A pillbox for the person who has everything

Sorting pills is a slightly tedious task, and one that's ripe for a bit of automation. It's a task that [Mellow] took on with enthusiasm, with the result of an extremely well-designed dispenser that has a stack of hoppers with servos controlled by an ESP8266 that dispense the needed pills on time.

There is a series of videos, the latest of which we have paused, showing the various iterations of this project. Previous versions used multiple microcontrollers rather than a single ESP, and its sensor choice is both simple and ingenious. A single vibration sensor detects pills falling on it, resulting in an extremely compact electronics layout and 3D-printed battery base.

We are struck by this design, for its simplicity, ingenuity and pleasing aesthetics with the use of a piece of perfboard and a filler of heat shrink to create an extremely tidy wiring harness. We're not sure we'll ever need a pill box like this, but if it did, we don't think we can come up with a better design.

You might be surprised to find that pill boxes have already appeared here.