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Mind Your Meds: A Timed Pill Dispenser

CSEF · 2026 Applied Mechanics (Junior Division)

Caden Eaton, Elijah Alcheck

Overview

Mind Your Meds: A Timed Pill Dispenser Elijah Alcheck and Caden Eaton Objective/Goal: The goal of our project is a timed pill dispenser for seniors. Many seniors have trouble remembering to take their pills at the right time and the right amount. We built our design to cost less than the pill dispenser made by MedQ, selling for $89.95. This is because some seniors aren’t able to afford expensive products. Important design criteria was that the timing be accurate and the pills dispense smoothly. Methods/Materials: All the custom parts for this project were designed using Tinkercad. We designed a mechanism that works using sliding blocks. We used a Circuit Playground Express as the brain and we used servos to drive the dispensing mechanism. The pills are loaded into the chutes and when the CircuitPython code triggers the signal at the right time, the servos spin, dispensing the pills, one per chute. Five different sized pills were 3D printed to create mechanisms for a variety of pill sizes. Results: Our design reached our goal of a 90% success rate. If we had more time we could have redesigned it until it was 100% successful. Conclusion: If we had more time we would have built an app to allow the user to easily set the time and receive reminders when it is time to take their pills. Over all, our design will help people remember to take their medication and keep track of their pills, creating a safer environment for all users.

Competition history

  • CSEF 2026 Applied Mechanics (Junior Division) · Entry J-02-11

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