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Projects That Fight Germs

14rhb

Just thinking....

 

I always think that us engineers are a very resourceful lot: TV shows like 'scrap heap challenge' and watching Youtube videos where someone makes an electronic circuit from junk are just a few examples. For anyone not familiar with what engineers do then just have a look around this website for a few minutes at the vast breadth of great project ideas. Therefore, given the current global outbreak of COVID-19, I wonder if there are a few things us engineers could devise that might help in some way. The idea being if they were affordable in terms of the component availability/resources then others with similar resources could replicate them and hopefully help a few friends, neighbours, colleagues out that way. Maybe even something that helps in the medium term while people, especially older folk, are in isolation. And finally looking much further ahead are there things that could help prevent the spread of germs.

My ideas, although most are not new: a contactless hand wash system would be very helpful, a contactless temperature monitor, a germ free door handle (can a low current effectively clean a metal handle?), a 3D printed gripper to open and close a variety of doors, a portable UV sterilizer for cutlery etc. If you could make a system that can electronically replace toilet roll then currently you'll be a hero/heroine in many countries - but please tone down any video evidence in subsequent blog posts .

 

Maybe this could be an 'E14 Flash Challenge' - a special E14 theme to address an urgent issue, . I'd also suggest no $100 shopping cart prizes for this but instead some unique badges? If not, then I'm sure any discussions or ideas below could help others make an electronics/engineering based project that they hope will make a slight difference in some way.

Parents

  • Hi Rod,

    Great to be thinking out-of-the-box like this. Awesome suggestions too, hopefully they inspire people if they have an idea.

     

    This isn't really a project,I created it the other evening, downloadable here:

    https://bit.ly/38PpXcY

    It's a hand sanitizer calculator (based on some WHO guide). I'll put it as a JavaScript app somewhere with input error-checking, but for now it's in a Excel spreadsheet format.

    The green cells are inputs. The yellow cells should be left as they are, and the gray cells are the outputs.

    No liability of course.. but hopefully it's useful.

     

    This is how it looks like:

     

  • in reply to shabaz

    First attempt.. the plastic bottle on the left contains the result. It is very watery (only faintly thicker than water) but when applied on hands, it does leave them smooth like as if there's a film of very light moisturiser.

    So it may still need hand-cream applying after the hands are dry - not sure yet.

    I didn't have a suitable measuring cylinder (and forgot I had some graduated beakers), hence all the calibration marks craziness on the bottles. Also a 10ml or 20ml syringe would be helpful. And smaller bottles to distribute the result in different rooms in the home (and kept out of reach of children).

    I made 1 liter of the hand sanitizer, but a better option would be a 5 litre can of isopropanol5 litre can of isopropanol, and that way there's enough to last a few months, even if others nearby need some because hand wash seems to be unavailable in a lot of stores. Not a lot of Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2) and glycerine is required, so those bottles will last for many tens of litres of resultant product. The H2O2 (it is a 12% bottle, it comes in different strengths) and Glycerine were available from Amazon. Syringe from pharmacy, although I did have to explain before they'd sell it.

     

    Also, I'm wondering if it is possible to use the same formulation to wipe down surfaces i.e. make it multi-purpose - I'll will try to find information on that. Because anything 'antibacterial'-labeled like kitchen cleaning products are in high demand too.

    To be honest, this has been a normal procedure for me for 10 years - whenever I go to a hotel, I wipe down the TV remote and all door handles/locks, kettle, etc., with (store-bought) hand sanitizer. A bit like wiping down a room after a crime but in reverse Maybe others do the same too I cannot be the only one! : )

     

    Values that I used, since I had 99.7% IPA, 12% H2O2 and 99.9% Glycerine, and wanted 1 litre of resultant product:

  • in reply to shabaz

    Hi Shabaz,

     

    Very useful info - I've just used some of my IPA in a similar way (I'm sure my PCBs can stay dirty for a few weeks). I watered mine down accordingly but didn't have the other ingredients you mention. All I can say is that everyone knew when I'd used it !  My hands are very dry - could have been all the scrubbing to get Moly grease off them earlier in the week though.

     

    PS: I also do a hotel wipe down. On that note I have often had to repair the TV RF cable in hotels - remaking the cable connection or springing the contacts tighter

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  • in reply to shabaz

    Hi Shabaz,

     

    Very useful info - I've just used some of my IPA in a similar way (I'm sure my PCBs can stay dirty for a few weeks). I watered mine down accordingly but didn't have the other ingredients you mention. All I can say is that everyone knew when I'd used it !  My hands are very dry - could have been all the scrubbing to get Moly grease off them earlier in the week though.

     

    PS: I also do a hotel wipe down. On that note I have often had to repair the TV RF cable in hotels - remaking the cable connection or springing the contacts tighter

Children
  • in reply to 14rhb

    Hi Rod,

    Hehe you're a secret electrician, fixing hotel rooms : )

    I have hand dryness too, but trying to always remember the hand-cream now after washing.

    What I tried the other night is to do the wiping downstairs at night-time, and then open all internal doors, and then turn on the kitchen extractor fan for an hour. It was effective, smell was gone, but maybe an open window would have worked for this length of time too, I still need to try that.