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Essentium Inc., a provider of industrial additive manufacturing, teamed with the Texas A&M University System, Worlds Inc. and the U.S. Air Force to produce 10 Worlds Protect COVID-19 breathalyzer kiosks in an accelerated time frame, according to a press release.
The Essentium High Speed Extrusion 3D Printing Platform conceptualized, designed, prototyped and manufactured the kiosks, which were developed to provide convenient and accurate breathalyzer tests suitable for on-site screening of large groups of people.
The kiosk requires a person to use a disposable straw to blow into a copper inlet. In less than a minute, test results with accuracy comparable to a polymerase chain reaction test can be sent to the participant’s smartphone, according to preliminary data testing.
Due to the timeline and an unpredictable supply chain caused by the pandemic, the Worlds Protect team required a solution to manufacture part designs and increase prototyping speed without sacrificing mechanical properties.
Most kiosk parts were printed in less than a day, 66% faster than the three-day turnaround for traditional subtractive manufacturing methods.
The Worlds Protect team was also able to reduce costs by up to 90% in some instances. For example, one of the mountings was quoted at $110 for a machined version and cost only $12 to 3D print.
For an update on how the coronavirus pandemic has affected kiosks, click here.