Our original idea was a small band that clipped on to your computer screen and after thirty minutes of no movement sensed it would flash an annoying light in the users face forcing them to get up and move around. We then abandoned that idea after realizing that the user could easily take the band off of their computer and continue to play on it, or the could just ignore the lights. The LED's we had access to were powerful, but not enough to annoy someone out of their chair.

My group then decided to focus on a different topic\issue. Instead of a device promoting exercise we wanted to create something that could aid people in getting a better nights sleep. After doing preliminary research we found a study that suggested blue and silver light helped a person to fall asleep. After doing more in depth research we found multiple studies that stated the exact opposite. These studies said that blue light actually woke people up. Also we knew that white noise also aids sleep. It does this by drowning out all other sounds, so that once you get used to it the night sounds completely silent.

After we learned that we decided to make some sort of sleep assisting alarm clock. After running through multiple design prototypes we eventually found a design that we liked. It was a cylindrical shaped wooden shape with HDPE panels on the side that the light would shine from. Also it had a speaker in the top that could play white noise at a reasonable volume. It would play white noise for 8 hours (the recommended sleep time) and the a blue light would slowly fade in to wake you up.

The initial idea was to make a phone case that holds pills. The first step was to brainstorm where to put the pills.  The pills were going to be put at the bottom of the phone case.  However, that idea was scrapped because it would interfere with the charging of the phone.  The pills were then going to be put on the back of the iPhone case.  The first concept was one big compartment. However, for organizational reasons, the big compartment was split into 4 smaller compartments for multiple pills.  The next step was to make these compartments modular, so they could be arrainged in multiple ways.  They were made to slide onto a platform which would be the back of the iPhone case.  The design of these compartments was changed to make them independant from eachother, so that one could be removed without having to take another one off.

All of the pieces were designed in Rhino and then 3D printed.  There were several challenges in this project. One of the big challenges was trying to make the case as thin as possible, but still functional.  Another challenge was making the design 3D printable.  The 3D printer was not able to print all of our desings well. The next steps would be to connect the containers to an actual iPhone case.  It would be interesting if there was an app for the iPhone that was designed to give the user reminders to take their pills and to tell them when they needed to re-fill the case.

The iPill is a case for the iPhone that has compartments designed to easily store pills. An important factor that we focused on was the size of the case itself. It had to be big enough to hold large pills, such as a fish oil pill, but thin enough to fit comfortably inside of a pocket. Another important feature that we implemented was the fact that the compartments are modular. They can be removed and replaced so that the case can be customized for the user. There are bigger compartments and smaller compartments that can be removed and replaced. 

The iPill addressed the problem of making pills more portable. If somebody carries their pills with them, it can be a hastle to carry a pill container with them all the time, and it is easy to misplace or forget it. With this phone case, if they have their phone with them, than they have their pills with them. For example, if a new mother uses this case, they can always have baby aspirin and disinfecting wipes wherever they go, so that if their child hurts themselves, the mother will always be able to help right away. 

The case consists of two major parts. The first part is the base. The base rests on top of the case and has T shaped slots that run through it. With out the compartments, the base looks like an ordinary iPhone case with grooves on it. The containers are the second part. The containers have rails on the bottom that correspond with the base. That way, they can slide in and out with ease, yet they do not fall out on their own because the friction holds them in place. They also have a cover that slides in and out, so the user can open and close the  compartments. The covers are also held in by tension. The iPill consists of two large compartments, four small compartments, four small covers, and the base.

We needed to come up with a way to attach the compartments to the phone case. The first idea was to have hinges on the compartments that corresponded with holes in the back of the case. In the picture above, the red part would be on the container, and the blue part would be inside of the case. However, when we printed this, the parts were too small to hold the pieces together. So, we opted to use a rail idea. The containers have rails on them that slide into slots on the back of the case, so that they can easily slide in and out. The rails had to be small enough to fit inside of the slots, but big enough so that they could be held in place with friction alone.

What?

The Smart Pill Dispenser is a device that applies to a wide variety of people who are prescribed multiple medicines. The Smart pill dispenser is a new pill bottle, and a counter top machine that knows which pills, the amount of each pill, and the time at which to dispense. At a given time the Smart Pill Dispenser will remind you to take your meds with a beep and a flashing light, however it will not dispense pill until the user is there. Once activated the Smart Pill Dispenser will accurately give the user their prescriptions.

Why/how

The Inspiration for the pill bottle came from, of all things, a squash ball feeder. The squash ball feeder has 2 rotating discs with holes cut out for the ball enclosing a third disc with only one hole. This way the machine will only dispense one ball at a time. Stealing that design, we created the pill bottle top. It dispenses exactly one pill for every rotation. Next came the machine, taking inspiration from a carousal, 6 spots for different medications. A stepper motor in the middle moves the pill bottles to the correct location and then a gear, designed in unison with the pill bottle top, will dispense one pill and return to a position where it cannot interfere with the other pill bottles. This product kills two birds with one stone, dispensing pills easily, and making sure no one takes them. This device could be used in nursing homes, hospitals, children’s medication, and more.