Elderly people are known for drinking too little. That is because with age there’s less thirst all tough the body needs about the same amount of liquids. Therefore this prototype of a drink reminder, called the ThirstBuster attempts to provide a solution to this problem by reminding the user to take a sip from the glass that stands on it every 30 minutes.
Methods
Parts:
- Force Sensor
- Arduino
- LED, resistors
The Process in Detail
The force sensor is placed under a glass coaster. By using a 5 MΩ resistor the system becomes sensitive enough to recognize if the glass has moved or not.
If the glass is not moved (aka there’s no voltage drop at analog pin 0 for more than 30 minutes, digital pin 13 will be high – the LED starts to glow. As soon as the glass is lifted, the counter will be reset.
Discussion
This setup is just a prototype so there are many weak points. One of which is a lacking temperature sensor or a snooze button. While both is easy to implement, this prototype concentrates on the very basics.
Limitations
- No adaptation based on temperature
- No snooze button
- No auditory feedback
- No check whether a sip was taken or not
Further Reading
Watch the demo live at build.well.being
