Projects That Fight Germs

Another thought, albeit non-electronics based: the humble phone stylus (or similar) is probably a good idea for proding communial touchscreens or keypads. Just be extra careful if you are an 'end of pen biter'...yuck.

Perhaps instead you can work on a 'Stanley Milgram approved shopping trolley' which dissuades panic buying behaviour by increasing the voltage to the handle per toilet roll placed in basket above a certain threshold...

With panic buying, we forget the simple things. Just wash with warm water and soap for at least a chorus of happy birthday (or pi day!). And do it often during day...

Pay special attention around the area of the nails. The Royal Institution posted a video of hand washing under a UV light recently, which highlighted this as a potential issue. I suspect that nail brushes, like toothbrushes, will likely add to the problem of re-infecting.

However, I doubt that everyone can sustain that level of water use for very long.

Hi 14rhb ,

I think the idea of building projects around sanitation is a great idea.  Perhaps these projects can pop up in existing themes?  To set up a competition would need something as a prize to organize it and don't know just what that would be.  I think the gravity of what's going on is obviously hitting different people, differently.  One way to deal with it would be to be part of the solution and not the problem.  There's a lot of merit in thinking up innovative solutions to problems and applying those ideas to complete projects that come up with solutions.  Maybe we'll see something with the events happening around Pi, Arduino, or Women Engineers?

Hi Tariq,

I hope things are ok where you are. We'll all need to do all we can to help each other here and in the physical community around us too, I guess that's becoming universal right now wherever we are.

Now you mention it, I suspect we'll all spend some time using technology in extra or different ways, whether it's setting up whole neighborhood WhatsApp groups to keep in touch, or providing electrical fixes or minor repairs within our communities etc.

I hope someone figures out a way to use a Pi and camera to indicate each time the face is touched, to train away that habit. Or thermal cameras to identify big heat gradients in rooms, so people learn not to put their bags or shopping or packages or other objects that many people may have handled, in an area where there's a lot of air movement. I've been conscious about that, thinking that where there are drafts of air, are areas that maybe need more thorough cleaning if people place things there. It's just speculation though I guess : ( these are exceptional times, and unfortunately some of it is a learning experience - but hopefully we can share good ideas as you say, and it might trigger someone to come up with novel things or more insight, to make this nightmare a bit easier for however long it takes.

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:

Hi Rod,

Great suggestions. Having tools to help prevent the spreading of all sort of diseases is a great aim but, sometimes, they induce a false sense of security in people, believing that all they need to do is to have a gizmo that tells them what to do and nothing will happen to them, leading them to be less careful in their everyday life. As most of cases, the most effective thing to do is also the easiest: wash your hands, wash them thoroughly (aim for 20 seconds), wash them often. It is amazing how much this simple action can help in fighting the contagion.

Fabio

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

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.