ISSN: 2278 – 909X

International Journal of Advanced Research in Electronics and Communication Engineering (IJARECE)

Volume 6, Issue 4, April 2017

Smart Medication Dispenser

Suraj Shinde1, Nitin Bange2, Monika Kumbhar3, Snehal Patil4
Assistant Professor, SETI, Panhala1
UG Student, SETI, Panhala2,3,4
 way more attention can be given to patients that are in greater
Abstract— This paper proposes a novel idea to provide the need of medical attention. Medical professionals can also be
information automatically to patients to take their right dosages notified by means of a simple database on whom and when
at appropriate time. Now a day, most of the patients may forget dispensed
to take their medicines as per the prescription due to mental
stress. Hence, it may cause prolong period to recover from the B. Domestics
diseases. Sometimes, the aged patients are gulping tablets and
their dosage level incorrectly causing a severe problem.
The increased use of daily vitamins and dietary
Therefore, it is necessary to the patient to take proper medicines supplements that need to be taken before or after meals can
at precise quantity and time. To overcome these problems, a also become a great area of interest for the use of an
novel Smart Medication Dispenser (SMD) system is proposed. automatic pill dispenser. An individual keychain key can
This system uses 4x4 matrix keypad, Microcontroller, LCD initiate the pill dispensing for the user’s personal diet regime
display and Real Time Clock (RTC) module, GSM module and and a buzzer can remind them when the supplements need to
an alarm system used to intimate the patients to take proper
dosage according to the prescription at right time. This portable
be taken. This pill dispenser can also control the access to
and economical SMD system would help aged patients, pills that can be sensitive for young children and teenagers,
especially to the illiterate patients. they are locked and only can be retrieved by the person who
has the key on their keychain, and only when the right time of
Key Words— Ardunio controller, AMR, ANN, LCDRFID, RTC. day is of a home is just the beginning of some of the basic
functions an accessed controlled pill dispenser could achieve.
I. INTRODUCTION
C. Elderly
As the people getting busier these days, they tend to
When you submit your final version, after your paper has
forget to take their medicines at prescribed schedule. As a
been accepted, prepare it in two-column format, including
consequence of this Geriatrics are facing unnecessary
figures and tables.
disposure of themselves into the hospitals. Hence a device or
a system is to be designed in such a way that it can dispense II. PAST METHODOLOGY
the pills at preset time [1]. There has been a need ever since
medication was in a pill form for a device that could In recent years with development in electronic
accurately replace a human being for the need of delivering communication systems, many devices and software
applications are available that helps in complicated drug
pills. Humans can determine who to give the pill’s to, when
management. Out of them, most convenient ones are alarm
and how many and there has not been a pill dispenser to date
watches and automatic medication dispensers. Alarm
that has had the capability to replace these three very watches with audible or vibrating alarms reminds someone to
important aspects. There are many other problems that plague go their daily/weekly/monthly pillbox and take appropriate
the home pill user, such as someone stealing pills, forgetting medication on time. With alarm watches, user can set to
to take them or having the pills available to take too many. alarm several times a day, so odd medication schedules can
We started with these basic needs user and came up with a easily be accommodated. These watches are complex to
solution using a simple microcontroller to manage the pill’s program, and seniors can easily frustrated by instructions that
dispersal and a proximity sensor to read and allow access of are not clear. Other option available to complex medication
only a valid key to have the pill’s dispensed[4]. With this reminder problem is Android based Medication Reminder
there are endless possibilities to where, how and when this System. An Android based Medication Reminder System
pill dispenser could come to help and aid many different kind based on OCR using ANN[2]. In this method, an Android
of people in their lives. With the addition of a buzzer this pill based application is used for the patients. This application
dispenser can also remind you when to take your pills, and will remind their user to take correct medicines. At
also notify others when your pills have not been taken. Below appropriate time by setting the reminders in the mobile which
is just the beginning of some of the basic functions an is an automatic manner. These reminders will be
accessed controlled pill dispenser could achieve. spontaneously set by the application as per the prescription.
This reminder will remind the patients to take medicine
A. Hospitals Domestics competently. This method will help only for young people
The automatic pill dispenser can simplify pill dispensing for who are having Android mobile. But for elder illiteracy
hospitals with small to large capacities. With the presence of people it is very difficult to operate and understand it. The
a pill dispenser, nurses and doctors can significantly reduce device used in this system is costly and the process of
the amount of time for prep work and doing ‘rounds,’ this creating the application in android mobile is tedious. Design
of Automatic Medication Dispenser, this method uses
microcontroller interface with alphanumeric keypad, LED

