they did get it done and there certainly were requirements. Any opinions on that aspect? - I mean that literally, I am not an EE and could probably only design a runny nose if I had a cold, but not much else. I do find find the thread an interesting one.
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