On a recent Internet of Things Podcast episode, we took a call from our Voicemail hotline segment with a clever IoT tip to manage medication. There are connected pill dispensers on the market, but they’re not cheap and some require a monthly subscription fee on top of your medicine costs. A repurposed sensor is much less expensive as a potential solution.
Our caller attached the magnet from a car door sensor on the back of his pill container and keeps it in his bathroom’s medicine cabinet. He then set up an automation to send him a notification if he hasn’t taken his prescription by a specific time. Doing this ensures he either takes his medicine before that time or, if he doesn’t, he’ll be reminded to take it.
It’s a clever reuse of smart home technology because magnetic door and window sensors are great for this unique purpose. Personally, I think such sensors are overlooked, mainly because their main use is for security purposes. Thinking outside the box a little, I’ve used an unobtrusive magnetic sensor on a closet door.
When the door is opened, the sensor recognizes this state and fires off a command to illuminate the smart lights in the closet. Once we close the door, the lights are then shut off thanks to the sensor. I’ve used the same approach, again with a smart bulb, to let my family know when I’m recording our podcast. This is their sign to keep the noise down or else risk an unintended cameo appearance on the podcast.
It’s easy to forget that there’s nothing “magical” about door and window sensors. They’re essentially a switch with two states: on and off. Unlike a traditional light switch that you manually flip or tap, however, it’s a magnet that determines the on or off state. A magnet close to the sensor housing indicates an off or closed position of the switch. Move that magnet away from the sensor and you have an on, or open, state.
By using the on or off state in a way that best suits your situation, you can do some interesting things with these. Like kicking off a custom room routine, flashing an indicator light, or having an automated pill reminder system.
To hear this week’s question in full, as well as our discussion on the topic, tune in to the Internet of Things Podcast below:
Personally, if the person has adequate cognitive function for the following (and if they’re measuring out their own pills from each bottle they probably do), I use NFC tag stickers stuck on each bottle for this. The tags themselves cost only a dollar each or so (you can get them on Amazon) and they’re easier to stick to a bottle. Then you scan them with your phone when you dispense each pill. HomeKit has automations for these and android has options as well. This fits the shape of a bottle better and costs way less. And it works well when you have multiple prescriptions. However, it’s slightly less automatic than the contact sensor.
The automated pill dispensers also have their place, particularly for those who might take too many pills by accident. They are also very useful for people with limited vision who take a lot of pills.
The contact sensors are useful as well, I just wanted to mention this other alternative as it will be a better fit to some use cases. I like to use a Contact Sensor on the medicine cabinet door for a cabinet that only has meds or on a drawer to verify that it’s been opened and closed at the right time.
But again, choice is good. Different people will find different solutions work for different use cases.
Foss Guides has the complete step-by-step instructions for setting up a recurring reminder and marking it as completed with an NFC tag scan is using iPhones. Very useful. 🙂
https://fossguides.co/mobile/how-to-use-nfc-tags-to-complete-daily-recurring-ios-reminders/799/
You can also use this method on a trashcan to remind you to take it out to the street, on a dog bowl to remind you to feed the dog, etc. NFC stickers are small, about an inch across, so you can use them out a lot of objects