ADVANCED PILL REMINDER KIT
Meenakshi Sharma1, Shivani Grover2, Aman Sharma3, Shivansh Shukla4, Shivangi Tyagi5
Department of Electronics & Communication, IPEC, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India
E-mail: meenakshi.sharma@ipec.org.in1, maanigrover19@gmail.com2, amanshrma.1996@gmail.com3, shiva.210697@gmail.com4, tyagishivangi35@gmail.com5
Abstract- It is described in the paper how to build a microcontroller based advanced pill reminder kit. This medicine kit provide help to patients who take medicines or pills regularly. The kit is programmable so it allows the patient to specify the date, time and number of intakes for each day. Advanced pill reminder kit contains three separate sub-boxes which will have all the pills to be taken by the patient. Therefore, patients can set time information for different pills. When the pill specification and time have been set, the kit will notify the patient to take pills at the set time initially by sound and light. The specific pills need to be taken will be indicated by different colored LED's placed under the corresponding sub-box. Unlike the old-fashioned medicine box, this kit gives indication through missed call alert and the text message alert (through GSM modem) on the patient's mobile phone if the user doesn’t respond to initial indication.
Keywords: Advanced pill reminder kit, Microcontroller, patients, Atmega328 and LCD display.
I. INTRODUCTION
The modern lifestyle is full of unhealthy lifestyle. There are so many deadly diseases taking toll on lives of people. The irony is that the new medicines are discovered for the never-ending chain of diseases. These new diseases require timely medication. But the busy life schedule of the people leaves the treatment due. Most common reason for not being cured and recovered is that the patient do not take the dosage in the right proportion and at right time. With the GSM technology, we are able to connect to most people around the planet. The advancement in this technology can be to build a link between the patient and the chemist can be made using GSM which will enable the chemist to refill the tablets, as soon as they are empty, without any delay in the treatment. Also, it has a very convenient design and is easy to carry. Moreover, to make sure that the patient is taking the medicine on a right time, GSM modem is used so that a text message and a missed call alert is delivered on the patient's mobile phone when the earlier indications of light and sound of the kit is not responded.
II. BLOCK DIAGRAM
The Major Hardware Components used in Advanced Pill Reminder Kit [4] are as follows:
1. Arduino Uno
2. SIM900A GSM
3. RTC DS1307
4. Piezo Buzzer
5. Liquid Crystal Display
6. LED
7. Keypad
8. IR Sensors
Fig 1: Block diagram
The block diagram shows various components and their connections with the microcontrollers. It depicts the pictorial representation of the components used. Each block has a different functionality and have their respective integral part in the Kit.
A. ARDUINO
Microcontroller, as the name suggests, are diminutive controllers. They are like single chip computers that can work along with other components to function as processing or controlling unit. For example, the normal watches you are using have microcontrollers inside that do decoding and other controlling functions. They are also used in various other devices like, automobiles, washing machines, microwave ovens, toys etc, where automation is needed. Here we are using AVR AT Mega 328 [1] microcontroller based on Arduino Platform.
Arduino is an easy-to-use hardware and software. The microcontroller on the board is programmed using the Arduino programming language.
B. SIM900A GSM
The SIM900 is a Quad-band GSM/GPRS solution in a Surface Mount Technology module which can be applied in the customer applications. The SIM900 used frequency band of about 850/900/1800/1900MHz which allows it to perform various functions like, voice, SMS, data, and Fax in a small form factor and it has low power consumption. It has a very small configuration of 24mm x 24mm x 3 mm, it can fit in almost all the space requirements, especially for smaller demand of design. This modem works only for 2G network. [2]
1. SIM900 is designed with a very powerful single-chip processor.
2. Surface Mount Technology type well-suited for user’s application.
C. DS1307 Real Time Clock
This is a clock that keeps record of time even if the kit is reprogrammed, or if the power is lost. It is perfect for clock-building, time stamping, timers and alarms, etc. The DS1307 is the most popular RTC, and it works best with 5V-based chips such as the Arduino. A real time clock is basically just like a watch – it works on a battery and stores time for you even when there is no power. The reason of having a separate RTC chip is that, Millis () (the default timekeeper present in microcontrollers) only stores the time of the Arduino when it was last powered. It means that when the power is turned on, the millisecond timer is set back to 0. The RTC chip was designed to store time. It is an intelligent clock that knows the leap-year count and knows how many days are in a month. The RTC DS1307 is cheap, easily available and has a small battery that allows it to run for many years.
