Here's How We Design Create Invent Develop Smart Vending Machines.
Consulting
We discuss the purpose of our customers machine and then work on a solution for an MVP to bring to market & test their hypothesis.
Hardware & Software
We write the embedded software that brings our customers custom vending machine control circuit board to life.
UI/UX
Our artist will create several interactive graphical user interface screens to help our customer determine what they like best.
Cloud
Each machine’s health and sensor information as well as inventory, sales and analytic data are displayed on a custom built dashboard.
See what we did for VendiBean
Project Consulting
The most valuable aspect of Blue Sparq is the ability to help our customers create the requirements for their project. We do this by listening to you! Our goal is to better understand your vision and purpose for this machine. After we help create the requirements, we discuss the UI/UX design. The UI/UX design is an integral part of conceptualizing how people will interact with the machine. Finally, we will discuss your dashboard. The dashboard is used to maintain and service the machines as well as monitor inventory and sales. Blue Sparq will provide guidance throughout the development process.
Custom PCB Design
Based on the features and functionalities the customer wants for their SMART vending machine, we develop our own control electronics. We use Altium Designer to design the schematics and layout the circuit board. Once the design is complete, we order the necessary components and materials. As soon as the components and materials arrive, our factory makes a few prototype PCB assembliess and provides them to our firmware team.
Embedded Firmware
The hardware team and embedded software team work closely together in the early stages of a new custom control electronics development project. The software engineers will help the hardware designers by helping select an appropriate microcontroller as well as mapping the necessary I/O. Once the new circuit board design has been completed, and the circuit board has been assembled, the software team can begin. The first step is to bring each individual control circuit online and test its efficacy. From there a Modbus registry is created to easily control all of these required functions. After this Modbus registry has been created and tested, a basic version of the UI can start communicating with this circuit board, controlling the machine. The embedded software team now works closely with the UI team to finish the development of the machine.
Ubuntu Linux
We prefer to use UBUNTU Linux for our large screen size display computers because the computers used are more powerful than the embedded small screen counterparts. Ubuntu Linux helps us quickly create a stable and secure system environment, helping us get our customers Smart Vending and Dispensing machines first to market.
Next Generation User Interface
While the controls are being designed, our UI / UX designer works with our customer to understand exactly how they want to interact with their machine. Our artist will create several interactive graphical user interface screens using Adobe XD. These prototype screens help our customer decide what they like best. Understanding what our customer likes best helps pave the way for the rest of the user interface design. Our artist will finish the UI and provide our customer with an Adobe XD web link allowing the customer to interact with this looks like, feels like, user interface. Once we receive an approval from our customer, we can then start programing this user interface in QT.
Payment Systems
Most vending machines in a retail environment need to be able to accept payments in order to dispense. We can use our own proprietary QR code payment system that doesn’t require any additional hardware. We can also integrate 3rd party payment systems such as Cantaloupe’s ePort, or the Nayax credit card reader using MDB.
Real Time Data
Smart vending machines offer real opportunities to gain a competitive advantage. With IoT-enabled smart vending solutions, you can reduce costs, increase revenue and improve customer service and experience – all from a single centralized point of control. You and your clients will have access to all of the data produced by your machine through a custom made dashboard.
Mechanical Design
Our mechanical design team had to modify the existing machine’s door to accept a 27” Touch Screen Display. Our touch screen display computer supplier helped us make these modifications as well as design an appropriate touch screen display chassis to make assembly easy and robust. Next, our customer wanted to add a cup dispense tower that had enough room to mount a credit card reader. Our industrial design engineer listened to what the customer wanted and created a few sketches. These sketches were used to help the customer understand exactly what they wanted us to make for them. Ultimately these sketches help create the functional requirement specifications required to make this cup dispense tower.
