DosePro Pill Dispenser

• 

  Servo Mechanism

• 

  LCD Screen and Keypad

• 

  Breadboard and Arduino Wiring

Inspiration

All of us group members have grandparents or elderly relatives that have to take lots of medication, which can often become overwhelming and confusing for them when they are alone. We wanted to automate this simple process of taking medication and create a system where individuals can take care of their health without worrying about forgetting about their medicine, promoting the betterment of health for people around the world.

What it does

It takes an input from the user of the dosage (number of pills) of the medicine, the amount of times per day to take the medicine, and the amount of days the user wants to take the medicine, and dispenses the correct number of pills at the correct, user imputed times.

How we built it

We designed the loading and dispensing mechanism using SolidWorks and ensured that it worked with the dimensions of a servo motor responsible for powering the turning mechanism. We used an Arduino microcontroller to connect the servo motor, LCD screen, and keypad to collect user input and turn the motor accordingly using C++.

Challenges we ran into

Some challenges we ran into were with the intricacy of C++ coding. We had coded with the wrong type of LCD screen and had to redo it and relearn how to make our code work with an I2C. In addition, we had issues with the memory management and variables of C++, where some values were saved globally and others we had to find out how to place in different functions. Some other challenges include troubleshooting when it came time to do the demo and configuring how to make the LCD screen display everything in the right place.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We’re happy that we were able to create a fully working mechanism in just 3 weeks, despite having limited prior experience with microcontrollers.

What we learned

Through completing this project, we gained a lot of knowledge about wiring, C++ programming, and computer-aided design. We also learned how to work as a team and solve code issues.

What's next for DosePro Pill Dispenser

Some improvements we would like to see on the DosePro Pill Dispenser include adding a buzzer to aid the hard-of-hearing and making it an audible reminder for better functionality. Something else we’d want to add is a Bluetooth module to create an app that will send mobile reminders as well as add members to a digital ‘family’ so that family members can track pill dosages. Finally, a lightweight plate on the dispenser would help see if the dosage has been removed from the plate and ingested.

Built With

• arduino
• c++
• solidworks