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Pressure sensor for COVID-19 ventilators

This wiki and the repository contains all the necessary files for making an extremely low-cost pressure sensor for a custom ventilator design. The sensor module is based on Bosch's BMP280 pressure sensor, however, the design can be easily adapted for similar barometric pressure sensors.

Motivation

It is evident that the only option we have to reduce COVID-19 mortality is to have to build as many ventilators as possible. Ventilator companies have already highlighted there won't be enough ventilators for us. Therefore, the only bet is to hack and built a safe and effective ventilator that can be built locally and cheaply in a short amount of time.

My original idea was to design a ventilator ourselves, however, it was evident that several teams were working on it so it was better to support existing ones. The need for a low-cost pressure sensor was not evident until I received a distressed call from a Spanish company for procuring a particular pressure sensor required for making ventilators.

This was when my startup decided to spin-out a low-cost pressure sensor design idea developed about 8 months ago for another project. We hope this project can help other teams developing ventilators by using local parts.

Please feel free to fork or join the project.

Why BMP280 pressure sensor?

The only fact that it is readily available (~175k in stock all over the world) and is commonly used in our smartphones and other smart devices. This also means it should be easy to get, and in extreme scenarios, smartphones can be salvaged to develop such pressure sensors.

Introduction

This repository contains all the necessary files for making an extremely low-cost pressure sensor design for ventilators. The sensor module is based on Bosch's BM280 pressure sensor. This sensor is commonly used in our smartphones and should be readily available within a market. Information for other sensors will be added soon.

Design Concept

Project Plan

The project is work-in-progress and the following objectives are expected to be achieved by Apr 5th, 2020.

1. Design concept: done
2. Part availability and stock info: done (see the section below)
3. Datasheets and Technical info: done
4. CAD files for 3D printing: pending
5. Circuit diagram and PCB files: pending
6. Assembly instructions: pending
7. dFMEA risk analysis for use in medical devices: pending

Stock availability of the sensor:

As of now (Apr 2, 2020), close to 175 thousand pcs of BMP280 barometric pressure sensors are available in stock. Being a part which is frequently used in cellphones and health monitoring products, a lot more should be readily available at offline stores and warehouses.

Consolidated source list 1: https://octopart.com/bmp280-bosch+tools-26451306#PriceAndStock Consolidated source list 2: https://octopart.com/bmp280-bosch+sensortec-51879412?r=sp#

Development Resources

1. Arduino CC - BMP280

2. Adruinolearning - BMP280

3. Instructables

4. Bosch Sensortec BMP280 sensor driver

5. Adafruit BMP280 I2C or SPI Barometric Pressure & Altitude Sensor

6. Grove-Barometer Sensor (SKU 101020192) part of Grove kit

Buy:

1. Aliexpress
2. Amazon US
3. Amazon DE
4. Adafruit BMP280 I2C or SPI Barometric Pressure & Altitude Sensor
5. Grove-Barometer Sensor (SKU 101020192) part of Grove kit as well

Disclaimer: The concept and the design files made available in this repository are not verified and validated for both safety and performance. The author(s) have taken the utmost care to be as accurate as possible. However, using this information binds the author(s) in any sort of agreement or liability.

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