Looking for passionate Arduino hobbyist looking to mentor a high school project

ok, first figure out how you’re going to determine if there are pills in the container to dispense, then how you’re going to get them out one at a time.

Forget the Arduino at the moment.
You’re asking a problem that requires observation and mechanical answers.
We can help you address the logical part after you figure out the first two.

Detecting pills... weight? Optical ? Counting from a known number...?

Dispensing... tipping the bottle? an augur (without smashing the pill or over-dispensing multiples... some other mechanism?

Over to you.