On March 19, 2020, I temporarily suspended sales of MakerLisp products to dedicate my time to helping with the effort to combat Covid-19. First, with a group of friends and small businesses, I've been helping to make and donate fabric face masks to hospitals and shelters.

Now I've developed an open source ventilator, made from off the shelf industrial automation parts, recreating simple all-pneumatic (no electric power required) ventilators that have been in service continuously since the late 70's. This machine is easy to assemble, no special tools or skills are required. It is not subject to the current supply chain shortages of existing medical devices and their component parts. The industrial components used are meant to remain in service for years.

The machine is called the "MakerVent Model T".

The design and processes involved in assembling these ventilators are open source, all the information is available on this project site. I have applied for a trademark on the name 'MakerVent', however. I will not charge for the use of the name. My intention is to review any builds that want to use this name, to ensure that they have followed the design, use of materials, and assembly processes specified, before that machine can be called 'MakerVent'. If machines are properly built to spec, then all the testing and authorizations that MakerVent machines have accumulated, will apply. All machines called 'MakerVent' should be equivalent in terms of functional performance and safety of use.

The problem that I aim to solve, is not "How quickly can we build and deploy 10,000 machines ?", but rather, "How can any individual institution, get ONE, now ?". I will likely build and sell machines, yes, but I can imagine hospitals and healthcare organizations buying materials or kits, and building their own, and not having to depend on conventional channels which may become overburdened in a health emergency.

This ventilator is very basic, and does not have many of the features of more advanced products. But it is nearly identical in operation to several ventilators on the market now, and may be a source of simple, reliable, durable, AVAILABLE ventilators, in times of need.