Project Files
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Pharmaceutical Vending Machine
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Telepharmacy
Solutions, Inc. is a leading provider of e-commerce
solutions to the outpatient care market. TSI’s products
allow medication to be legally remotely dispensed to patients.
Other TSI products provide medication access control at
hospitals. |
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System Overview
Telepharmacy Solutions, Inc. came to
Bolton Engineering to design the electronics for their first
pharmaceutical dispensing machine, and for all their subsequent
dispensing machines. Over a period of eight years, Bolton
Engineering designed eight different dispensing controllers,
most based on the same scalable design platform, and all
command compatible.
The controllers interfaced to host PC’s over multi-drop
serial networks or over USB. The host PC’s controlled
machine access and performed user verification via access
cards or fingerprint ID. The dispensing machine controllers
controlled the real-time vend cycle, ran system diagnostics,
and implemented an anti-theft alarm system.
Results
- Developed expandable architecture that has met TSI’s
needs through several equipment generations.
- Systems supported from 10 to 120 vending mechanisms
(one per product).
- All boards were completed on-time and on-budget.
- All eight boards were designed and implemented perfectly
and required no changes after the first layout.
Project Scope
Bolton Engineering wrote the specification, designed communication
protocol, designed the schematics, obtained vendor quotes,
developed the circuit boards, constructed prototype boards,
wrote diagnostic and control software, debugged the system,
and supported regulatory certifications.
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Consumer and Computer
