11:00, 03 July 2020
Words by Smiley Team, Staff Writer, London
Team UnLimbited, - the charity which innovatively uses technology to create 3D assisted devices for people with limb differences - has been helping the UK in the challenge to provide PPE to those helping to tackle the pandemic.
Over the past few months, the wider 3D printing community has come together, developing and sharing innovative designs that anyone with a 3D printer can use to help their local communities. This makes PPE and other equipment much easier to manufacture and thus more accessible to those who need them.
As well as continuing to provide its world-renowned arms for their recipients, Team UnLimbited has also provided completely free face shields and surgical mask ear savers to everyone they have received requests from. To date, this includes more than 1,100 face shields and 150 ear savers, a number that continues to grow. Supplies have gone to GPs, pharmacies, hospitals, carers, community nurses, paramedics, shop workers and others.
“For the face shields, we’ve used an easy-to-build open source design from 3DVerkstan and we’re happy to advise anyone who’d like to do the same” says Stephen Davies, Team UnLimbited co-founder. “The instructions are really simple, and the materials are easy to source. We’ve also been printing a device that eases the strain a facemask places on the wearer’s ears, and a helpful tool to remove other equipment without having to touch the item directly.”
The charity is completely dependent on donations to evolve its designs, grow its community of manufacturers and makers, and to build the actual arms for their recipients. All of Team UnLimbited’s designs - including those for PPE - are open source for non-commercial use for anyone around the world to use.
“The world needs everyone to come together at this time. We’re delighted to play our part in helping to provide essential equipment so the nation can keep running and to protect those who are working tirelessly to keep us all safe.” fellow co-founder, Drew Murray, added.
If you would like to donate or discover more about its story as well as the amazing people the charity helps every day, visit https://www.teamunlimbited.org. Team UnLimbited is also on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