D. PIEZO BUZZER
Some crystals flicker when pressed. It turns out the process goes vice-versa; flicker a quartz crystal and it flexes. Piezo buzzers use this to make sound (flex something back and forth, it moves air). So here in the advanced pill reminder kit, we are using the piezo buzzers to remind the patient to take the pills in right time.
1. It has two wires- red & black. Polarity matters in it: black means ground.
2. It applies an oscillating voltage to make a noise.
3. They can also act as sensors.
4. They make loud sounds which is perfect for reminding.
Fig 2: Block diagram of piezo buzzer
The figure above showcases the block diagram of piezo buzzer in which its important pins are highlighted.
E. (16x 2) LCD DISPLAY
LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) screen is an electronic display module and has so many applications. A 16×2 LCD display is a very basic module and is very commonly used in various devices and circuits. We have used LCD display of 16×2 over seven segments and other multi segment LEDs because LCDs are economical; easily programmable; have no limitation of displaying special custom characters (unlike in seven segments), animations, affordable and so on.
A 16×2 LCD means it can display 16 characters per line and there are 2 such lines. This LCD has two registers, namely, Command and Data.
Command register is used to enter a special command into the LCD. While data register is used to insert a data into the LCD. Command is a special set of data which is used to give internal command to LCD. [4]
F. LED (Light Emitting Diode)
A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor based light originator. LEDs main purpose was to indicate activities in many devices and are also used for lighting purposes. Earlier, LEDs emitted low-intensity red light, but modern versions have evolved and are available across the visible, ultraviolet, and infrared wavelengths, with very high brightness. In this kit, we are using LEDs of different colors to indicate the sub-box of pills which is to be taken at specific time. LEDs are connected at different sub-boxes. For example- The patient will know that Pill 1 and 3 are to be taken in afternoon and Pill 2 and 3 are to be taken in night, respective LEDs will blink their respective colors. [5]
G. SWITCH
In this kit, we are using a 5-switch keypad. Switch Keypad is used to enter the information of date and time when the advanced pill reminder kit would send “reminder” (displaying numbers and playing voice through buzzer). It is a Single Pole Single Throw (SPST) switch where single input can connect only to one output. Single Pole Single Throw switch works in circuits as on-off switches. When the switch is closed, the circuit is on. When the switch is open, the circuit is off. Switch can also be used to insert the data in the form of logic 1 or 0 inside the microcontroller. Switch one, two, three and four are used to set the alarm timing. When the alarm rings, fifth switch is used as an “ok” button to set the alarm and is also used for confirming the fact that user has taken his/her pills on time and if it is not pressed a reminder will be sent on the mobile phone via GSM.
Fig 3: 5-Switch Keypad
The figure above depicts the design of 5 switches attached over a PCB board.
H. IR SENSORS
The device consists of an Infrared Transmitter, an Infrared Receiver, and support circuitry. It only requires three connections. When it detects an obstacle within its range it will send an output low. In advanced pill reminder kit, we are using Infrared sensors to detect the response of the patient. As we know IR sensors can sense an obstacle, so when the patient/user puts his hand in the sub-box to take out the medicine, the sensor will detect it and the kit will dismiss the alarm. This type of Arduino IR sensors can also be used for collision avoidance so that output is well synchronized with the input. [5]
Fig 4: Block diagram of IR Sensor
The figure depicts the block diagram of the IR sensor and shows various inside parts of the device like, IR receiver, Power LED, IR Emitter LED, etc.
