Regarding PLC connection to Kiosk

How I can connect Kiosk to a Plc ? I want input from the kisok and then plc would do the required work. Please answer this question

Run your client application on the Kiosk, interface w/ the PLC via, oh anything really, but probably Ethernet.

dravik said:

run your client application on the kiosk, interface w/ the plc via, oh anything really, but probably ethernet.

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lol

This "kiosk" reminds me of a conversation I had last year with an AB distributor who every couple of sentences said "kiosk" until I had to stop him and ask, what is a kiosk?
Other than selling drives he built panels for water pumping applications and those panels were installed in a, well......... a KIOSK. I guess in the industry it is self explanatory.

Welcome to the PLCTalk forum community !

In American English, a "kiosk" is a small informational desk or display, often in a retail setting.

As video screens and interactive software has taken over tasks that once were performed by friendly employees or colorful pamphlets, the term "kiosk" has come to refer to a dedicated purpose touchscreen interface for a commercial purpose, like one from which you print out an airline boarding pass or order a fast-food meal.

I know that it's also a synonym for "telephone booth" in British English.

In an industrial context that /kalabdel mentioned, it might be a synonym for "skid", particularly in the oil and gas industries where parts of a process system are mounted on self-contained frames or platforms.

So it will be necessary to describe just what you mean by "kiosk", and what sort of functions the PLC is controlling. If you have an actual project, provide as much detail as possible.

Ken Roach said:

...So it will be necessary to describe just what you mean by "kiosk", ...

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Oh Ken, don't be a hall monitor and state what is obvious to all except the OP: it's so much more fun to just let our imaginations run with these kinds of threads .

Ok, I have to make a tea/coffee automatic machine that would prepare these beverages . The customer would place order through a Kiosk. (The whole machine would be controlled by a PLC). But the problem is kiosks are very costly. I need to connect them to PLC so that a customer can give orders and payments. My question is how can i reduce the no of Kiosks and 2nd question is how can i connect a kisok to PLC remotely, I don't want to use ethernet cables but rather a wireless sort of thing.

Karan2905 said:

Ok, I have to make a tea/coffee automatic machine that would prepare these beverages . The customer would place order through a Kiosk. (The whole machine would be controlled by a PLC). But the problem is kiosks are very costly. I need to connect them to PLC so that a customer can give orders and payments. My question is how can i reduce the no of Kiosks and 2nd question is how can i connect a kisok to PLC remotely, I don't want to use ethernet cables but rather a wireless sort of thing.

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Most PLCs can talk Ethernet, so what brand are you using, and what protocol between the kiosk and PLC?


You can probably use normal wireless, but make sure you consider what happens if the wifi fails in the middle of an order.

Is this a real project, or a design for an automation class ?

I would start with the sales kiosk software and its payment processing, and see what kind of network protocols it supports, and be sure that the PLCs you select can handle them.

WiFi is frequently used where wired Ethernet cannot be run. The system you describe does sound like it could benefit from a standalone PLC type controller that executes a "batch" process for each beverage.

Selecting a controller should start with the skills and experience of the application engineers, and the connections and quantities of the sensors and actuators, and then move into performance, network connectivity, environmental conditions. Cost and availability should be considered last.

Karan2905 said:

My question is how can i reduce the no of Kiosks and 2nd question is how can i connect a kisok to PLC remotely, I don't want to use ethernet cables but rather a wireless sort of thing.

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You could have one kiosk sending an order/request to one of an arbitrary number of PLCs. Each PLC could have the same program, with a recipe for each drink as part of that program, along with extras like milk, sugar, ice cubes, etc., and have the kiosk take the order and the payment, and then queue up the order by recipe, which is picked up by the next free PLC.


WiFi is close enough to ethernet that once all hosts are on the same LAN (broadcast domain), all kinds of communication are possible.


What is the operating environment of the kiosk? Can you install software on it to communicate with PLCs? I doubt it will be practical, or secure, to handle payments with a PLC.


If the kiosk cannot be the controlling host of the entire process, that could be done with a separate "headquarters" (HQ) PLC that the other PLCs "listen" to, collects orders, and distributes orders to the other PLCs. It may even be possible to have each PLC have the same software including the HQ portion, but only one has that role active at any given time, and another PLC picks it that role if the current HQ PLC fails.

Here is my Final problem

Leave Kiosk, they are costly . I have decided that customers would install an app and select the beverage and pay also from that app. That input from customers must be given to plc and then plc would control all the mechanism of making beverages. Also let's assume there are 30 people inside the shop who have placed order. How can i make such a communication between those 30 mobiles and plc to execute orders based on fact that whoever place an order first would that order plc would execute first. Do I have to use wifi Or another computer or anything else to establish that communication?

Karan2905 said:

Here is my Final problem

Leave Kiosk, they are costly . I have decided that customers would install an app and select the beverage and pay also from that app. That input from customers must be given to plc and then plc would control all the mechanism of making beverages. Also let's assume there are 30 people inside the shop who have placed order. How can i make such a communication between those 30 mobiles and plc to execute orders based on fact that whoever place an order first would that order plc would execute first. Do I have to use wifi Or another computer or anything else to establish that communication?

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A host provides a "virtual kiosk" as a web server that provides a web api to take orders from mobiles; there may even be a custom app for the mobiles. the host running the web api communicates to, and schedules, the multiple PLCs using any of a number of Level 4 or 5 protocols (Ethernet/IP; modbus, etc.) on top of level 2/3 Ethernet/TCPIP, but basically ethernet.


The web server could be an inexpensive RaspberryPI or PC stick.


How the connection is made - local wifi lan or via the cloud, is a design choice.



You do not want the mobiles communicating directly with the PCs.



I may have mislabeled the levels.

What host would be used in this situation?


Also it is fine according to me that plc and mobile devices don't communicate directly

Is this a theoretical project for school, or are you actually trying to automate the role of tea boy ? Is your system designed to work on a single building or campus, or are you designing a vending machine system to be widely distributed in public ?

The most complex and difficult part of the system you describe is the payment processing, followed by the user interface. The batch management and actual machine automation are simple by comparison.

A custom smartphone app or web portal with menu and shopping-cart functionality, tied to one or more micropayment processors, is the sort of thing that you should outsource to a professional development company or buy an off-the-shelf solution used by restaurants in your area.

In my area, I can think of several. All the food delivery services have one that sends orders to an Android or iOS system or an e-mail address. DoorDash, Uber Eats, Postmates, and Grubhub dominate the US market, while smaller platforms include BeyondMenu and ChowNow. I admit I have no idea what companies are popular in your part of India.

In my opinion, a custom mobile app is not the right solution for what you describe, at least not in a limited deployment area. Survey your proposed customers and find out what apps they use to order takeout food on their smartphones.

Yes I would outsource to make a personalized web api however I am little confused of term Host you are using. I think host must be some kind of hardware device that interconnects the mobile phones to the plc through a web server. And that host would be connected to the plc through Ethernet communication. So my question here is What is the host here? and if I am wrong please explain in short what you are saying about that whole host thing and interconnection between plc and mobile phones.