Bottom filling water dispenser that pours you a drink whenever you walk by
Image credit: Reverse Tap
Darko SavicNov 16, 2021
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A home network of bottom-filling water dispensers that pour you a glass of fresh water whenever you walk by. They recognize each family member and offer drinks according to how much each individual should drink per day.
Why?
The device makes sure you are well hydrated every day.
People (kids especially) are too busy/distracted to drink sufficient amounts of water.
How it works
Ideally, there would be multiple dispensers placed in strategic locations throughout the house. All are connected and work together. Their mission is to get each household member to drink a sufficient amount of water tailored to them.
If there are multiple household members there should be multiple taps on each unit. Each person should have their own glass that is always placed on one of the taps. The dispensers recognize people via the cammeras and facial recognition software.
Each dispenser is connected to a cooled water canister that is hidden nearby. When the water content in the canister gets low, a LED diode on the top unit starts flashing to notify you that it's time to refill. When possible, the cooling canister can be connected to the municipal drinking water so that it refills itself.
Each unit is connected to waste water canister or sewage pipe, to throw out the unused stale water.
When drinks are offered
When you walk by any of the dispensers, it knows:
how much time has elapsed since you last had a drink
how much water you had that day
how much water you should drink per day
how many times in an average day you walk by any of the dispensers (how many chances they get to interact with you)
how much water you usually drink at any specific dispenser and time of the day
Based on the above info, the tap decides whether to pour you some water (or not) and how much to pour into the glass.
If you don't drink it, the dispenser empties the glass. The unused water goes into the wastewater tank or sewage, or garden
The next time you walk by, you get fresh water poured into your glass.
This is how bottom filling dispensers work:
Learning period:
When the dispenser network has just been installed and doesn't know any household members yet, it fills everyone's glasses to 100% full for the initial few days. Based on how much water each member doesn't drink (waste) the network learns to offer less in the future. It learns everyone's habits, portion sizes, etc.
Based on each person's age, weight, sex, physique, etc. the dispenser network knows how much water they should be drinking and adjust the frequency/portions accordingly.
Example scenarios:
You walk by one of the dispensers, it pours you 3 sips worth of water. It knows that you won't drink more than that so it doesn't waste water. You then walk into the other room where there is another dispenser. That one doesn't pour you any drinks because it knows that you just had a drink on the previous dispenser and you aren't thirsty yet.
There are 4 family members and there are 4 glasses on the dispenser. 2 members walk by. Only 2 glasses get filled. One is half full (for the mother), the other contains 1 sip (for a 2 year old child).
You come home after training. The dispenser recognizes you and fills your glass to 100% full. It knows you usually drink a lot around that time of the day.
Connect the water dispenser network to well-known fitness apps
Shubhankar KulkarniNov 18, 2021
The dispenser will know how much you have worked out before coming home or even in your home using the data from the fitness apps (and/or smartwatches). It then uses these data as a parameter to decide how much water you should/ will drink at that time.
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Washing the glasses
Darko SavicNov 16, 2021
The dispenser could keep the glasses fairly clean by periodically filling them to 100% and then somehow rotate the water for a while before emptying it into the waste tank.
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Shubhankar Kulkarni3 years ago
If the glasses came with lids, washing would be easier. Instead of adding a rotating mechanism for washing, the lid could be locked and the system that fills the glass with water uses a jet to spray and clean the glass. It may rinse the glass after that and then unlock the lid. While drinking, the user simply removes the lid and puts it back on after drinking.
Darko Savic Nov 16, 2021