For almost 30 years, Precision Valve and Automation (PVA) in Cohoes has built the machines that help factories all over the world produce circuit boards for their production lines.

“We are actually a factory automation and robotics company,” Founder and CEO Tony Hynes said Wednesday. “Our area of expertise is using robotics to apply adhesive to liquid materials. It’s a very, very fancy way of saying we use robots to glue stuff together.”

Late last week, Hynes says his company began work on a completely different kind of product.

“We started the development last Friday morning and by Monday midday we had a prototype running,” Hynes said.

Built with PVA’s machines, the device holds and mechanically controls an ambu bag.

“Basically what it is doing is acting just like a person’s hand would to squeeze the bag, to force air into somebody’s lungs,” Hynes said.

Found in virtually every American hospital room, Hynes says ambu bags are often used to help a patient breathe when a ventilator isn’t available.

“This would certainly keep somebody stable until one of those ventilators became available,” Hynes said.

Despite help from the federal government, Governor Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday New York state still faces a shortage of roughly 20,000 ventilators due to the coronavirus pandemic. Hynes says his product can be produced for between half and one-fifth the cost and at a much faster rate.

“With just the people we have here and the facilities we have here, we could probably make one every 15 minutes so,” Hynes said. “That is about 100 a day.”

Hynes has already applied to the FDA for fast-tracked emergency approval.

Hoping other manufacturers will pitch in and make more, he says this is his way of helping during a national crisis.

“When the governor called out for help and said these are the devices the state needs for an emergency, this is our answer to the call,” Hynes said.