MDB - Vending Specification
"MDB" stands for Multi-Drop Bus, a communication protocol widely used in vending machines and other automated retail devices. It was developed by the National Automatic Merchandising Association (NAMA) as a standard for ensuring compatibility and efficient communication between various components within a vending machine, such as payment systems (like coin mechanisms, bill validators, and card payment terminals), the main control board, and peripheral devices like displays or product dispensers.
In the MDB system, all these devices connect to a single data bus, allowing them to communicate with each other efficiently. The protocol operates on a master-slave architecture, where the vending machine's control board (the master) sends commands to the peripheral devices (the slaves) and receives data back, such as payment transactions or stock levels. This setup simplifies the integration of different devices from various manufacturers, ensures reliability, and supports the modular expansion of vending machines with new peripherals as technology evolves.
Overall, MDB has become a crucial standard in the vending industry, providing a reliable and flexible framework for machine automation and payment processing.
As MDB is a defined and internationally recognised standard, the specification itself is not repeated here. This section will however explain the configuration parameters of Payter solutions with regard to MDB.
MDB Settings for Apollo Family