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All Rights Reserved © 2017 IJARECE
 ISSN: 2278 – 909X
International Journal of Advanced Research in Electronics and Communication Engineering (IJARECE)
Volume 6, Issue 4, April 2017

display, motor controller, multiple pill container and Also, the power supply may require battery backup to avoid
dispenser, alarm system. It is partially an automated loss of user input selections and time keeping functions.
device[8]. The general procedure is to facilitate the user to set
B. Keypad and Display
the timings to dispense multiple pills at required timings.
Here the user is required to press a button to get the pill box The keypad input is a standard 16 key alphanumeric keypad.
and reset the alarm button. In this method motor controller is It enables the user to program the system [4]. The alpha
used. So additionally 12V is required for providing supply to numeric display unit is for the user to view the time set or
motor and it is suitable only for limited number of medicines. reset operation. It provides the user visual representation of
More chances are available to mishandle the device and it is the contents of the container. The same unit may be used for
not a portable device. Cost wise it is somewhat high. An providing the warning when it is required.
Smart Pill Dispeser System for independently Living Patients. C. Speaker
SMD is automatic monitored locked medication dispenser
device dispense up to 6 times per day. The SMD has been The Speaker is provided to give a beep sound to warn the
developed to give the patient’s caregiver peace of mind patient regarding the time to take the tablet. The same speaker
is also use to call the name of the patient which provides the
knowing that right medication are taken by patient on right
information regarding the updating the pills/capsules into the
time . When the alarm goes off, this SMD reminds patients to
container. This facility helps the blind to interact with SMD.
take their dose by long duration alarm. Alarm will ring for 15
minutes, if a patient does not take medicine or misses dosage, D. Microcontroller
system will automatically notifies caretaker. It has feature of The microcontroller is the main part of the SMD. It is
remotely notifying caretaker by sending message, email or responsible for performing all the functions and commands
phone call when patient misses dosage. Current system can of the medicine box. The microcontroller is selected to meet
alerts caregiver about drug refilling by sending message, or the required functionality of the SMD without wasting
email. SMD is lockable pill dispenser keeps medication safe. money on unneeded features. The basic requirements of the
It has rotating disk that contains several compartments in microcontroller are a few Input output ports to interface the
which pills are separated in order to create appropriate dosage. keyboard, display unit, motor, and speaker. Interrupts are
When alarm goes off, the disk in device rotates to reveal next used to enable the user to interact with the system for
dosage to be taken. Patient turns device upside down so that programming. When the user presses the command key, it
pills falls into his/her hands [2]. If the pill box is not taken by enables the user to program the timing and set the required
person then the pill box goes to the separate container. These pills to be available in the output poach. The command key
gives advantages to the person to don’t take wrong dose at the also allows the user to program the number of minimum
time of next dose . The Main advantage of SMD is portability, pills/capsules that must be made available before a warning
so it can be taken with user at all times. This system provides signal is provided. The Microcontroller is so chosen that the
an automatic operation for easy medication by using built-in system does not require additional external peripheral chips
scale for dosage measurement. and memory. The memory requirement is 2K of READ Only
memory and 8K of Read writes memory.
III. METHODOLOGY AND IMPLEMENTATION
Details about the design of the smart medicine dispenser
(SMD) are included in the paper. Initially the requirements to
design this device are collected and then design consideration
i taken care. Finally a design process is suggested to design
automatic medicine dispenser. The Programmable automatic
medicine dispenser designed allows the care taker to reliably
administer medications to a patient without needing to be
present every time the medication is scheduled. The caretaker
pre-programs the SMD that allows it to set up to 21
medications does through an ergonomically designed
interface, utilizing an alphanumeric keypad and LCD display.
The SMD can be pre-programmed to repeat the same cycle
for one month. An alarm is provided to load the medicine if
the number of pills/capsules falls below a threshold value that
can be fixed by the owner.
Fig- 1: Block Diagram of Medication Dispenser
Hardware Concept Design:
E. Pill Container and Dispenser
A. Power Supply The pill/capsule container design will have 30 slots with
The power supply circuit will provide necessary power 21 available for medications. The 21 slots will be labeled so
requirements for the SMD controller. Additionally, 12V is that the caregiver can ensure setting the alarm for the correct
necessary for the motor. Current requirements will be slot. Additionally, the pill container will incorporate interlock
dictated mainly by the motor controller design requirement is sensors to protect the caregiver and user from harm. Finally
5 VDC for the microcontroller and motor; while the current the sensors [4] will provide input to the microcontroller for
requirement for the microcontroller is in the range of 100mA. determining access doors status, medication slot positioning
and time feedback of the patient accessing the medications.

