Smart Pill Dispenser with Monitoring System

Common issues faced by senior citizens are they tend to forget to take their medicine at the right time, fail how to take the medicine in right way and doses. These problems can be fatal for them especially for those who suffer chronic disease. Hence, this project proposed an Internet of Things (IoT) Smart Pill Dispenser with monitoring system for senior citizens. This project is developed purposely to help on their medication intake with correct dosage at pre-set time. This system allows user to manage and create the pill schedule by using a mobile application. The mobile application will communicate with Arduino via Firebase which act as the intermediate database for both components. Once the current time reached the pre-set time, the dispenser will alert senior citizens by using Light Emitting Diode (LED) strip and buzzer. Besides, the LED strip able to change into different colours for every 30 minutes to remind the senior citizens about the due time of the medication intake. The alert will stop once the pushbutton is pressed which results the data being recorded in the mobile application for user’s acknowledgement. A stepper motor is used for this project to rotate the dispenser at desired angle once a pushbutton is pressed. Apart from its functionality, the system is portable and can be used anywhere and anywhere if there is an internet connection.

I. Introduction

Current technology and evolution are toward The Fourth Industrial Revolution or known as IR 4.0. IR 4.0 is expected to change the routine of our live, work, and communicate. The dependency of people towards the technology getting higher throughout many sectors including medical sector. It cannot be denied that this improvement is giving a massive impact and providing a better lifestyle and solutions towards any health issues. As a result, this advancement of technology in medical sector helps increase the lifespan of human being. According to the news reported by Astro Awani in 2018, Deputy Minister of Health, Datuk Seri Dr. Hilmi Yahaya said the total number of elder people expected to increase by 15 percent by 2030. This increment is due to the advancement of healthcare compared to 50 years back. Thus, it can be said that the technology does helps people to overcome the problems and errors related to health including medication error.