Our Project's Milestones

Testable Hypothesis

When users rely on this device, reminders remove the burden of constant memorization, and the incentive system reframes taking medication as something rewarding rather than tedious — ultimately measurably improving medication adherence rates among users.

Our Original Timeline

What completion looks like.

1. Wk 5 · Fri
   Milestone 01 Completed on Time

   PCB Fully Designed

   Our PCB was fully designed and ordered, implementing all the intended features: Bluetooth capability, through-holes for connecting to external LEDs and buttons, an IMU module, and rechargeability for the battery. No significant issues or pivots.

   

2. Wk 6 · Fri
   Milestone 02 Completed on Time

   BLE Communication Completed

   iOS to ESP32 BLE communication was fully implemented (LightBlue/Arduino Sketch) and our phone was able to successfully read button presses from our DevBoard and light LEDs connected to our DevBoard over BLE. Implementing this was actually slightly easier than expected.

3. Wk 7 · Fri
   Milestone 03 Completed with Small Delay

   Bare iOS App Completed

   We were able to implement and run a very basic app on our iPhone. Our previously designed BLE communication was scaffolded to be compatible with our app, allowing our app to communicate over BLE to control our DevBoard — limited to only lighting and adjusting LEDs and registering button presses. This milestone experienced slight delays due to issues debugging Swift code and setting up Xcode.

4. Wk 9 · Mon
   Milestone 04 Completed with Small Delay

   App Scheduling and Incentivization Implemented

   Our app's final intended features were successfully implemented: users can set schedules and receive reminders, dose and daily streaks act as adherence incentivization, and users are able to customize their box LEDs as well as the app visuals. All app controls work on pillbox hardware.

   

5. Wk 9 · Wed
   Milestone 05 Completed with HUGE Delay

   Smart Pillbox Designed and 3D-Printed

   While developing and iterating on our 3D-print, we experienced many issues. Measurements were off, the filament didn't print precisely, and we printers were unavailable. This pushed our final 3D print back significantly, though we still managed to finish it.

   

6. Wk 9 · Fri
   Final milestone Final

   Testing and evaluation phase completed.

   Real-world testing of the app and pillbox to identify flaws and evaluate whether the system actually reduces tedium and feels enjoyable to use.

   

When the plan met reality.

While ordering parts, we misordered a dioide and this delayed the time for us to begin testing our real PCB. We also burnt our MCP by creating a short between our battery terminals, luckily we were able to fix this by replacing it with a spare.

These setbacks taught us to be meticulous, every small mistake had large implications on the timing of our project. We also didn't need to pivot away from our original design, our final design matched exactly what we had envisioned at the beginning.