If you want to create a system that connects MDB peripherals to a Windows or Linux PC, or a Raspberry Pi and you want to make that job easy, then the Aardvark MDB Paylink Lite USB connection unit is exactly what you need.

The high level Paylink API means there's no need for you to get involved with things like drivers for RS232 serial communication, as all of that is handled by the Paylink system. MDB Peripherals are available to handle coins, notes and payment cards and are generally the lowest cost options in their class. They are often found in vending machines.

This small, MDB specific version of the Paylink interface unit hardware, the MDB Paylink Lite unit, is ideal if you are only planning to use MDB peripherals. It is available to buy now, in whatever quantities you'd like. Just send an email to us at sales@aardvark.eu.com telling us how many you'd like to buy.

The MDB Paylink Lite Interface Unit is a part of the general Aardvark Paylink product line; if you want to easily connect your system to any money handling equipment, such as bill validators, recyclers, coin acceptors and hoppers, regardless of how they are connected then a Paylink system is exactly what you need. You can read a more general description of the Paylink system as a whole below.

The MDB Paylink Lite series fully supports all the features and functionality of the Paylink system and supports a single MDB peripheral connection. When you implement an MDB Paylink Lite system the supplied unit is a small box which houses all the electrical connections needed:

• An industry standard 6 way MDB connector (ready to directly plug in the first peripheral in the chain),
• an isolated power connector so you can supply 24V/36V to these peripherals,
• A USB socket, ready to take a standard USB cable to connect to the PC
• and if you need a few switches and LEDs you've got 4 low power digital outputs and 4 digital inputs.

Paylink MDB Lite Full Description

Rather than the limited 3 pin connector of some MDB interface units, the Paylink MDB Lite electronics were designed from the ground up to support MDB in an easy, cost efficient way.

To provide a connection to the various MDB Peripherals you choose, the MDB Lite unit is fitted with the standard 6 way MDB connector (the Molex Mini-Fit Jr detailed in section 4.3 of the MDB specification), so that first unit in the peripheral chain can be plugged directly into the MDB Lite without using any additional cabling.
The standard connectivity for MDB peripherals is that each unit has an "in" connector and an "out" connector, so the "out" connector of this first unit will then plug into the "in" connector of the next, and so on.

A high power barrel connector is fitted to the MDB Lite unit, to easily provide power to these MDB peripherals, again without any extra cabling. This matches many generally available power supplies, e.g. the 65W, 24V Powerpax SW3784-B.
This connection is totally isolated from the rest of the unit and is not necessary for the communications to function. In conjunction with the opto-isolation used on most MDB peripherals, this results in a very low noise system with no ground connection between the PC and the peripherals.

For the PC, the MDB Interface units has a standard "printer" USB B type socket, ready to take a standard USB cable.

Digital I/O is provided, which matches the same electrical specification of the standard Paylink, although using a different 20 way connector which provides the following 5 groups of 4 pins:

• 4 digital inputs which are each the same as one of the 16 digital inputs on a standard Paylink
• 4 pins connected to ground for use with these inputs
• 4 digital outputs which are each the same as the 8 low power outputs on a standard Paylink; connecting the pin to ground when driven from Paylink.
• 4 pins which are pre-wired for an LED, featuring a resistor connecting the pin to the 5V USB supply; so an LED requires no additional circuitry and can just be connected from here to an output pin - there is no equivalent of these pins on the Standard Paylink.
• 4 pins connected to the 5V USB supply though a 500mA fuse, for convenience when using non-LED outputs that don't need the resistor. (The main MDB supply is not available here as it is electrically isolated from everything else on the board.)

Why use Paylink at all

Because you are looking for a simple and affordable way to connect your money handling equipment to your computer.

Because you want to avoid the hassle of writing and maintaining complex communication protocols.

The Aardvark Paylink system is a revolutionary solution that lets you communicate with any money handling device from any computer, using any programming language. It supports a wide range of protocols from different manufacturers, such as ccTalk, MDB, RS232, and more. It also has a user-friendly API that allows you to monitor and control your devices with ease.

Simply put, you will have no peripheral interface software to write. An ordinary developer with no peripheral experience will be up-and-running with your chosen peripheral set in less than half a day.

The API of Paylink is flexible and adaptable. It supports any money handling device that uses one of the supported protocols, such as ccTalk, MDB, RS232, and more. It also supports any computer that runs on Windows or Linux operating systems. It can work with any programming language that can access the Paylink Application Programming Interface (API), which provides high-level, device-independent control of the devices and digital I/O signals. You can use the user interface of Paylink to develop your own software applications that interact with the Paylink system.

In order to use money handling peripherals, the computer is required to implement a serial communications handler, sometimes using RS232, but also proprietary electronic systems such as MDB or cctalk. This handler has to implement a protocol, which is described in a protocol definition document for the particular device, in order to control the peripheral device and monitor what is happening. Writing one of these handlers is not easy, so you should use Paylink and you will have no interface software to write.

Paylink is not just the Milan Lite Interface unit. Although technically it is a simple "level shifter" providing the electronic RS232 or ccTalk interface, it include the entire Paylink library of mature, thoroughly tested protocol handlers which means it offers unparalleled ease of connectivity for peripherals from a wide range of manufacturers.

Paylink Lite units run on any PC computer; Windows systems, any PC based system running a modern Linux distro and the Raspberry Pi.

Unfortunately as the software runs on the host machine, the current releases do not include the ability to run on non PC systems apart from the Raspberry Pi. We are however continually enhancing the software, so don't let this put you off contacting us if you have such a requirement.

Milan / Paylink Lite supports many protocols from many manufacturers; the following table will give you an idea of the breadth of the facilities:

But that’s not the full story. If you change manufacturer allegiance, add peripherals or have different build variants, then your application does not need to change at all. Paylink simply accepts the newly connected peripheral set and presents them all to the application through the same high-level, device-independent interface.

And the Paylink code base has now been evolving for a full fifteen years. It is completely stable and reliable and new devices are being supported with every passing year.

You want to upgrade a bill validator to a bill recycler? With Paylink it could not be easier. Simply disconnect your bill validator and connect your recycler. Note dispensing becomes seamlessly added to coin dispensing with no change to your application.

Note that completely apart from the money-handling system, Paylink Lite also provides 4 digital inputs and 4 low power digital outputs.

The standard API provides a very simple interface for programmers writing in C, C++, C#, VB, Java and Delphi. And there is example code included with the SDK in each of those languages. If your team are skilled, high-level programmers, then they are free to concentrate on what they know best, without having to descend into serial communications and low level development.

Full support is already provided for high-security, state-of-the-art peripherals today. As new devices become available, then we provide support for these new devices.

To summarize things, Paylink gives you:

• Cost effective and resource efficient integration of money handling peripherals
• Frees up the application programming, development and manufacturing staff to concentrate on core applications
• Product Speed to Market
• Plug and Play
• Designed for use with low-cost, USB-only computers
• Decouples core applications from the monetary peripherals, allowing simple peripheral upgrades
• Multi-protocol availability means no additional communications software to be written
• Comprehensive diagnostics and error logging
• Future proof – state of art peripheral access with new device upgradeability