Project
| # | Title | Team Members | TA | Documents | Sponsor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 | AdheraScent Pill Container |
Albert Liu Anshul Rao Chia-Ti(Cindy) Liu |
Zhuchen Shao | design_document1.pdf proposal1.pdf |
Adherascent |
| Team Members: - Albert Liu (ycl6) - Chia-Ti (Cindy) Liu (chiatil2) - Anshul Rao (anshulr2) # Problem Describe the problem you want to solve and motivate the need. 1 in 4 adults miss doses of medication due to complex instructions or simply forgetting. Traditional reminders, such as alarms and notifications, are often ignored due to alarm fatigue. There are also many apps addressing this problem; however, seniors and many other adults struggle with using complex apps. Therefore, we are looking to build an automated scent-based pill dispenser to simplify the process and ensure adults take their medications on time. # Solution Describe your design at a high-level, how it solves the problem, and introduce the subsystems of your project. We propose an olfactory-based medication reminder system using a pill dispenser with a scent emitter as our reminder mechanism. The smell-based reminder feature addition to the traditional pill dispenser consists of a conditional logic trigger: if the "container open" state is not triggered within a specific time window which we scheduled, the device initiates a controlled release of a specific scent emission. This scent will act as an environmental prompt, persistently reminding the user to take the medicine. The intensity of the scent emission will gradually increase over time until the physical container is opened, at which point the emission will be deactivated. This approach ensures the reminder remains physically present in the user's space. At a high level, our system consists of a pill container with an open/close detection mechanism, a timing unit, a scent emitter, and a power subsystem. # Solution Components ## Subsystem 1: Pill Container, Open/Close Detection This subsystem is responsible for physically storing the medication and detecting if the container is opened. As the pill container is designed as a multi-day container, we will design it to be a 7-day pill box to support the users’ daily medication routines. An open/close detection mechanism would determine whether the container has been opened during a scheduled medication time each day. This means the pillbox will contain 7 separate sensors, one for each day and communicate this information to the timing unit subsystem as needed. The detection will be implemented using a simple mechanical or magnetic sensing design such as a reed switch or a limit switch. Once the opening is detected, this subsystem will send a signal indicating successful medication taken. Components: 7 section pill container 7x open/close sensors (possibly a limit switch) ## Subsystem 2: Timing Unit The timing unit subsystem would use a Real-Time Clock (RTC) module integrated within the primary microcontroller. As long as the microcontroller has a coin cell, the RTC will be able to continue running as intended while the main power is off. This means that if the main power happens to be interrupted, the RTC module will still be able to generate the date, time, and other specific data necessary. Otherwise, the microcontroller will poll the RTC module and compare it against the scheduled medication window. When the current time enters the configured scheduled window for an individual to take their medication, the timing unit will monitor the open/close detection subsystem. Specifically, if the sensor remains in the “closed” state past, the timing unit subsystem will generate a PWM signal to the scent emitter. While the pill dispensing mechanism continues to stay in the “closed” state past the scheduled window, the duty cycle of the PWM signal will gradually increase, intensifying the smell over time. Components: ESP32 Microcontroller CR2032 Coin Cell & Holder RTC DS3231 (optional) Buttons / LCD display for adjusting scheduled time ## Subsystem 3: Scent Emitter The scent emitter module is responsible for producing the scent, our physical reminder when the medication is not taken in scheduled time. When it receives the signal that the container is not opened in a scheduled window, it will release a controlled amount of scent into the surrounding environment, which we would like to design the emission to be continuous, and the emission should stop immediately once the container is opened. To avoid heating to make our pill container safe and portable, we will be implementing our scent emitter with a replaceable scent pad combined with a mechanically controlled valve and a tiny DC fan to regulate the scent release, which when a missed medication event is detected, the valve opens to allow the air to flow across the pad to emit the scent into the environment. The fan will go stronger and stronger if the container is still not open, and the valve will close once the pill container is opened, stopping further emission. Our system will also assume a predetermined effective lifetime for each pad, for example 20 days, after our characterization. Then after a conservative usage estimates time, for example 15 out of 20 days, which is also tracked by our time unit, a LED begins blinking to indicate that the scent pad should be replaced. The LED will stop blinking after the pad is replaced. Components: Replaceable scent pad LED Mechanical controlled valve Micro 5V or 3.7 V DC fan Another alternative for scent emitters is using a little ultrasonic speaker/vibrator at a certain frequency to make particles aerosolized like a diffuser. ## Subsystem 4: Power Supply This subsystem would provide the power needed to all electronic components in the device. To ensure the ease of use and portability, our design will be powered by a battery instead of requiring a constant external power source. There will then be a voltage regulation circuit that would ensure stable operation of the microcontroller and peripherals. In addition, there will also be a deep sleep power-saving state where the microcontroller will shut down the most power-hungry components, such as the CPU or WiFi module, during idle time periods. The system/microcontroller will wake up from the RTC module via a hardware interrupt when the pill dispenser is open or closed as well as during the scheduled medication time. This will ensure that the scent-based medication box will be able to work as intended for a longer period of time. Components: Battery Power switch Voltage regulator # Criterion For Success The system correctly detects whether the pill container has been opened during a scheduled medication window. The user must be able to schedule a medication window. The scent emitter must activate within 10 seconds automatically after the scheduled medication window has passed if the pill container has remained in a closed state. This scent-based pill reminder system must have variable amounts of scent intensity as the duration of the missed medication window increases based on the PWM signal (25%, 50%, 100%). The scent emitter deactivates within 10 seconds once the container is opened. LED starts blinking when replaceable scent pad has to be changed and stops after its replaced. The system operates without requiring a smartphone, app, or external display. The device operates reliably for multiple medication cycles without failure. All subsystems integrate into a single functional prototype suitable for demonstration. The prototype has to be smaller than 5*2.8*0.5 inch^3 to allow it to be portable. Scent strong enough for real-world testers to recognize. Power consumption of the system to be small enough to allow the device to function for longer than 2 months before the battery has to be replaced. |
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