Formula One is basically a world of rapid prototyping. Although the teams spend ages conceiving their new contenders, the cars evolve on a race-by-race basis, with new parts designed, manufactured and fitted in record time.
This requires a gigantic amount of brainpower and engineering ingenuity, so it’s good to see the F1 community setting aside its currently becalmed competitive rivalry as it turns its attention to a vastly more significant foe: Covid-19.
The seven UK-based teams – Haas, McLaren, Mercedes-AMG, Racing Point, Red Bull, Renault, and Williams – have created a venture called Project Pitlane as part of a UK industry-wide campaign to manufacture and deliver much-needed respiratory equipment as the country battles the pandemic. They’ve been tasked with reverse engineering existing medical devices, working alongside the VentilatorChallengeUK consortium (which combines industry giants such as Airbus, BAE Systems, Ford, Siemens and Unilever) to help scale up production of existing ventilator equipment, as well as developing a new design that can be implemented in record time.
Mercedes-AMG F1 has also been working with University College London on breathing apparatus that should help keep patients with chronic symptoms out of intensive care. It’s called the continuous positive airway pressure kit (CPAP), which pushes a steady flow of an air-oxygen mix into the mouth and nose of patients, at a pressure that reduces the effort needed to breathe in while keeping the lungs open. It’s also less invasive than a regular ventilator because it uses a mask that seals tight around the mouth and a transparent hood over the head. A similar device has been used in Italy, whose ICUs have been overwhelmed.
Engineers from Mercedes’ engine division, High Performance Powertrains (HPP) first met with UCL’s MechSpace hub on 18 March, alongside UCL Hospital clinicians to brainstorm a solution, and came up with one in a little over three days. Mercedes HPP managing director Andy Cowell said, “The Formula One community has shown an impressive response to the call for support. We’ve been proud to put our resources at the service of UCL to deliver the CPAP project to the highest standards and in the fastest possible time-frame.”
Added UCLH critical care consultant Professor Mervyn Singer, “These devices are a halfway house between a simple oxygen mask and invasive mechanical ventilation, which requires patients to be sedated.”
Meanwhile, the VentilatorChallengeUK consortium has agreed the specification of a “Rapidly Manufactured Ventilator System” (RMVS), which uses existing tech and parts and materials already in production; it’s scheduled to enter production this week following regulatory sign-off.
ventilatorchallengeuk.com
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