Testimonials What our customers have to say:
"Vagabond Vending needed to build a one-of-a-kind communications device that handled relatively complicated remote telemetry tasks in real-time. We needed it to be simple enough for anyone to install, reliable in any environment, and flexible enough to work in any machine on any network anywhere in the world. BLUE SPARQ took the request and ran with it — managing all aspects of design, architecture, planning and component vendor relations — with very little oversight. This allowed us to build our business while they built our future. Throughout the project, the entire BLUE SPARQ team showed the kind of honesty, teamwork and reliability that reminds me why I got into the innovation business in the first place. We launched the product in 2014 and are already into another project with BLUE SPARQ. I’d recommend them to anyone with similar needs."
"Our company was looking for a way to show case our technology to take advantage of its unique capabilities and properties. When we discovered BLUE SPARQ and asked for their help, we were excited to learn that they could not only help bring to reality the concept we had in mind, they helped improve on what we had. The result was a demonstrator that became our best tool for showing potential customers what our technology was capable of while in their hands. In addition, BLUE SPARQ has continued to support modifications and changes that evolve the demonstrator, many of which were same day! It has been BLUE SPARQ's ability to support us same day and to genuinely care about the success of our prototypes that has encouraged and continued a successful relationship. As I continue in my career, I will always consider BLUE SPARQ and Rapid Keypads as a first source for rapid prototyping custom electronics and advanced capacitive touch user interfaces."
"Vagabond Vending needed to build a one-of-a-kind communications device that handled relatively complicated remote telemetry tasks in real-time. We needed it to be simple enough for anyone to install, reliable in any environment, and flexible enough to work in any machine on any network anywhere in the world. BLUE SPARQ took the request and ran with it — managing all aspects of design, architecture, planning and component vendor relations — with very little oversight. This allowed us to build our business while they built our future. Throughout the project, the entire BLUE SPARQ team showed the kind of honesty, teamwork and reliability that reminds me why I got into the innovation business in the first place. We launched the product in 2014 and are already into another project with BLUE SPARQ. I’d recommend them to anyone with similar needs."
"We received our first working prototype with supporting documentation in less than two weeks well before our own prototype boards were completed. The support from BLUE SPARQ was as promised, both Jameel Ahed and his engineering staff were very responsive to all issues and replied to all e-mails and telephone calls almost immediately. Overall, we were so pleased with the product and support that we are now considering changing existing products to capacitive touch keypads."
"I worked (recently retired) for a large beverage company and they were searching for an alternative to a OEM failing electronic touchpad. Bluesparq was able to design a prototype, shipped the prototype for testing, sent back prototypes for minor enhancements and they adopted the enhancements then performed additional analysis and quality performance. We then placed 10 updated prototypes and tested for several months. They worked flawlessly and the decision was made to proceed with production. After several years of successful replacements, we learned of another design enhancement that would made the installation quicker and even more resistant to water infiltration.
That was implemented and now the product is very well received by thousands of service technicians and customers. Prior to the touchpad product, Bluesparq was very instrumental in creating a tester to simulate some POS functions to determine if communication errors was a result from an equipment standpoint or the POS vendor/software. This tester has successfully been in use now for well over 5 years and it still is working. Thousands have been purchased and used with great feedback.
Bluesparq is fantastic and I could confidently recommend them without any hesitation."
"When our new development project for a high-speed cell sorter needed operator controls we didn’t want to settle for an overly-complex full touch screen. Instead, we wanted to focus the user’s attention with a beautiful, simple, and clean interface. Blue Sparq delivered exactly what we were looking for, customized perfectly for our system. From design, to prototype, to production they exceeded expectations for timing and quality. We will absolutely be coming back to Blue Sparq for our next system!"
"When I am working with BlueSparq on any given project, I have a high degree of confidence that they will meet and exceed what we set out to design. The team at BlueSparq is bright, forward thinking, and efficient in their approach to solving design problems. Not many engineering minded professionals will have the sensitivity for good design. It is a pleasure to engage on projects with them because they will not only fully comprehend what you are trying to accomplish quickly, they will find the best approach to a solution that optimizes the final product in all aspects of its design."
Companies worldwide use BLUE SPARQ's custom design,
engineering and manufacturing services!
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