// hardware · mdb controllers

Supported MDB Controllers

A controller is the board between the Raspberry Pi and the vending machine's MDB bus. Vendilator drives two: the qibixx MDB Pi Hat and the Picovend EZ Bridge.

qibixx MDB Pi Hat

PCB002Q v1.2 · Qibixx AG
cashless-slavecashless-mastersniffer~€80
connection
Plugs onto the Raspberry Pi 40-pin GPIO header. MDB cable into the Peripheral port when a real machine is the VMC; Master/VMC port only when the Pi acts as VMC.
power
Pi from USB-C 5V/3A always (Qibixx notes MDB bus power may be insufficient for a Pi 4). The hat itself may draw 20–42.5V from the MDB bus when the machine is on.
serial
/dev/ttyAMA0, 115200 8N1, newline-terminated. Probe with V (version), H (hardware).
  • Cashless Slave mode: agent sends C,0 → C,SETCONF… → C,1. This is the MDB cashless peripheral role used on real machines (Palma H etc.).
  • Cashless Master mode: D,2 + D,READER,1 — the Pi acts as VMC. Bench/dumb-machine only, never on a bus where a real VMC is master.
  • Sniffer mode: C,0 + D,0 — listen-only on the bus.
  • Jumpers C_S/X2 and BOOT: leave factory settings. No mode jumper on v1.2.
Buy from Qibixx AG ↗📄 qibixx MDB Pi Hat — datasheet (PDF)🔗 Vendilator qibixx hat guide

Picovend EZ Bridge Slave v3

PVEZBRIDGESLAVEv3 · Picovend
cashless-slaveB2B ONLY~€60 (B2B only — vendor requires company details + invoicing form)
connection
USB-B to the Pi (data only). MDB harness from the machine into the SLAVE1/SLAVE2 connector (either one). MASTER connector empty in slave firmware.
power
Powered from the MDB bus via the SLAVE connector when installed in a machine. For bench use, the J8 POWER 2-pin accepts 9–32 VDC (polarity-insensitive) or 7–24 VAC (GalaxyVend MDB SLAVE v1 manual) — a 24 V DC supply works. It does NOT power the Pi; the Pi needs its own PSU.
serial
USB-B virtual serial, 115200 8N1, no flow control. Commands & responses end with \r\n, uppercase. RS232 DB9 (cross cable) also available.
  • Slave-only firmware — cashless peripheral role only. The MASTER connector is physically present but electrically INERT on this build; it cannot act as a VMC. There is no runtime mode switch and no firmware-update command over the serial protocol (STATUS/SHOWSETTINGS is all it exposes; FIRMWARE?/MODE?/BOOTLOADER? all return UNKNCMD). For a VMC/master you need the separate GalaxyVend MDB MASTER board or a reflash by the vendor.
  • Command family is CSLS* (all numeric args DECIMAL — a 0x prefix parses to 0). EUR = CSLSCOUNTRY(2424) (the board echoes it back as hex 978); always-idle = CSLSEXPBITS(32); multivend+cashsale = CSLSOPTIONS(10). Vend approve = VNDAPP(amount,timeout) within ~1s of VNDREQ or the device auto-denies (AUTOVNDDENACK); deny = VNDDEN(seconds). Bench-verified fw 5.13.
  • STATUS() returns 11 comma-separated fields: FTLEVEL, SCALE, DECIMALS, COUNTRY(hex), REVAL, MULTI, CASHSALE, CANAI, AI, MDB_TIMEOUT_MS, STAGE. SHOWSETTINGS also reports CSLSSV (firmware version) which the PDF omits.
  • Level 3 + Always Idle → product-selection-first. Level 2 / L3 without Always Idle → BEGIN(...) a session before selection (or press the START button).
  • The agent (PicovEnd driver) re-applies config from the cloud each boot in RAM and does NOT call SAVESETTINGS unless forced — the cloud stays the source of truth.
  • Parse every line of each serial read against both command answers and the unsolicited list — bursts arrive together.
Buy from Picovend ↗Buy via reseller ↗📄 Picovend EZ Bridge Slave v3 — manual (PDF, v2024-10-25)📄 Picovend EZ Bridge Master — manual (PDF, v2024-10-25)📄 Picovend EZ Bridge Sandwich — manual (PDF)📄 GalaxyVend MDB SLAVE v1 — manual (PDF, v2026-02-10)📄 GalaxyVend MDB MASTER v1 — manual (PDF, v2026-02-07)📄 GalaxyVend MDB Executive converter — manual (PDF)🔗 Vendilator Picovend/GalaxyVend slave reference🔗 Picovend EZ Bridge — product page🔗 GalaxyVend software / apps (VMC simulator, tools)