Project

# Title Team Members TA Documents Sponsor
65 Smart Pill Hub
Eric Cheng
Jerry Ning
Jinpeng Liu
 Luoyan Li design_document3.pdf
final_paper1.pdf
final_paper3.pdf
other1.jpeg
other2.jpeg
photo2.jpeg
photo1.jpeg
presentation1.pptx
proposal2.pdf
video
Smart Pill Hub

Team Members:

Jerry Ning (yuxinn2)
Eric Cheng (hc43)
Jinpeng Liu (jinpeng4)


Problem

Managing multiple medications is a complex task, particularly for elderly or chronically ill patients who may have cognitive impairments or difficulties following a strict medication regimen. Missed doses or incorrect dosing can lead to ineffective treatment or severe health complications. Traditional pillboxes provide limited assistance and lack the ability to alert users or track medication intake. Smart pill boxes are not any much better. Almost all current pillboxes for sale lack features like automatic portioning and counting. The ones that have app/internet support are very expersive(up to thousands of dollars).

Solution

To address this, we propose a smart pill hub with the ability to store, dispense, and manage up to 8 different types of pills. It features individual compartments, a precision dispensing mechanism, a user-friendly mobile app, and integrated scales for automated pill counting. The hub will alert users via a dim light and beep sound for medication times, and it will be controlled via a Bluetooth-enabled mobile app that sets dosage amounts and frequencies. The device is designed to be powered by two step motors, controlled by an MCU, with digital scales integrated, and will have a wall power supply with a battery backup.

Solution Components

Subsystem 1: Pill Storage and Dispensing Mechanism

Each of the 8 containers can hold a different type of pill. Two step motors, controlled by an MCU, will activate a mechanism to dispense the correct number of pills from each compartment. The mechanism we will use is similar to what is used in some ammo production. The funnel-like shaped container sits at the top, with a tube similar like( https://stock.adobe.com/images/pills-in-a-test-tube-on-a-black-background/205791226 ) this under the container. A gumball machine similar rotary design that will only dispense one pill at a time. Throughout our design process, we found the typical medication sizes ( https://www.swansonvitamins.com/help/product-information/product-information-faqs/pill-size-guide.html ), which can only use 3 sizes of tube to accurately dispense all kinds of pill one at a time. When dispensing from a different container, it will automatically change to preset tube size using a rotary by step motor as well. All those will be controlled by a MCU





Subsystem 2: Control and Mobile Application with Bluetooth Connectivity

An intuitive mobile app will interface with the MCU via Bluetooth. Users can set the name of the pills, number of pills added, dosing schedule, dose amount, and view the estimated number of pills remaining. The app will also allow users to confirm the count of newly added pills as measured by the scale. The app will also allow the hub purely used as dispenser, which allowing user to dispense certain amount of each pill to the compartment at once, or allowing user to dispense mix of pills(e.g. daily mix) x(e.g.days) amount of times for traveling purposes and such. The app will also notify the user at scheduled time as well.

Without bluetooth connection, the hub should still be able to dispense correctly and store the data(e.g. amount of pill dispensed), which the app can be updated once the bluetooth is connected again. A light to the corresponding box on the hub will be lit if there is less than 3 day’s dosage of a certain pill as well.

Subsystem 3: Integrated Digital Scales

A small scale will be integrated into our hub as well. When the user did not add an entire new bottle or the user wanted to add an unknown amount of pills into the containers, the user can put a single pill on the scale, and our device will record the weight of the single pill. Users can then add the one kind of unknown amount of pills into one container, which we will use to scale to weight the weight difference to estimate how many of the kinds of pills have been added. This procedure of user adding pills will work together with our mobile app

Subsystem 4: Alert System

The device will feature a dual alert system - a dim light that turns on at the time of dosing and a beeping sound that activates every minute if the compartment is not opened post-alert, ensuring the user takes their medication at scheduled time.

Subsystem 5: backup battery

We will use a couple 9v batteries as the backup power plan. The backup power should work and be able to supply the hub for a couple days. the hub should indicate it is on backup power and potentially show backup power level as well.





Criterion For Success


Accurate Dispensing: The device should dispense the correct number of pills as per the set schedule.

Automated Counting: The integrated scales must accurately count the number of pills added to each compartment.

User-Friendly Interface: The mobile app should be intuitive, allowing users to easily set up and modify their medication schedules.

Reliable Alerts: The alert system must reliably notify the user at the correct times for medication.

Backup power: The backup power should work and be able to supply the hub for a couple days.



El Durazno Wind Turbine Project

Alexander Hardiek, Saanil Joshi, Ganpath Karl

El Durazno Wind Turbine Project

Featured Project

Partners: Alexander Hardiek (ahardi6), Saanil Joshi (stjoshi2), and Ganpath Karl (gkarl2)

Project Description: We have decided to innovate a low cost wind turbine to help the villagers of El Durazno in Guatemala access water from mountains, based on the pitch of Prof. Ann Witmer.

Problem: There is currently no water distribution system in place for the villagers to gain access to water. They have to travel my foot over larger distances on mountainous terrain to fetch water. For this reason, it would be better if water could be pumped to a containment tank closer to the village and hopefully distributed with the help of a gravity flow system.

There is an electrical grid system present, however, it is too expensive for the villagers to use. Therefore, we need a cheap renewable energy solution to the problem. Solar energy is not possible as the mountain does not receive enough solar energy to power a motor. Wind energy is a good alternative as the wind speeds and high and since it is a mountain, there is no hindrance to the wind flow.

Solution Overview: We are solving the power generation challenge created by a mismatch between the speed of the wind and the necessary rotational speed required to produce power by the turbine’s generator. We have access to several used car parts, allowing us to salvage or modify different induction motors and gears to make the system work.

We have two approaches we are taking. One method is converting the induction motor to a generator by removing the need of an initial battery input and using the magnetic field created by the magnets. The other method is to rewire the stator so the motor can spin at the necessary rpm.

Subsystems: Our system components are split into two categories: Mechanical and Electrical. All mechanical components came from a used Toyota car such as the wheel hub cap, serpentine belt, car body blade, wheel hub, torsion rod. These components help us covert wind energy into mechanical energy and are already built and ready. Meanwhile, the electrical components are available in the car such as the alternator (induction motor) and are designed by us such as the power electronics (AC/DC converters). We will use capacitors, diodes, relays, resistors and integrated circuits on our printed circuit boards to develop the power electronics. Our electrical components convert the mechanical energy in the turbine into electrical energy available to the residents.

Criterion for success: Our project will be successful when we can successfully convert the available wind energy from our meteorological data into electricity at a low cost from reusable parts available to the residents of El Durazno. In the future, their residents will prototype several versions of our turbine to pump water from the mountains.