International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology Volume 71 Issue 12, 61-68, December 2023 ISSN: 2231–5381 / https://doi.org/10.14445/22315381/IJETT-V71I12P207 © 2023 Seventh Sense Research Group® This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) Original Article Automatic Pill Dispenser for Pharmacy Myo Min Aung 1 , Dechrit Maneetham 2 , Pharan Chawaphan 3 1,2,3 Department of Mechatronics and Robotics Engineering, Rajamangala University of Technology Thanyaburi, Pathum Thani, Thailand. 2 Corresponding Author : dechrit_m@rmutt.ac.th Received: 05 August 2023 Revised: 20 October 2023 Accepted: 14 November 2023 Published: 06 December 2023 Abstract - Medication plays an essential role in people's daily lives. Individuals often experience headaches, pains, upset stomach, fever, and common colds, among other ailments. Factors such as long working hours, limited relaxation, extreme weather changes, and irregular sleeping and eating patterns can contribute to illness and disease. Medications are necessary to alleviate symptoms or even prevent them. Additionally, many people take vitamins and mineral supplements to meet their nutritional needs when their diets fall short. Typically, over-the-counter (OTC) medicines and vitamin supplements can be readily purchased at pharmacies without needing a doctor's prescription. Automatic Pill Dispensers for Pharmacies have been designed and built specifically to streamline the process of dispensing these OTC medications and supplements. Pharmacies often face long queues, and automatic pill dispensers offer a time-saving solution by quickly dispensing medicines and supplements, much like a typical vending machine. The prototype hardware was designed using cost-effective materials and components, with a particular focus on the dispensing mechanism. Control is facilitated through an Arduino Mega microcontroller, and payment can be made through a coin validator/acceptor, simplifying the purchasing process for both pharmacists and customers. A notable advantage of this system is its modular design, allowing for the replacement of custom-designed dispensing discs to accommodate different types of pills. Experimental results were obtained by conducting tests on various aspects, including servo motor performance, dispensing accuracy, serial vs. parallel processing, and the comparison between manual dispensing and an automatic dispensing system. The automatic pill dispenser not only extends the service hours of the pharmacy by serving as a self-access kiosk but also achieves performance comparable to existing research in the field. Keywords - Pill dispenser, Pharmacy, Over-the-counter medicines, Dispensing accuracy, Parallel processing. 1. Introduction Medication has undoubtedly been a part of treatment for people with common illnesses or diseases. Pharmacies provide people access to medicines, and pharmacists play an important role in primary medical consultations and delivering the correct medications at the right doses, especially for prescribed medicine. With the advancement of technology, manual and repetitive pharmacy tasks can be done/operated by automated systems/devices so that pharmacists can focus on critical tasks. Automation minimizes costs, increases efficiency, and streamlines business processes. While there has been a significant amount of research on automatic pill dispensers, most of these studies have focused on automatic pill organizers or devices that can remind and dispense pills for scheduled medication to patients, especially elderly or disabled individuals. However, automatic pill dispensers designed specifically for hospitals and private pharmacies/drug stores have been relatively scarce. While some commercially available automatic pill dispensers exist, they tend to be expensive and may not be practical for small pharmacy owners. The initial step of this research was developing an automatic pill dispenser machine for pharmacies that can sell medicines, essential supplements, and vitamins. The machine will operate on the vending machine principle, allowing pharmacists to reduce the time spent selling common over- the-counter (OTC) medications. This will also make it easy and convenient for people to buy medication and dietary supplements. OTC medications refer to a set of drugs used to alleviate or prevent minor illnesses such as upset stomach, headaches, sore throat and fever. Individuals can use them to treat themselves or their loved ones without needing a doctor's prescription. Dietary supplements are nutrients the body needs in addition to the main meal and help maintain good health. Both OTC medications and dietary supplements can be found in typical pharmacies where pharmacists can distribute them without a doctor's prescription.