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Per Cuomo's aide they were asked to make a valve and have made no progress on doing what they were asked by Medtronic. Its stupid to build an entire ventilator

Per Cuomo's aide they were asked to make a valve and have made no progress on doing what they were asked by Medtronic. Its stupid to build an entire ventilator from scratch as a company that doesn't even do biomed stuff, everyone else is using another company's design or just building needed parts and bringing in engineers from the companies that have been doing this. Tesla is on the "2nd rev" of their own design. It was a stupid thing to say in the first place, they have been told how they can help, they are doing their own thing and not actually contributing. And Musk did lie - he delivered not what he promised for the vast majority of what was given, for the few that were actually given they took them out of the box and slapped their own holographic label on them. The whole thing is an insane show of narcissism because he feeds on attention from people tweeting "Thanks Elon!!!!1!" while the people actually helping are doing it quietly.

wilg 7y ago
I have not been following it as closely is you, seems like Medtronic is saying SpaceX is making that valve, not Tesla? https://twitter.com/MedtronicCEO/status/1246452743851716608 https://twitter.com/MedtronicCEO/status/1246452743851716608 Not sure how to evaluate the engineering decision, but it does seem reasonable to see if they can make something more quickly with mostly parts they already have in great supply. As you say, other companies (including SpaceX) seem to be working the other strategy. It seems like you're making a bit of a spurious/personal argument but would be curious if there is any evidence for what you are saying! From what I've been reading seems like you're a bit off base. Hopefully you are wrong and they end up actually helping out!
- thomaskcr 7y ago
  Here's the transcript of the briefing today timestamped to what I said: https://www.rev.com/transcript-editor/shared/HPqI45S2jtcETVFyss39OcnuQlfUQxpY5jGrJvhp0edZlrHJBIfjoI4dqeImkV7Dz7sT2ux2DfUENw6R11gARWFpCV4?loadFrom=PastedDeeplink&ts=2157.87 https://www.rev.com/transcript-editor/shared/HPqI45S2jtcETVF... Talking about Buffalo: > Aide: We have been talking to Tesla. They’re actually not talking about making the entire ventilator; they’re talking about making one part of the ventilator. They’re trying to ramp up to get up and running as soon as possible, but nothing’s materialized yet. > Press Corps: (36:27) > So it hasn’t started at that plant? > Aide: (36:28) > Correct. Further: > Cuomo: The problem with ventilator construction is the supply chain. Nobody can make you a ventilator right now in two weeks. That's General Motors. That's Ford. That's Elon Musk. I don't care how big and how powerful, you can't make ventilators that fast because there are parts that have to come from other countries. And their timeframe frankly doesn't work for our immediate apex because whether we're talking two days or 10 days, you're not going to make ventilators at that time. Now to be fair, Tesla using their own parts does help with the issue brought up here. But also, you now have a car company making design decisions in a less than 2 week timeframe, coding their own interface, etc. By the time they roll off they could have just gotten parts that have been designed by people who already made the mistakes they will make.
  - tzm 7y ago
    > could have just gotten parts You're trivializing what it takes to actually build integrated hardware. Designing their own systems may be the best choice, considering they have the talent, domain expertise, existing components and access to Medtronic's teams, etc. This is a fluid situation and Tesla is stepping up.
    - clouddrover 7y ago
      No, this is another one of Musk's submarines with the added bonus that he's been running around Twitter trying to downplay the seriousness of the coronavirus outbreak: https://jalopnik.com/elon-musk-has-played-an-extremely-dangerous-game-1842416407 https://jalopnik.com/elon-musk-has-played-an-extremely-dange... He's avoided calling anyone a paedophile this time around so that's something.
  - throwwit 7y ago
    This. I’m surprised 3D printing hasn’t been employed more aggressively to cut down the complexity of production & sourcing. I’d imagine MM3D being used to create electro active polymer pumps acting in series to create the displacements (~.5L), and parts like pressure sensors designed in a simple albeit more mechanical fashion. Props to Elon tho for taking on the task!

wilg 7y ago

I have not been following it as closely is you, seems like Medtronic is saying SpaceX is making that valve, not Tesla? https://twitter.com/MedtronicCEO/status/1246452743851716608 https://twitter.com/MedtronicCEO/status/1246452743851716608 Not sure how to evaluate the engineering decision, but it does seem reasonable to see if they can make something more quickly with mostly parts they already have in great supply. As you say, other companies (including SpaceX) seem to be working the other strategy. It seems like you're making a bit of a spurious/personal argument but would be curious if there is any evidence for what you are saying! From what I've been reading seems like you're a bit off base. Hopefully you are wrong and they end up actually helping out!

thomaskcr 7y ago
Here's the transcript of the briefing today timestamped to what I said: https://www.rev.com/transcript-editor/shared/HPqI45S2jtcETVFyss39OcnuQlfUQxpY5jGrJvhp0edZlrHJBIfjoI4dqeImkV7Dz7sT2ux2DfUENw6R11gARWFpCV4?loadFrom=PastedDeeplink&ts=2157.87 https://www.rev.com/transcript-editor/shared/HPqI45S2jtcETVF... Talking about Buffalo: > Aide: We have been talking to Tesla. They’re actually not talking about making the entire ventilator; they’re talking about making one part of the ventilator. They’re trying to ramp up to get up and running as soon as possible, but nothing’s materialized yet. > Press Corps: (36:27) > So it hasn’t started at that plant? > Aide: (36:28) > Correct. Further: > Cuomo: The problem with ventilator construction is the supply chain. Nobody can make you a ventilator right now in two weeks. That's General Motors. That's Ford. That's Elon Musk. I don't care how big and how powerful, you can't make ventilators that fast because there are parts that have to come from other countries. And their timeframe frankly doesn't work for our immediate apex because whether we're talking two days or 10 days, you're not going to make ventilators at that time. Now to be fair, Tesla using their own parts does help with the issue brought up here. But also, you now have a car company making design decisions in a less than 2 week timeframe, coding their own interface, etc. By the time they roll off they could have just gotten parts that have been designed by people who already made the mistakes they will make.
- tzm 7y ago
  > could have just gotten parts You're trivializing what it takes to actually build integrated hardware. Designing their own systems may be the best choice, considering they have the talent, domain expertise, existing components and access to Medtronic's teams, etc. This is a fluid situation and Tesla is stepping up.
  - clouddrover 7y ago
    No, this is another one of Musk's submarines with the added bonus that he's been running around Twitter trying to downplay the seriousness of the coronavirus outbreak: https://jalopnik.com/elon-musk-has-played-an-extremely-dangerous-game-1842416407 https://jalopnik.com/elon-musk-has-played-an-extremely-dange... He's avoided calling anyone a paedophile this time around so that's something.
- throwwit 7y ago
  This. I’m surprised 3D printing hasn’t been employed more aggressively to cut down the complexity of production & sourcing. I’d imagine MM3D being used to create electro active polymer pumps acting in series to create the displacements (~.5L), and parts like pressure sensors designed in a simple albeit more mechanical fashion. Props to Elon tho for taking on the task!