III. LOGICAL STRUCTURE
The device's logic structure contains three major stages:
1. User initialization stage
2. Comparison stage
3. Reminder stage
In the user initialization stage, the user enters the time of medicine that is to be taken from the particular sub box. After the user finishes entering all the information, the device will move to the comparison stage unless the initialization button is pressed again.
During the comparison stage, the kit compares the pill information entered for each of the sub-box with the current time in RTC which is the actual time to take medicine. As soon as the time entered by the user equals the time in RTC, the system will jump out of comparison stage and enter the reminder stage.
In the reminder stage, the device will continuously play a loud sound generated by the buzzer and led will blink different colored light of each sub box from which the medicine has to be taken by the user. In reminder stage, the buzzer voice and led will blink for thirty seconds. If the user doesn’t respond (takes out medicine from the sub-boxes which will be sensed by IR sensors), the GSM modem will be activated and it will send a message alert to the user on their mobile phone and it will wait for response for fifteen seconds, if the user still does not respond then the GSM module will send a missed call alert on user' mobile phone. And when the user has finally responded to the kit the date and time will be set to the next reminder automatically. [3]
IV. FLOWCHART
This is the flowchart or procedure of the device-
The flowchart is to understand the hierarchy of steps included in the functioning of the device.
Fig 5: Flowchart of operation
Fig 5 shows step by step procedure and concept of the Kit. The user will follow these steps to get the understanding about the working of the Kit.
V. HARDWARE AND CODE
The Hardware of Advanced Pill Reminder Kit is pictured below-
The LEDs in the hardware have different colors that basically shows different colors of sub boxes to let the user understand about which medicine is to be taken at that particular time.
Fig 6: Hardware of Advanced Pill Reminder Kit
Figure 6 above shows three sub-kits where the medicines will be kept, LEDs are glowing and it has LCD display which shows “Advanced Pill Reminder Kit”, the topic of the project.
Fig 7: Starting of Code
Figure 7 shows the starting of code that we have programmed in the kit. We have used Arduino Programming to run various features in the kit. The initial programming showcases various header files that we have used.
VI. CONCLUSION
The overall performance of the device is as par expectations. The LCD module and keypad are mounted on the surface of the box. When the power is on, the LCD will display characters with the gentle yellow backlight, which allows the patients to understand the characters on the screen even in dark environment. The keypad responds immediately when we pressed the buttons. The long press and backspace features are working well during the initialization stage. The buzzer is able to produce clear and loud sound when the comparison stage is triggered. The Infrared Sensors are able to detect the hand of the patient when patient responds to the reminder of the device. GSM modem effectively gets activated when the user doesn’t respond to the reminder. Call Medicine Reminder played a vital role here as the patient will check the mobile phone even if he ignores the text message hence reducing the chances of skipping the dosage.
VII. FUTURE SCOPE
There are several aspects that we need to work on our device in the future to meet the user needs. To develop strategies and modify the device based on the user expectations. This includes; choosing a larger LCD display; high noise buzzer; number of sub-boxes to be increased. We can also use a Voice Module which will play a synthesised voice as reminder. And a new awaited feature can be used to design an automated alert system for the chemist to send the re-fill of the tablets.
VIII. REFERENCES
[1]. Atmel, “ATMega328 “, Datasheet.
[2]. Mei-Ying Wang, Jane W.S. Liu, Peihsuan Tsai, John K. Zao,” Smart Phone Based Medicine In-take Scheduler, Reminder and Monitor”, IEEE (2010).
[3]. Aakash Sunil Salgia*, K. Ganesan and Ashwin Raghunath,” Smart Pill Box”, Indian Journal of Science and Technology, Vol 8(S2), 189–194, January 2015.
[4].People.ece.cornell.edu/land/cources/ece4760/FinalProjects/f2014/mh2239/final%20report/final%20report%20+web%202/web%20for%20final%20project/ECE%204760%20project.html
[5].aac-rerc.psu.edu/wordpressmu/RESNA-SDC/2012/06/13/the-smart-pill-box-university-of-alberta/