VIDEO: Students Create Automatic Pill Dispenser for Rehabilitation Institute Patient

In winter 2010, four freshmen (Brian Ambielli, Adrienne Dunk, Paul Kravik, and Roy Lu) in Engineering Design and Communication were charged with creating a pill dispenser for a client who doesn’t have the use of his arms or legs.

Over the next year they created several designs, visiting the user in his Chicago home to test prototypes and get his input.

The final design allows the user to use his sip-n’-puff controller to make a selection on his computer screen. The computer then sends a wireless signal to the device, which turns the selected wheel and dispenses a single dose of medication. This dose then falls through a funnel and down a tube into the user’s range.

They installed the pill dispenser this past spring at the user’s home, where he has begun incorporating it into his daily routine.
 
“It has been awesome to see this whole thing to the end,” Ambielli said. “It’ s been a lot of evolution a lot of iteration. But that’s basically what engineering is.”

Watch the video to learn more.