Getting started creating a video vending machine

Vending Machine

I am a web developer (use PHP,JS etc daily) and would really, really like to start making some of the hardware projects I have dreamed of. I use Ubuntu everyday on my laptop for work and would like to get deeper into Linux.

I would like to build a vending machine which:

1. Accepted coins through a coin acceptor

2. When a coin is accepted a computer displays 5 different images on 5 different computer LCD screens, randomly picked from a folder

3. If nobody puts a coin in then the displays update anyway every X minutes

I'm thinking that running a Raspberry Pi for each screen would make sense and somehow 'delivering' an image to each one from the master which is attached to a coin acceptor.

I have found a coin acceptor at Adafruit and can follow their instructions on how to connect it to an Arduino. But from there I have no clue as to how to proceed.

Any ideas, broad brush strokes, directions much, much appreciated.

Many thanks,

Gwilym

You could connect the Arduino to the Pi (for example http://raspberrypi.stackexchange.com/qu ... an-arduino). I assume this is just for playing around and not for actual use? Cause you should know that vending machines and the likes run either some microprocessor or else a dedicated RT os on tried and tested hardware. Not a linux distribution with stuff running in the background that might break things on a board that might, but might also not, be reliable.

See you the link. There you can get an idea of ​​what you are looking for..

https://sites.google.com/site/caribouvending/

Thanks for the replies. So I am thinking...

- I get a Raspberry Pi (my Commander) and a USB Coin acceptor

- When a coin is dropped a receive the message from the coin acceptor (I wonder if I need a driver or if anybody knows of an acceptor that would work with the RP usb/serial driver I have read about?)

- When I get the coin message I generate a random number and store it in a text file

- I have another Raspberry Pi (actually several) linked via ethernet to the first, it is polling the Commander every second and reading the stored number, when it changes it delivers a different image to the screen it is attached to via HDMI

Does that sound feasible?

@ staple
I'm also looking for a solution that will connect the Raspberry Pi to a coin acceptor, but for a different purpose of controlling usage of a internet-connected public computer.

The closest proof of concept i've come across is Nick's Advice Machine http://blog.notdot.net/2012/09/Penny-for-your-thoughts
Unfortunately, although Nick answers questions from his blog visitors, he hasnt yet provided a step by step tutorial on how its built. A plus if he does it on Instructables.

Can anyone provide a better tip on how to link-up a Raspberry Pi to a coin acceptor via its GPIO using Python?