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All Rights Reserved © 2017 IJARECE
 ISSN: 2278 – 909X
International Journal of Advanced Research in Electronics and Communication Engineering (IJARECE)
Volume 6, Issue 4, April 2017

F. Alarm Module display “LEFT” on the LCD else go to Step 21

The alarm module will provide an audible alarm tone . This 21. Return.
module is designed to send a pattern of audible sounds
through the speaker till the patient responds by pressing the V. FLOWCHART
button to access the poach for the pills/capsules. An LED is
also provided to blink during the alarm process. A visual
display string is provided for the user to read the instruction.
A second alarm is provided to prompt the caretaker to load
the pills/capsules when the number of pills/capsules in the
storage unit falls below the threshold value. The number of
pills/capsules threshold value is also programmable [7]. This
alarm does not provide audio but gives a warning by blinking.
G. Motor Controller
All motors have a control device called a motor controller
to start and stop the motor called a motor controller. It is the
actual device that energizes and de-energizes the circuit of
the motor so that it can start or stop. The design of the motor
controller will be determined by the current requirement of
the stepper motor selected. The motor controller takes logic
inputs from the microcontroller and supply enough current to
the stepper motor to meet maximum torque requirements.
H. LED
The Light emitting diode display will be a simple red
light; it provides information such as power on, flashing as he
speaker beeps to have the attention of the user and emergency
indication[7]. It also provides pre-selected precautions to the
patient concerning the medications being currently
dispensed.

IV. ALGORITHM
1. Start Step:
2. Initialize UART, RTC and LCD
3. Set count = 4 and set the current time in RTC
4. Set the four pill times and display “PILL TIME” in LCD.
5. Call to Step: 11
6. If 1st pill time is set decrement the count and run servo
motor, else call Step: 11
7. If 2nd pill time is set decrement the count and run servo
motor, else call Step: 11
8. If 3rd pill time is set decrement the count and run servo
motor, else call Step: 11
9. If 4th pill time is set decrement the count and run servo
motor, else call Step: 11
10. Jump to Step: 3
11. If count = 4 then go to Step: 15, else jump to Step: 6. Step:
12. If count = 3 then go to Step: 15, else jump to Step: 7. Step:
13. If count = 2 then go to Step: 15, else jump to Step: 8 Step:
14. If count = 1 then go to Step: 15, else jump to Step: 9 Step:
15. Return.
16. If any signal is received from the UART of PIC 2, then go
to Step: 17 else go to Step: 21
17. If forward is received run motor1 and motor2 clockwise
and display “FORWARD” on the LCD else go to Step 18
18. If backward is received run motor1 and motor2 anti-
clockwise and display “BACKWARD” on the LCD else VI. RESULT
go to Step 19 The Fig-2 & Fig-3 are the display units of the systems for
19. If right is received run motor1 clockwise and display displaying various parameters and messages to the user.
“RIGHT” on the LCD else go to Step20 Fig-4 is the GSM module for intimation for missing the
20. If left is received run motor2 in anti-clockwise and

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All Rights Reserved © 2017 IJARECE
 ISSN: 2278 – 909X
International Journal of Advanced Research in Electronics and Communication Engineering (IJARECE)
Volume 6, Issue 4, April 2017

dosage by the patient. Finally the Fig-5 gives the complete The MAX232 device is a dual driver/receiver that includes a
system for the proposed Smart Medication Dispenser. capacitive voltage generator to supply EIA-232 voltage
levels from a single 5-V supply. Each receiver converts
EIA-232 inputs to 5-V TTL/CMOS levels .The modem can
either be connected to PC serial port directly or to any
microcontroller. It can be used to send and receive SMS or
make/receive voice calls. It can also be used in GPRS mode
to connect to internet and do many applications for data
logging and control.

