BoozeBot

Inspiration

According to the CDC, alcohol-related deaths in the US have climbed to 178,000 annually. Additionally, driving under the influence contributes to about one third of all traffic accident fatalities. The goal of Boozbot is to introduce a plethora of new technologies that can actively monitor and reduce the harmful effects on society from alcohol abuse. The Boozbot V1 prototype is a proof of concept, that will give birth to other, more sophisticated systems.

What it does

The V1 serves libations to those only under the safe BAC for operating a motor vehicle and will cut them off from drinking once the user becomes too intoxicated. The intention for a device like the V1, is to be installed in venues in which organizers don’t want attendees becoming overly intoxicated.

How we built it

Boozbot V1 is built around the ESP32 microcontroller, which enables it to talk to other devices via the internet. The microcontroller reads in data from a proprietary breathalyzer module to determine a user’s BAC. If the alcohol content in the user’s breath is below a certain threshold, a solenoid will dispense a predetermined amount of an alcoholic beverage.

Challenges we ran into

Electrical hardware issues, logical use problems, and remote access were some of the few hurdles we had to overcome.

A blind spot in our algorithm forced us to innovate further and incorporate a RFID chip into the user's mouthpiece. This addition prevents a case where users may ask a more sober friend to blow for them, and allows Boozbot to monitor the intoxication levels across a whole crowd. Though we did not get time to implement the RFID system, it is currently being developed.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Making proprietary hardware during a hackathon is not for the faint of heart. Developing the working prototype for the Boozbot line in 36 hours is something we are immensely proud of.

What we learned

A robust algorithm can be hard to find. One should expect many iterations of code in order to find a decent solution to any problem. We as a team have gained a new respect for hardware engineering, taking an idea and making something out of it, is not easy.

What's next for BoozeBot

As mentioned before, the Boozbot V1 is only a proof of concept for new systems that can actively monitor intoxication. Future iterations will employ more complex algorithms, facial recognition, and generative AI for detection. Future applications will spread far and wide, from the medical field to the automotive industry. In fact, there are currently initiatives from the federal government to develop this technology for use in passenger cars to prevent intoxicated driving. The most exciting part of all of this is the possibility of living in a safer, healthier, more sober future for all of us.