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3D-Printed PAPR system

Powered Air-Purifying Respirator system made from off-the-shelf components for use against allergies

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By using AI to create a 3D image of ones face (https://vrn.aaronsplace.co.uk/) a couture is made which can then be shaped into a tight-fitting but light weight fully enclosed face-mask with anti-fogging and pollen filtration capabilities using a 3D printer, plastic sheet and maybe silicon window tape or similar.
Off-the-shelf electronics are used to create a box that can be worn on the belt containing a solar cell, a fan, a lithium battery and some sort of filter unit. Pollen size is 15µm to 200µm according to google. Activated carbon can filter 0.5µm to 50 µm depending on rate of flow. HEPA filter is also a viable option.

BASIC DESIGN DRAWINGS ARE YET TO BE MADE; I WILL UPLOAD THE SOMEDAY.

Pollen allergy is a seriously annoying condition and while FFP2 masks help, they are prone to fogging up (can be somewhat lessened by putting some tape on the nose bridge part so that the exhaust air doesn't blow directly towards the eyes). However, FFP2 mask does not protect eyes from malignant particle of tree or plant.


Fully enclosed face mask would ensure that no pollen can come into contact with eyes, mouth or nose. However there must be a constant exchange between surrounding air and air inside mask chamber so that it is possible to breathe (i.e. to avoid CO2 buildup, as that would be rather unpleasant). Such systems exist and are called "PAPR". For a pollen allergic buying one for 550 USD from reputable brand is an overkill option however, and the system itself should be rather simple:


1. A face enclosure ensures only air that goes in or out does so through the appropriate, filtered paths
2. A fan / turbine / whatever forces air into the mask through a filter
3. Used air is removed through filter

The idea here would be to  using artificial intelligence to create a 3D file of ones own face. This is far cheaper and less of a hassle than using a 3D-Scanner. Then using OpenSCAD or similar, these contures are used to create a base for a face shield that is fully enclosed, with typical three gas mask style adapters. The part between nose and eyes must be completely sealed in order to avoid fogging. For good climate, add inlet and outlet to upper (eye) part of mask.

Face mask would then be 3D printed, resulting parts acetone treated, sanded and sprayed with acrylic paint. Transparent plastic sheet would be sandwiched in between. 

Pollen particle size ranges from 0.15µm to 200µm according to search engine. Activated carbon can filter, depending on flow rate, 0.5µm to 50µm according to encyclopedia. So for cheap option, air is forced through a tube stuffed with cotton/textile and activated carbon, but it would not filter out pollen completely. Better option would be HEPA filter or similar. Really cheap option may be to bubble the air through water somehow, but let's not go that far.

For the air flow system, the idea would be the aforementioned tube / filter cartridge in an enclosure with a fan, a solar cell and a rechargeable batter. This would then be attached to belt or somewhere else on body depending on preference and a hose would extend from to a Y-Splitter into the face mask. On other side, there would be two exhausts, also filtered, allowing for constant air flow.

The requirements for complete system are as follows:

1. Can be worn with glasses

2. Doesn't fog up glasses (mouth / nose section fully independent of eye section)

3. Lightweight mask construction

4. Made from off-the-shelf components

5. Doesn't disturb FOV too much

6. Doesn't get in the way

Drawings of the initial idea will be added once I have time to do them. Suggestions welcome.

  • Part 0: Making an imprint of my face from a photograph

    Kilian Demmel06/24/2021 at 22:19 0 comments

    In order to finally get started with this project, I decided to grab myself the docker file from Aaron Jackson and taking some selfies using my smartphone. I then ran it through the friendly VRN and inspected it in G3DView (as the VRN creates .OBJ files), which resulted in the lovely picture below.

    Figure 1: Inspecting the OBJ file in g3dview, it is shown that I am very edgy.

    While very charming, this quality is not as advertised. While I initially planned on using a selfie from my smartphone I just now remembered that I made a high-quality, bio-metric photograph recently for administrative purposes. By tweaking the parameters of the AI and using a better quality source material, it may be possible to get a higher quality imprint of my face.

    After that, the OBJ file would be modified in something like OpenSCAD to accommodate to my glasses and have a receptacle for the air inflows / outflows.

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