Medication Dispensing System with Short-Range Receptacle Positioning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current medication dispensing systems face challenges in accurately and efficiently dispensing medication dosages into receptacles, often resulting in accidental loss or misplacement of medication due to lengthy movements and lack of precise positioning.
Innovation Solution
A medication dispensing system that includes a gripper module, a dispensing head, and a receptacle carrier, with control circuitry that outputs positioning and dosage-manipulation signals to move the gripper and receptacle carrier in short, precise movements, maintaining a horizontal distance of less than 20 cm between the medication dosage and the receptacle opening to ensure accurate dispensing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the system uses lengthy movements to dispense medication, then the system can cover larger distances, but the medication may be accidentally lost or misplaced
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary positioning of the receptacle carrier to maintain a horizontal distance of less than 20 cm between the medication dosage and receptacle opening before dispensing occurs. This advance positioning ensures that the medication is already in close proximity to the target, eliminating the need for lengthy movements during the actual dispensing process and preventing accidental loss or misplacement.
2Measurement precision
If the system maintains precise positioning with horizontal distance less than 20 cm, then medication dispensing accuracy improves, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The receptacle carrier is designed to autonomously position itself and maintain the required horizontal distance of less than 20 cm from the medication dosage through integrated control circuitry. The system self-regulates its positioning without requiring complex external intervention, using automated feedback mechanisms to maintain precise positioning while minimizing overall system complexity.
3Reliability
If the system minimizes movement to reduce medication loss, then dispensing reliability improves, but the system's adaptability to different medication types decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs dynamic positioning capabilities that allow the receptacle carrier to adjust its horizontal distance and positioning based on the specific medication type being dispensed. While maintaining the general constraint of less than 20 cm horizontal distance, the system can dynamically modify its positioning parameters to accommodate different medication types, sizes, and dispensing requirements, thus preserving both reliability and adaptability.
Data Source
AI summary
A medication dispensing system, having a medication panel, a plurality of docking ports for accommodating medication containers, a gripper, and a receptacle carrier having a mount for holding the receptacle and movable by one or more actuators. In some embodiments, the system includes control circuitry, outputting positioning signals to move the receptacle carrier, and outputting dosage-manipulation signals to move the gripper to pick and manipulate a medication dosage out of the medication container, and the horizontal distance between the opening of the receptacle and the medication dosage is less than 20 cm at least prior to outputting the dosage-manipulation signals. The method includes extracting a medication out of the medication container, positioning a receptacle by a receptacle carrier in a horizontal distance of less than 20 cm between the medication and the opening of the receptacle, at least prior to the extracting, and dispensing the medication in the receptacle.