MIME 101/CS 160 Final Design: Pill Sorter

BACKGROUND:

A local non-profit, AID Design, has requested Oregon State freshmen engineering and computer
science students to design a pill sorting mechanism for visually impaired patients surrounding the
Oregon State University campus. More specifically, AID has requested a pill sorting system capable
of efficiently and accurately sorting pills of two colors into two corresponding colored containers.

FINAL COMPETITION:

Two colored pill containers (red and green) will be placed at fixed distances and angles from center
within a 360-degree test field as previewed in Figure 1. The goal is to design a fully-autonomous
system capable of reading colors of pills dispensed from a 3D printed pill hopper, locating correctly
colored pill container in test field, dispensing the pill safely into the container, and re-processing for
the entirety of the 10 pill stock. Robots must begin operation at the center of the test field. Design
teams are required to produce a 3D printed pill hopper that must be integrated into their final
system. At competition day, first, pill hoppers will be filled with 10 pills in a random colored order,
such that the systems will examine and sort one pill at a time; note, students are not required to
pick up any pills, they simply must insert them into their hoppers. Next, systems will then begin
their sorting algorithms. Designs will be given a total of 3 minutes to sort as many pills (out of 10
pills) as possible. Pill container and test field dimensions are standardized and can be seen on the
next page.

The final competitions will be carried out during the last week of laboratory. The first hour of
competition day will be allotted for construction and testing of their design. Because design teams
must assemble their robots during the first hour of the final laboratory, it is highly recommended
that teams practice constructing their final designs prior to competition day. Additionally, teams
are encouraged to bring any needed reference material to expedite the process of constructing the
robots; the reference material may include images, outlines, construction steps, etc.
FINAL COMPETITION CONSTRAINTS AND CONSTANTS:

A. Container Constraints:
a. Pill containers will not be within 45 degrees of rotation from each other.
b. Pill containers are fixed at their initial positions.
c. Pill containers will be circular with a 6-inch diameter and 2-inch height
B. General Constraints:
a. Teams may incorporate Lego Mindstorms, Cozmo, or any combination of both
platforms.
b. Designs will be required to begin their operation from the center of the test field.
Students may position their designs at any angle of their choice to begin the
competition.
c. The three-minute timer will begin immediately when any program begins running
on either platform.
d. Final Designs must include the 3D printed hopper capable of feeding pills into the
sorting systems. Hoppers will be printed week 8, and students will have the
opportunity to re-design for week 9 re-print.
e. Students are not limited to only one 3D printed component. However, students must
print additional hardware outside of class time with other 3D printers across
campus.
f. Students may use Cozmo, Lego Mindstorm, or a combination of both systems.
Outside materials such as cardboard, duct tape, rubber bands, etc. are not allowed.
g. There is no upper limit in terms of budget. Teams should aim to minimize their
design costs as much as possible.
C. Test Field Constraints:
a. Test field will be a circular test field of a 5-foot diameter.
b. Teams will be penalized 1-pill value if designs deviate outside of the test field.
Students may replace their designs at the center of the field and re-start operation at
the time of their error, and their designs may continue operation.
D. Hopper Constraints:
a. Hopper prints must remain below the upper limit material usage set in the 3D
printing policy document.
b. Hoppers must be submitted as .stl file following naming convention protocol used
all term. Incorrectly submitted jobs will not be printed.
c. Pill hoppers are required to be filled with the 10 pills given prior to .
E. Pill Constraints:
a. In order to maintain the random nature of the project, LAs will maintain random pill
distribution as needed.
 b. Only red and green pills will be given to students for sorting, as the color sensors
available correctly read red and green more consistently than other colors.
c. All pills are of equal size, with diameter equal to about 0.4”. Any additional pill
measurements should be taken outside of class time during after-hours. Pills are
made available in Rogers 222.
F. Programming Constraints:
a. Teams may not restart programs throughout the pill sorting process. Instead,
algorithms should be written in such a way that a single program will function and
guide activity throughout the process.
FINAL PROJECT EVALUATION:

Students will be evaluated in four distinct areas with designated weights shown below. Note, these
percentages are relative to the 20% final project contribution to the Final grade of the course. For
example, the final project is listed as 50% of the final project grade, equating to a 10% total
contribution to the course grade.

Percentage
Grading Criteria Description
of Category

Teams are required to submit final design reports for

their projects. The requirements and grading criteria
Final Design Report 50%
for the final design report can be seen in the design
reports requirements handout.

Teams are required to submit Midterm Design

Proposals by Friday November 9, 2018 by midnight.
Midterm Design Proposal 25%
See the Midterm Design Proposal handout for
requirements and grading criteria.

Teams will be given three minutes to sort as many

pills as possible out of 10. An incorrectly sorted pill
Competition Day Evaluation:
will be worth zero points (No negative scoring 25%
Accuracy and Time
opportunity). Teams will be graded in the ranges
specified below.

Competition Day Accuracy Ranges:

Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier 3 Tier 4

Pills Sorted Correctly
7-10 4-6 1-3 0
within 3 Minutes
Percentage of Points
Earned in Competition Day 100% 85% 70% 50%
Evaluation

Any questions regarding constraints, materials, and scoring should be addressed to GTA staff.