Development of Smart Unmanned Vending Machines Using Networked PLC and Chatbots

Due to the increasing labor cost, many companies tend to develop unmanned technologies. This paper creates a smart unmanned vending machine using networked programmable logic controllers ( PLC) and chatbots. The developed unmanned vending machine consists of three components, including a self-checkout system, a smart warehousing system, and a monitoring system. The self-checkout system is built by the proximity switches on the shelves with calculating the total cost of the buying items. The warehousing system is mainly regulated by a networked PLC as a controller with a connection to the internet. The monitoring system is mainly presented by chatbots used on smartphones. This paper combines RFID, PLC, and chatbots to create a smart unmanned vending machine.