Fig -2: Display the project name.

Fig 4– GSM module

Fig -3: Diplay timing

The power supply circuit will provide 5v for microcontroller

and 12v for motor. Controller provides serial clock and
serial data to RTC. The DS1307 Serial Real-Time Clock is a
low-power; full binary-coded decimal (BCD) clock/calendar
plus 56 bytes of NV SRAM. Address and data are transferred
serially via a 2-wire, bi-directional bus .The clock/calendar
provides seconds, minutes, hours, day, date, month, and year
information .serial data and clock information to D7.Then
this information displayed on LCD. The L293 and L293D
are quadruple high-current half-H drivers. The L293 is
designed to provide bidirectional drive currents of up to 1 A
Fig- 5 Proposed System
at voltages from 4.5 V to 36 V. The L293D is designed to
provide bidirectional drive currents of up to 600-mA at
voltages from 4.5 V to 36 V.

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All Rights Reserved © 2017 IJARECE
 ISSN: 2278 – 909X
International Journal of Advanced Research in Electronics and Communication Engineering (IJARECE)
Volume 6, Issue 4, April 2017

VII. CONCLUSION Snehal M. Patil studying in Final Year of

The proposed system is made ease and helpful for the old Electronics and Telecommunication
age patient especially who used to forget to take medicines on Department at Sanjeevan Engineering &
time or they couldn’t recognize / can’t read the name of the Technology Institute, Panhala from Shivaji
medicines. It has the facility to send alarms four times a day. University, Kolhapur, India.
In case patient doesn’t take medicines even after alarm them
SMD system sends a message to the particular number fed in
the system memory. It is possible to program in order to
change the number of times dispensing the medicines as per
requirement.

REFERENCES
[1] World Population Ageing: 1950-2050, United Nations Population
Division.
[2] Van Eijken M, Tsang S, Wensing M, et al. Interventions to improve
medication compliance in older patients living in the community: a
systematic review of the literature. Drugs Aging. 2003;20:229-240
[3] Medication regimens, causes of non-compliance, Office of Inspector,
US Department of Health and Human Resources, June 1990.
[4] Mei-Ying Wang, John K. Zao Wedjat: A Mobile Phone Based
Medication Reminder and Monitor.
[5] Medication reconciliation National Patient Safety Goal, National
Patient Safety Goals, Joint Commission of Accreditation Program,
March,2009,http://www.jointcommission.org/PatientSafety/NationalP
atientSafetyGoals/npsg8_review.htm.
[6] Tsai, P. H., C. S. Shih, and J. W. S. Liu, “Algorithms for scheduling
multiple interacting medications,” Institute of Information Science,
Academia Sinica, Taiwan, Technical Report TR-IIS- 08-001, April
2008 Pei Hseun Tseui, “Smart Medication Dispenser: “Design,
Architecture and implementation”, IEEE journal, Vol-5, March-2011.
[7] Elizabeth Broadbent, Rie Tamagawa, Ngaire Kerse, Brett Knock, Anna
Patience, and Bruce MacDonald, ”Retirement home staff and
residents‟ preferences for healthcare robots”, 18th IEEE International
Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication, 2009.

BIOGRAPHY

Suraj N. Shinde received the B.E. degree in

Electronics and Communication and
M.Tech degree in VLSI Design and
Embedded System from Visweswaraya
Technological University, Belgaum, India.
He joined as Assistant Professor in
Kolhapur Institute of Technology’s College of Engineering
where he taught System on Chip, Real Time Systems and
Satellite Communication subjects. Presently working in
Sanjeevan Engineering and Technology Institute where he
handled Advanced Microprocessors & Microcontrollers and
VLSI Design, Mechatronics, Robotics subjects. His research
interest includes VLSI Signal Processing and Medical
Electronics.

Nitin B. Bange studying in Final Year of

Electronics and Telecommunication
Department at Sanjeevan Engineering &
Technology Institute, Panhala from Shivaji
University, Kolhapur, India.

Monika B. Kumbhar studying in Final Year

of Electronics and Telecommunication
Department at Sanjeevan Engineering &
Technology Institute, Panhala from Shivaji
University, Kolhapur, India.

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