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help required for a newbie!

milezwide

Oct 22, 2010
2
Joined
Oct 22, 2010
Messages
2
Hi...
is there anyone who can point me in the right direction, regarding a dilemma I'm in, regarding a new business venture i am about to branch into.I have invested in vending machines which will be rolling out one product only [ the product is irrelevant at this point!] The problem i'm stuck with is that each vending machine holds only 45 units, and we have no way of monitoring when the machine is either running low or has emptied on products!!! i have looked into the china market [ with many headaches when it comes to the language barrier sadly] i know what i am looking for is a Sim card based sms message sender.A basic way to describe what i want is a magnetic reed switch fitted to the machines motor , so as every time a purchase is made, a closed circuit will open [ or viceversa ] and be registered,on the gsm module. Then, hopefully when the machine is , say, down to its last 10 units, a simple text message can be sent to a number relaying the info and the machine can be restocked.

Ive had one interested company who said they are willing to come on board, and they could supply us with a product.. similar to a monitoring device on home heating circuit.. where the house holder could send text messages to the unit and turn on the heating etc etc... but they were quoting us prices dearer than 10 machines!! we are hoping to be rolling out 200 units for a start ... but at a reasonable cost!!!

can anyone point me in the right direction? my work is from an electrical background, not an electronic one sadly!!!! and this is my crutch!!!

look forward to hearing who is out there !!!
 

rob_croxford

Aug 3, 2010
262
Joined
Aug 3, 2010
Messages
262
You could use a digital circuit that every time 1 unit is sold its clocks a 1 into a latch (or memory register). This register could "count" down from 45 and at zero a seperate circuit could be initiated to send a text to your mobile phone. I dont believe this would be that difficult to do however i imagin there is a certain space that this circuit must fit into etc... it would be hard to design such a circuit that would be any use to you without knowing the full specifics of your vending machines.
 

milezwide

Oct 22, 2010
2
Joined
Oct 22, 2010
Messages
2
Thanks for reply

Many thanks for your reply, I hear what your saying to me alright!! It seems a simple procedure in theory , hopefully it can be simple to put together , efficient and cost effective above all!!! The machine itself has loads of spare space in it to add in extra software/ equipment thankfully. Would it be of any benefit if I sent you some pics of it ? Did I explain that I have no schematics for the original components wired in the machine? The company that made them in china are reluctant to give any details to us ( for obvious reasons!!!! To prevent us producing them from our own sources etc!!) though I doubt if we could compete with there manufacturing costs! Hence an individual power supply would be safer for any additional software on the machine.
Thanks again for taking time to look over this,
Jonny
 

eptheta

Dec 20, 2009
188
Joined
Dec 20, 2009
Messages
188
I cannot take any of my suggestions to a commercial level, but if this was a project at home, this is what I would do:
The deployment chute for your 'product' must be generally long, enough for an optical sensor. I'd just put a light source(laser, LED anything) and a sensor(LDR/photodiode) on the other end, and when a can falls through, blocking the light, register it.
The rest is digital, possibly a counter like rob_croxford suggested(a simple binary one) which outputs when it reaches 35.
I'm guessing the cellphone part can be bought as a whole module with just the need for supply voltage and a triggering input...

With this method, your counting circuit is completely independent of the vending machine's circuitry, which saves you the trouble of learning chinese.
This of course may be inefficient, but for a hobby project, I'd do this.
Hope this helped somehow...
 
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