The Propeller Cash Register
LoopyByteloose
Posts: 12,537
Well, I don't have the time or desire to enter the Propeller Contest, but from the begining I thought that the Propeller might provide a good platform to handle all the services included in a modern cash register.· Apparently, the cash box and input devices are compatible.· Even a bar code scan can be used.· Add a serial dot matrix printer for cash receipts and you have most of the hardware.· Video output could be mixed with advertising or entertainment that reaches the customer while waiting to pay.
Of course, you might want to add a PINK so that the home office can monitor the tally during the day and get a final closing report at the end of each day.
If that is not enough, the bar code could pass on inventory control data.
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PLEASE CONSIDER the following:
Do you want a quickly operational black box solution or the knowledge included therein?······
Of course, you might want to add a PINK so that the home office can monitor the tally during the day and get a final closing report at the end of each day.
If that is not enough, the bar code could pass on inventory control data.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
PLEASE CONSIDER the following:
Do you want a quickly operational black box solution or the knowledge included therein?······
···················· Tropically,····· G. Herzog [noparse][[/noparse]·黃鶴 ]·in Taiwan
Comments
Alas... Once I understood there is no code (Intellectual Property or IP) protection with the Propeller, this idea went out the window. POS devices (also like voting machines) need to be highly secure in this respect. The weak link is between the Propeller and external flash/ram/rom. Let's hope Propeller-II addresses this issue. There are deep threads about IP protection with the current Propeller in this Forum. I'm still not convinced it is possible without eating up a lot of the processing power of the Propeller to do it, if it is doable at all.
Rgds, David
FemtoBasic could be altered for BCD arithmetic, and structured file support i.e. random and indexed files.
Standards are the way to go. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_of_sale
Drone... I think that IP is a non issue, look at all of the PC POS out there.
you won't make a hand-held POS but you could make a cheap counter top with cash drawer
The system appeared to be a custom DIY setup, similar to at one time I set up an Apple II as a fake EKG machine
for a movie. Also, I sometimes use receipt printers to run off a scroll of ASM, which I find easier to debug with a
pencil than by viewing a screenful of code at a time on the screen. Receipt printers are usually standard serial or
parallel, and it's interesting to me that the BELL (ctrl-G) character is used by cash drawers as a command to open.
This I know from building some of those PC POS cash registers recently. If there are any POS secrets, they are probably
in the credit card readers.
If only I had a dollar for each time in the last year I've seen rows of new POS PC's holding up the lines rebooting Vista!
Regards
Mike.
Anyone that has ever gone shopping for their first retail cash register in a small business [noparse][[/noparse]mom and pop's store, automotive repair shop, or restaurant] is dumbfounded by the huge cost. Since there are limited employees and only one till, having an inexpensive alternative is quite wonderful.
My first retail shop started with a shoe box.· Then we went to an old 2nd cash register that wouldn't ring up any sales over 5 dollars.·· If the item was $20, we would ring it up 4 times.·When you start with $2000 of inventory and they want another $2000 for the cash register, it all seems absurd.
I like the idea of it doubling as the security video. One can keep an eye on the whole store while serving a customer that is ringing up a lot of items. Brilliant.
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PLEASE CONSIDER the following:
Do you want a quickly operational black box solution or the knowledge included therein?······
Post Edited (Kramer) : 2/27/2008 7:00:53 AM GMT
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Shawn Lowe
Maybe I should have waited to do that......