health-adviser-devise

Inspiration

Growing up in a small town in Rajasthan, access to quality healthcare advice is limited — doctors are far, and most people ignore early warning signs. I wanted to build something that sits on your wrist and silently watches over your health 24/7, giving real-time alerts before things get serious. The idea of a low-cost, portable health guardian for rural and semi-urban India — that's what inspired this project.

What it does

Health Adviser Device is a wearable Arduino-based health monitoring system that:

Measures heart rate & SpO2 (MAX30102) Tracks body temperature (DS18B20) Monitors ECG waveform (AD8232) and plots it live on OLED Detects air quality / gas levels (MQ135) Tracks motion & posture (MPU-6500) Monitors atmospheric pressure (BMP280) Displays all readings on an OLED screen with sensor cycling Logs data to Excel for analysis Generates a PDF health report with personalized Hinglish recommendations Sends the report via Gmail automatically

How we built it

Hardware: Arduino Uno/Nano, AD8232, MAX30102, DHT11, MQ135, MPU-6500, DS18B20, BMP280, OLED (I2C), 18650 battery with charger module Firmware: Arduino C++ — modular sensor cycling, ECG graphing on OLED, serial data output Data Logging: Python script reads serial data → logs to Excel with auto-calculated health formulas Report Generation: Python (FPDF) generates a structured PDF health report with color-coded alerts Email Delivery: Gmail SMTP via Python sends the report to the user automatically Version Control: Full project hosted on GitHub with detailed README

Challenges we ran into

Sensor interference: Multiple I2C sensors on the same bus caused address conflicts — had to carefully manage sensor timing and cycling ECG noise: AD8232 signal was noisy due to loose electrode connections; required software filtering and stable wiring Serial data sync: Keeping Python data logger in sync with Arduino's cycling pattern was tricky Zero budget constraints: Sourced all components second-hand or from salvaged rover parts, requiring creative wiring solutions No oscilloscope: Debugging ECG waveform without proper lab tools was a challenge — used OLED as a real-time scope

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Built a multi-sensor health monitor that rivals commercial devices at a fraction of the cost (under ₹1500) Successfully plotted a live ECG graph on a tiny OLED display using raw AD8232 data Created a fully automated pipeline — from sensor reading → Excel log → PDF report → Gmail delivery Entire system runs on an 18650 battery, making it truly portable Designed and built everything solo, with no lab, no mentor, and no budget — just YouTube, datasheets, and determination

What we learned

Deep dive into biomedical sensor interfacing (ECG, pulse oximetry, temperature) Python serial communication and automated report generation Importance of modular code — sensor cycling pattern made debugging 10x easier How to use GitHub for hardware projects — README, code, templates, all organized Real-world problem-solving when things don't work as expected (and they never do on first try)

What's next for health-adviser-devise

Add Bluetooth (HC-05) to send live data to a mobile app Build an Android app (MIT App Inventor / Flutter) for real-time dashboard Integrate ML anomaly detection — alert when readings deviate from personal baseline Make it a proper wrist-worn device with 3D printed enclosure Target deployment in rural health camps across Rajasthan Eventually submit to Smart India Hackathon as a scalable solution