This week I helped gather some suplies by making some runs to tech spark. Then I also worked on adding like a healthcare provider view to the web app. Tmr I will finish the healthcare provider view on the web app and also add a walkthrough. So get excited!!! 😊 💊
Team Status Report for 4/12/2025
The most significant risk that could jeopardize the project is the load cell amplifier. Since there is so much noise, we are currently unable to get any good reading (as shown in the picture below). From the research we’ve done, its likely due to the fact that HX711 load cell amplifiers work best for load cells that measure higher weights and that soldering can add to noise since we need a specific type of wire. However, we had to solder the wires because the load cells wires were so fragile, they kept on breaking. Aneesha and MM are looking into other solutions to explore such as force sensors. We decided to replace the battery pack with another buck booster converter to achieve better accuracy on the voltage that we need for a good reading. Additionally, we ordered another pack of SD cards, since we do not have any spares left. Both of these cost less than $40, keeping us under budget. The team will work on testing (accuracy of pills being dispensed, website re-sizing to devices, mobility needed to operate device, etc) as listed in the design report section 7. More specifically, we will pull up the website on a variety of screen sizes and go through the motions of the website to make sure everything is rendering appropriately. We will conduct about 60 dispense trials across a variety of pill sizes and record the accuracy of the dispensing.
MM Demangone’s Status Report for 4/12/2025
I have completed quite a bit over the past two weeks. Last week, I spent time on deploying our website, connecting the RPi and website to the websocket, and refining the communication between the two. I had changed the model to store the servo angle, so our device can alternate between 0 and 180 degrees. I had fixed a bug involving overpopulating the google calendar with pill notification events. This week, I spent a lot of time refining the load cell amplifier code, soldering the load cell amplifier, soldering both of the load cells, and testing out the load cells. Also, after Aneesha had reflashed the SD card, I had set up the SD card with github, dependencies, etc. Unfortunately, the readings off of the load cell amplifier are extremely noisy, and is prolonging the amount of time we expected this task to take. Aneesha and I are both working on fixing this, by exploring other force-measuring devices, as load cell amplifiers with a greater precision measurement will not arrive in time for demo day. Next week, I hope to get a lot of software testing done as well as pill dispensing testing. I will make multiple accounts, edit parts of each account, make sure the correct pill amount is dispensed during this testing. Further detail on all of the steps for how I will conduct this testing is listed in our design report section 7. I have included some of my commits below detailing my work.
https://github.com/tkoda1/Capstone/commit/52153443769970d5b3bec07acddcc8a33940e788
https://github.com/tkoda1/Capstone/commit/8e2f1ede953c83bf4c23725f7553dc5e17deab63
https://github.com/tkoda1/Capstone/commit/9b43286ae90b60116683018f09225a7b4d29f412
Aneesha Bhattacharjee Status Report 4/12/2025
I have been working on fixing and testing the dispensing functionality on the device. To ensure the correct dosage is dispensed, I have adjusted the height of the servos and added more stability to the structure, and I am testing with multiple kinds of pills. I have also been working with MM on the load cell although we are running into issues with measuring an accurate weight as there is too much noise and we need our weights to be very precise. We are continuing to troubleshoot this and we will then add it to our structure. I will also work on updating the dashboard based on the weight sensing. We once again corrupted the SD card on our RPi so I reflashed it and redid some of the servo set up, but this was only a minor setback.
MM Demangone’s Status Report for 3/29/2025
This week I accomplished several main tasks: integrated the speaker into the RPI5, connected websockets across the web app and the RPI5, tested and integrated RPI5 code I wrote in previous weeks, deployed to EC2, and continued to work on the 180 degree servo motor motion with my team. I did fracture my femur and tore my labral, so walking around campus will be difficult as I am on crutches for the next 8 weeks. I am on schedule with all of my tasks. Next week, I will work on preparing for the demo with my team and continue to work with Aneesha and Taylor to physically build our project
Taylor Koda status report March 29th
Status report. This week I worked on a few things. In class I helped with the dispense pill code. Outside of class time I worked on registering the domain pillpopperpro.com and linking to allow for oath and helped MM with the EC2 deplotment. Then I also added days of the week to the pill form and worked on some security for the forms. I also started updating the team calendar for the intern demo. Get excited for the midway demo!
Team Status Report 3/29/25
This week we accomplished a lot on both the hardware and the software end. For software, Taylor added some additional APIs and did some more testing on the web app. We then purchased a domain and deployed our app. MM and Aneesha worked on the hardware to get the servos and the websocket connection working, so we can use the dispense button on the web app to signal a servo to move. The device housing was built and the hardware components were mounted, and we are testing their movement and the dispensing of the pill. MM also got the speaker connection via Bluetooth working,g but we still need to work on that more, but it will not be a part of our interim demo. Overall, we are on track and at a good spot for the demo.
Aneesha Bhattacharjee Status Report 3/29/25
This week I spent time working with MM to get the servo motors working. We figured out the issue we had with the servo motors not turning 180 degrees since we were not resetting the angle each time we moved them. Since that was working via Bluetooth, we then tested the websockets to make sure that once deployed, we were able to send a signal from our web app to move the right servo and that was successful. Then I spent the rest of the week building our device. I had some issues with the materials we were using, but that got resolved, and I build the structure that holds the pill compartments and the rotating discs and tested the servo motion when attached to the disc. Although some goals got shifted over the previous weeks, I am on track for where we need to be for the interim demo.
Team Status Report 3/22/2025
This past week we have made significant progress on our project, both on the hardware and software side. The majority of the tasks associated with the web application have been completed with Taylor taking on some extra tasks due to issues with the hardware that Aneesha and MM have been working on. Initially, there were some delays in 3D printing which have been resolved with the folks at FabLab and all the components have been printed. The hardware connection between all the devices has been established and they are working, particularly, connecting to the RPi via Bluetooth and sending the signal to move the 6 servos which work at a primitive level. There needs to be additional testing done with the deployed web app and connection via websocket. We are also in the process of physically constructing the device, connecting the funnels and the discs to the housing and hardware, so by next week we should have the end-to-end dispensing functionality working and we will also get started on installing the load cell. Although some tasks have been shifted around and unexpected issues had arisen, we are still on track for the interim demo. There are multiple commits from all 3 of us on the GitHub tracking the progress we have made with the web app and hardware/software connection.
Aneesha Bhattacharjee 3/22/2025
This week I have been focusing on the hardware components as well as building the device. Last Sunday, the RPi5 required reflashing due to a corrupted SD card, which MM and I worked to set up again, after which I worked on setting up the Bluetooth to Rpi to servo connection via I2C. I used client/server code, which we have been using as a basis for our Bluetooth connection and I was able to send a signal to move the servos. Then we soldered the PWM driver and connected the 6 servos to test if all of them worked. In order to do this, I added more code to get all 6 servos moving using an I2C module that allows the client to pick which servo to move. When we tested with 1 servo, it moved 180 degrees, but when we tested with all 6, they only moved about 90 so I have been spending some time troubleshooting that. When MM sshed into the RPi from her device, the servos did not move at all, but when I tried from my device they did, so we need to figure out what kind of issues can come from that. With all of the 3D printing components printed and the hardware connection established, I have started to build our device and its housing. The backing that I designed initially is too large to be 3D printed, so I am using other materials to fit the exact specifications of our design. I will also continue working with MM over the course of next week on using the WebSocket to move our servos via the deployed application and once we get that working we will test the dispensing functionality in our device.