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Grandma's Pill Box

Multiple pill reminders via internet connected littleBits #cloudbit. If Grandma still needs help, cloudbit will email me.

judebrissonjudebrisson
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This littleBits cloudbit gadget is set (using IFTTT.com recipe "IF Date&Time THEN littleBits") to remind Grandma to take her pills at four specific times a day. If she presses the button within 4-5 minutes of hearing the buzzer, nothing needs to be done - I will not get an email. If she doesn't take her pills and press the button within 4-5 minutes, then the "Call Me" sign will light up and the cloud module will send me an email (using IFTTT.com recipe "IF littleBits THEN Email"). I will call Grandma to see if she is ok. If it is not reminder time, Grandma can press the button for help; the "Call Me" sign will light up and cloud will send me an email.

INSPIRATION: Caring for my elderly mother who was insistent upon maintaining her independence despite her inability to keep pills straight. Let's connect seniors to their people (not call centers) in a way that meets their unique needs. Change the circuit and recipes as needed. Deaf? Replace buzzer with a relay and a lamp.

This photo is the System Design diagram.

The second image is one where I followed the build instructions a month after my initial photo.  It works great, so I know the build instructions make sense.

  • 1 × cloudbit
  • 1 × buzzer
  • 1 × button
  • 2 × AND gate
  • 1 × OR gate

View all 18 components

  • Array of led's

    judebrisson • 08/20/2014 at 18:40 • 0 comments

    If I continue to modify this circuit, I plan on adding a 7x4 array of led's to the pill box, itself, so that "Grandma" can see exactly which specific section she needs to open.  Also, I might include an array of switches that the Arduino will use to determine which day/time in the pill box has been opened.

  • I followed my own build instructions

    judebrisson • 08/20/2014 at 18:26 • 0 comments

    I followed my own written build instructions without looking at the pictures, which resulted in the second circuit photo (photographed on a leaf patterned tray).  The instructions make sense, and the circuit works great. 

  • Replacing logic gates with Arduino littleBits module...

    judebrisson • 08/19/2014 at 20:51 • 0 comments

    Although the circuit is working as I designed it to work, I would like to reduce the hardware required.  To that end, I am playing around with replacing the logic gates with a littleBits Arduino module (which is a Leonardo).  I like to trace my code with serial println statements, but I am sometimes getting serial errors.  I'm not sure why...  

  • 4-5 Minutes

    judebrisson • 08/17/2014 at 00:40 • 0 comments

    The 4 to 5 minutes that I gave Grandma to take her pills and press the button is based on the littleBits timeout's longest setting.  Instead, I made my own timeout with different resistors, which will give Grandma a more realistic time limit.  If she needs to use a walker to get across the room, she'll need the extra time. 

View all 4 project logs

  • 1
    Step 1


    This circuit requires 2 littleBits powers, and 2 AND's, (AND #1 , AND #2).
    Assemble the circuit like this: 9V + p1 power + button + long led + OR + latch + AND #1 + wire + long led + AND #2 +cloud + split
    Attach one end of split to buzzer + timeout (off-on) + long led + AND #1
    Attach the other end of split to OR
    Attach p3 USB power to AND#2  This will give the cloud it's own power source. Now you can change around the inputs before the cloud for troubleshooting without changing the cloud led color.

  • 2
    Step 2

    Create a recipe in IFTTT: IF littleBits cloud THEN email.  Since Grandma takes her pills 4 times a day, I created four of these recipes.

  • 3
    Step 3

    Use mounting boards to keep the whole circuit together. Make a project box from cardboard or corrugated plastic or use a good sized box in your recycling bin. Attach the mounting boards to the box with glue dots, kitchen ties or string.

View all 8 instructions

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