Patient Focused Pill Dispenser

Control Systems
Early Design
Overall Device
Electronics
CAD of Dispensing Mechanism

Inspiration

Remembering and keeping track of pills is challenging. Using pill boxes can be time consuming and can lead to medication mistakes, especially when patients have complex medicine regiments.

What it does

The device automatically dispenses pills based on a programmable schedule. A light turns on and a buzzer makes noise to alert the user when the pills have dispensed. If the pills are not taken, an alarm will go off again after a set time period to remind the user to take them. The device can dispense two different medications for a morning regiment and night regiment.

How we built it

The device was designed in SolidWorks. The base of the device and the pill ramp were 3D printed PLA. The housing and motor mounts were made of laser cut acrylic. The motor mount was put together with epoxy. The housing and motor mounts were secured to the base with screws. The device uses an Arduino Nano Microcontroller to run necessary software.

Challenges we ran into

The first challenge we faced was with the sensing pill removal. We intended to use a force sensor to detect the pills, but the force sensors required significant forces. We realized they would not be able to sense the pills. We pivoted to the ultrasonic sensor and instead recognize when a hand enters the pill tray to determine if the pills were taken. Another challenge was during our first test dispensing a pill. We found that when one pill was dispensed, all the other pills would fall out after it. We expected the pill friction to be high enough that only one would fall out at a time, but that was not the case. To address this issue we added small flaps to the pill exit to prevent more than one pill from dispensing at a time.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud of the successful implementation of our electrical systems and the device programmability. We are also proud of the rapid design iteration done on the dispensing mechanism and flaps.

What we learned

Through this project we learned how to collect user needs and formulate design requirements to create a patient safety device. We also learned how to translate these design requirements into multiple coordinated systems, integrating sensors, motors, LEDs, and buzzers.

What's next for Patient Focused Pill Dispenser

There are many improvements that we would make in a future iteration. The primary design improvement would be to make a motor-driven door instead of a door that relies on gravity. This would add to the reliability of the device because the door could be raised when the pill is pushed out and closed rapidly so that other pills do not fall out. Another addition to the device would be to add more pill chutes of varying sizes so that the device can accommodate more pill sizes and shapes. We also would make the device food safe. Another improvement would be a phone app that connects to the device and reminds users to take their pills when the pills are released. Finally, a locking mechanism could be added to the box that the pills drop into if any of the pills are addictive drugs. This could be important if the person is in a shared household. It would make it so only the person prescribed the drug would have access to the medicine.