Pharma-Bot: An AI-Enabled Self Dispensing Pillbox

Overview

Many people struggle to take medications correctly, leading to missed doses and potential hospitalizations. Existing pill dispensers require someone to read each label, hand-load pills into compartments, and count out doses, making them hard to use for people with disabilities who don't have caretaker support. To solve this, I designed Pharma-Bot, an AI-enabled self-dispensing pillbox with two components: a software program and a 3D-printed pill dispenser. The software, written in Python, uses a camera and Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to extract key information from prescription labels and tells the dispenser which pills to release, how many, and when. The dispenser has three compartments and uses an Arduino-controlled servo motor to release the correct number of pills. In testing, Pharma-Bot read labels and dispensed pills with high accuracy. By combining smart label reading with automatic dispensing, Pharma-Bot is a low-cost solution that helps people safely manage their prescriptions at home.

Awards (4)

• Young Scientist Award
• Special Award
• Gold Medal
• Selected for CWSF 2026

Competition history

• CWSF 2026 Health & Wellness

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