On Thu, Aug 16, 2007 at 02:48:41PM +0100, Ben Francis wrote:
Hi all,
Does anyone know of a "coin selector" or "coin acceptor" with a USB interface which is supported by free Linux drivers? I'm talking about the mechanisms on coin slot machines which send signals to an embedded computer when coins are inserted.
I've had a quote for a product which includes an EMP 800 coin selector (http://www.custom.it/ing/money/03-01.htm) and I've managed to get hold of a data sheet for it so I can write my own driver, but I'm wondering if there is a similar product which already has support under Linux.
When I worked for JPM (the fruit machine company [1]) all the coin op mechanisms all worked on Unix. Not sure if they use Linux now, but certainly up until 2000 they were using drivers based on the Unix kernel.
Unfortunately I can't remember what mechs they were using, but they're likely to have changed since 2000 anyway. If you're in a pub, have a look for the company logo on the mech and give them a call. Barcrest, Bell and Ace will all be using pretty much the same as JPM, so you've a fair chance of hitting the jackpot [2].
[1] http://www.jpm.co.uk/ [2] Sorry that was really lame, but I couldn't resist .. it is Friday!
Cheers, Barbie.