Automatic Pill Dispenser for Pharmacy

Abstract

Medication plays an essential role in people's daily lives. Individuals often experience headaches, pains, upset stomach, fever, and common colds, among other ailments. Factors such as long working hours, limited relaxation, extreme weather changes, and irregular sleeping and eating patterns can contribute to illness and disease. Medications are necessary to alleviate symptoms or even prevent them. Additionally, many people take vitamins and mineral supplements to meet their nutritional needs when their diets fall short. Typically, over-the-counter (OTC) medicines and vitamin supplements can be readily purchased at pharmacies without needing a doctor's prescription. Automatic Pill Dispensers for Pharmacies have been designed and built specifically to streamline the process of dispensing these OTC medications and supplements. Pharmacies often face long queues, and automatic pill dispensers offer a time-saving solution by quickly dispensing medicines and supplements, much like a typical vending machine. The prototype hardware was designed using cost-effective materials and components, with a particular focus on the dispensing mechanism. Control is facilitated through an Arduino Mega microcontroller, and payment can be made through a coin validator/acceptor, simplifying the purchasing process for both pharmacists and customers. A notable advantage of this system is its modular design, allowing for the replacement of custom-designed dispensing discs to accommodate different types of pills. Experimental results were obtained by conducting tests on various aspects, including servo motor performance, dispensing accuracy, serial vs. parallel processing, and the comparison between manual dispensing and an automatic dispensing system. The automatic pill dispenser not only extends the service hours of the pharmacy by serving as a self-access kiosk but also achieves performance comparable to existing research in the field.