The Prototype
STEM II is taught by Dr. Crowthers and focuses on a group engineering project. This project is vastly self monitored and uses many skills learned from STEM I. In your group, you find a you choose a problem related to assistive technology. You also find a client in need of a piece of technology related to the chosen problem. You fully devlop this device from brainstorming to a final project and present it to your client.
Elderly people with health issues often have numerous daily prescribed medications, and as age increases, it becomes more difficult to remember the amount and type of medication.
The project objective was to create a device which assist users in remembering to take the correct prescribed medication at the correct time of the day.
We went through many interations and design concepts but after much thought, we landed on a circular design, containing 21 indivudial boxes that contain pills. They are pushed out by a mechanical arm controlled by an arduino. Despite this, it began as a cardboard model. After confirming with the client that the idea sounded promising, we began developing a CAD model and testing arduino code. We tested different motors and hardware for what fit our project best. We would confer as a group and with our client about what was desirable. Once we had a final product we presented it to a panel and our client. We still had many future extensions to add so we plan to work on it more over the summer.