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  • Author Author: alin.postu
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Pill reminder

alin.postu

Intro

A long time ago I wanted to make a Bluetooth connected pill reminder. A device that goes on the bottle cap of a pill bottle. Goal was to make a device that can detect if a pill bottle was opened and also trigger an alarm (visually on the bottle but also in an app on the phone) if too much time has elapsed since the last opening. I made a PCB and derived a firmware from the TI example project but struggled with the phone (Android) app. I somehow forgot about it and always searched for an excuse to finish it. This Spring Challenge looked like it was just the right time to do it.

PCB

The board is based on the CC2640R2F and is simplified variant of the LAUNCHXL-CC2640R2 evaluation board (no SPI, one button) plus an accelerometer. I don’t have much to say here other than the Tag connect pinout was wrong and only one bodge wire was needed. Blush The balun seemed to work ok for a beginner in RF design.

 

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Firmware

The firmware is a lightly modified Project Zero test firmware from TI. So light that I even repurposed the existing services (also to be able to keep using the original TI app). Just added an RTC service to keep accurate time.

Functions:

  • Keep a down counter of remaining time
  • Reset the time when pressing the button
  • Blink green when still in time
  • Blink red when time has elapsed
  • Send counter every 10 minutes to the app

App

The app was my challenge in the past but now it has worked much better also with the use of AI LLMs. Still was not easy and somehow had to find the hard way that the Android BLE stack does not work well with Samsung phones and the nRF stack is much better. But in the end, it got the job done and works pretty well. I’m quite impressed.

Functions:

  • Connect to the BLE device (and keep reconnecting in the background in case the connection is lost)
  • Show remaining time
  • Trigger an alarm when time elapses, even if the app is in the background.

Future plans

Solder the accelerometer (not an easy task) and add it to the logic to better discriminate a real opening of the pill bottle.

3D print a housing that would attach to the bottle cap.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/qc-gqtDjpjY better video in case the uploaded one fails.

  • in reply to alin.postu

     Your project is still very cool.  I should have led with that.  I like the idea of a cap mounted indicator and the sensor.  I think that hits the mark.  Maybe the issue is that I don't fit the application.  I don't see me using a pill-minder for my recurring, daily medications.  I see pill-minders as a memory aid for temporary medications - like you take after a surgery.  I also understand that the device needs some way to program it.  The phone makes sense for that.

    The Top Tech Voices episode I mentioned is RE: Top Tech Voices Podcast S2 E4: Biohacking & Human Enhancement .  So many things are tied to the cell phone these days that I have "App fatigue".  I don't have a recommended solution.  I don't know that there is one.  I just know that another "bong!" from my cell phone isn't going to remind me to take my meds - but that's just me.

  • in reply to kmikemoo

    Can you elaborate please? I'm also not a fan of apps for everything. This app is just a bonus. The device should work without an app indefinitely. Maybe needed once if the default interval of 24 hours should be changed. One use case I can see for the app is that when the pacient leaves the bottle behind they can get a reminder. I have to see if there's any default Android service that could be used and thus not needing a special app.

  • I have also had a "Pill-minder" idea for many years now.  I am really surprised that there isn't a commercially available device that does what I want it to do - given the number of "pill-minders" that are available. And... it's phone based.  I can't help but question the effiectiveness of another phone based app given the discussion raised in Top Tech Voices - Season 2 (please forgive me for mot rememebering the episode).  While it might be useful for some... it would just be more white noise for me.