Be sure to also check out Parts One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven & Eight for lots of details on how this was developed!

Final Product

The video above demonstrates the fully functional UV-C Sanitizing Chamber. The system is able to fully sanitize a disposable N95 face mask in just 17 minutes in order to prolong its usable life. In those 17 minutes, it applies a little over 1.0 J/cm^2 of UV-C radiant flux across the front and inside surfaces of the N95 face mask by continuously rotating and tilting the mask up and down in front of a Low pressure Mercury Vapor UV-C Lamp. I estimate the cost to build this sanitizing chamber currently to be around $60 USD.

Functions of the system demonstrated in the video include, Green LED flashing warning and not starting if the start button is pressed and the lid is not closed, pressing the start button with the lid closed starts the sanitizing process and indicated this by turning on the red LED, and stopping the system and turning off the UV-C bulb if the lid is open wile it is sanitizing. NOTE: For the second scene of the video, I am manually defeating the safety limit switch by holding it down while the lid is open, only to demonstrate the UV-C bulb and Mask rotation mechanism in motion.

To-Do List/Future Improvements:

• Create detailed fabrication/assembly documentation
• Clean-up the CAD model, Bill of Materials and Electrical Schematic.
• Create a single low-cost integrated control PCB, that would include:
  • a lower cost microcontroller or perhaps a decade counter to control the systems and timing.
  • a real time clock (RTC) for more accurate timing
  • integrated control button and LEDs (no more daughter PCB)
• Use single external DC power supply to power both the lamp and control PCB and motor.
• Use a low gear ratio N20 gear motor
• Change the position of the safety limit switch to help prevent a user from defeating it by manually holding it down.

1. Pingback: A Properly Engineered UV Chamber For PPE Sanitization | PikoPong - Tech News

   June 16, 2020 at 12:21 pm #
2. Pingback: A Properly Engineered UV Chamber for PPE Sanitization

   June 16, 2020 at 12:53 pm #