Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hi, Im a student in AP Physics 2 and have been tasked with a project on circuits, so my group decided to do the smart cabinet. I have many questions
1. How do I set up the circuit because I want to include 2 leds one for if theyve taken the medicine and one if they haven't.
2. What supplies would I need?
3. If I need to use arduino and a breadboard, how would I program it and code it with no experience? Is there some user friendly interface?
4. Since I am doing a more complex version of this experiment, would I need to still use the voltage divider?

Hi MattyLuong,

I'm assuming that you're working on this project:

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... medication

The project background provides a design for the sensor but any additional circuitry is up to you to design. The following link describes one smart cabinet design:

http://www.ijste.org/articles/IJSTEV3I10093.pdf

You may want to try some research online to find other circuits and identify supplies needed.

Information about interfacing with an Arduino is available here:

https://playground.arduino.cc/Main/Inte ... thSoftware

As indicated in the project background, you need an electrical sensor that detects when a medicine bottle is picked up or placed on it. This sensor can be based on a voltage divider as described or you can design another type of sensor.

I hope this helps. Please ask again if you have more questions.

A. Norman