Design of automated medicine vending machine using mechatronics techniques

Abstract

An automatic medicine vending machine with a self-contained on-site pill dispensing mechanism and a storage facility for the plurality of pills that can be dispensed based on the user requirement. Major components of the machine are, a scanner to take the input from user, a system that includes servo motors for dispensing the medication, large storage space to store the pills, sensors to detect the motion of pills, an inventory monitoring system to keep track of the storage, an industrial standard vertical foam fill machine to pack the medication separately and a non-contact laser inkjet printer to print the description which includes the time at which the medicine must be taken. The inventory monitoring system also keeps track of the expiry date of each batch of medicine and sends alert to refill the storage when the pills run out. It also holds an inbuilt system to receive money from the user for the drugs that are dispensed. All these systems are monitored by a central microprocessor, which is programmed to receive input from the user via the scanner and to actuate and control all the necessary components required to dispense the medication requested by the user. The machine can be viewed as an automated pharmacy placed on a commercial scale so that infinite number of user will be able to access it anytime.