by JMACgyver » Fri Jan 13, 2012 12:28 am
I agree with Drew; it would take very detailed knowledge of the original or similar circuitry.
Now, options:
Try going secondhand to find a compatible control board. there are a number of vending machine repair forums that might have people selling parts from such machines. Set up a saved search on ebay to email you when it finds items like it.
Or, I would try putting in one of those programmable scrolling message signs (with input from the comp as to the content to put on the sign.
Maybe even just stick some LCD Display modules under there. I'm sure some of them can be controlled directly from an I/O port on the comp (i.e.: USB, Serial/RS-232, Parallel, etc)
In all cases though, I would definitely wire up the keypad selection circuits to a normal PC keyboard (if you havent already) and set up a macro or script to interpret which buttons/keys do what.
Thanks for sharing this project with us, but definitely also share it with the vending forums and perhaps programming or embedded control forums as well.
Good Luck with it!
--Electro--
aka The Other David
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Procrastinators Unite!
Tomorrow!
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