We designed a cable car-like device to simulate food (pills) entering and passing through the human digestive system. By the environment it has to stays like mouth, stomach, intestinal tract, and how long it will stay, we ensured that our pills will be released only in the intestinal tract rather than breaking down in unintended areas (Too early or too late). What’s more, this device is not designed only for our project. It can be used to test any other kinds of pills easily by simply changing the substances in the liquid and the operating time of the cable car.

Figure 1 Liquid container

Using acrylic sheets, we created a container, made up of a box and a lid, that models the human digestive system. The container is separated into three separate sections for substances with pH levels set according to specific digestive tracts── neutral(mouth and esophagus), Acid(stomach), and Alkaline(intestinal tract). The size of the holes in the cover are designed to prevent the liquids inside from spilling out, but they also allow the pill to go through the holes with precision. The cover also includes slots to allow the Lego Mindstorms NXT track device to fit easily and stay stationary on the cover of the container.

Figure 2 Lego Mindstorms NXT track device

We chose to build the cable car track, shown above, using Lego Mindstorms NXT parts because of its simplicity and its creative uses. Fit the cable car-like device into the slots on the cover and start the program . How long the pills stay soaked in the liquid is set according to how long food stays in the digestive system of a human body. The device will systematically soak the pill in the liquids for the set intervals.