Tüth | Devpost

The enclosed apparatus, mounted to a box for display purposes.
The front access panel removed to reveal the sanitation bay, toothpaste dispenser, mouthwash dispenser, and circuitry.
The mouthwash dispenser in action.

Inspiration

We originally started out trying to design a solution for a prevalent real world problem. We were looking into creating an auto shutoff module that could be integrated into existing stoves to prevent house fires. Eventually we decided to focus on making daily life more convenient, and doing so with a fun, over engineered design. After several hours of discussion, we developed an integrated dental hygiene concept for household use.

What it does

Tüth is an all-in-one, internet-enabled solution for the future of dental hygiene. It holds multiple toothbrushes in a UV sanitation bay. It automatically dispenses the perfect amount of tooth paste and mouthwash with its automated dispensing systems. It offers an integrated audio timer and responsive illumination system which is used to give the user feedback on their brushing time and ensure that they brush and mouthwash for the dentist-recommended time. The system supports the extension of multiple user profiles, enabling the system to tailor its dispersal amounts based on which toothbrush is picked up. The internet capability keeps the users accountable for their brushing habits. If one of the users forgets to brush a particular morning or night, it will post to their Twitter account, notifying the world that they forgot to brush their teeth --public shaming at its finest.

How we built it

The Tüth system was originally built using the Particle Photon board, providing wireless internet and easy access to web API's. During a momentary lapse of judgement in our sleep deprived state, we accidentally pumped 12v through the 5v board VIN pin, and that was the end of the Photon. Such is life. We ported the whole thing over to an Arduino Mega and wrote a Processing script on a laptop to rebuilt the twitter functionality.

We had some servos and acrylic lying around and we scavenged for most of the other parts. We used a water bottle, pieces of scrap wood, and a lot of hot glue.

Challenges we ran into

It was surprisingly hard to use a servo to control the mouthwash. We were too cheap to buy a real valve so we spent hours trying to design a way to crimp a tube to stop the flow.

The Photon burnout cost us a tremendous amount of time in redesigning the electrical system and porting the code over.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

The design prototype is fairly attractive considering how quickly it was put together. We had a ton of fun making it, and are glad we picked a fun project to work on.

What we learned

It is incredibly rewarding to over-engineer a simple everyday task and apply the internet of things to ridiculous objects.

What's next for Tüth

We've started prototyping a website interface that will hopefully allow users to track their brushing history. We also have a pico projector that we want to add to internally-project to the user a random YouTube video to keep them entertained.