Canisters
The foundation of the iPothecary design are our customizable medication canisters. Controlled by NEMA-17 stepper motors, each canister is compatible with a variety of rotating disks sized in order to allow the dispensation of one pill or tablet of any size. Each canister is also fitted with a pill guard in order to prevent multiple pills from dispensing at one time. The canister base is 3D printed from medical grade plastic, while disks and guards are composed of SLA resin.
One of our pill guards
A NEMA-17 Stepper Motor mounted in place
Touch Screen
The iPothecary features a touch screen user interface, through which users may specify which medications need to be taken at what times in what quantities. Our system will issue sonic alerts whenever it is time to take any medication. While in idle mode, the touch screen displays the timer remaining until the next dosage.
An exploded view of a canister assembly model
Electronics
Under the hood, the iPothecary keeps track of your medication schedule via a sql database on a raspberry pi which coordinates action between the touch screen user interface and a series of arduinos which operate the canister motors. The pi also monitors a series of infrared gap sensors at the aperture of each sensor in order to count the number of pills dispensed from each canister.
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iPothecary comes with a set of RFID chips which are used in conjunction with a scanner mounted in the front of the device housing to verify patient identity and allow for a single machine to potentially accommodate multiple users.
Arduino Motor Control Array
Housing for the apothecary's Raspberry Pi brain
Housing
Our system is housed in a sturdy frame of aluminum t-beams. The paneling is a mixture of wood and molded plastic, with transparent sections to give the user clear view of the mechanical underpinnings of the system.