Self-service ready solution
Kalerm: the machine that takes payment on its own
The Kalerm machines we distribute ship with the MDB 3.0 protocol preinstalled. You connect the payment terminal — contactless reader, coin changer or bill validator — and the machine sells with no barista and no extra electronics.
Unattended, but open
The counter stays free and the coffee sells anyway.
MDB / ICP
The language payment systems speak.
Multi-Drop Bus / Internal Communication Protocol is the vending industry standard, published by the American NAMA association and adopted across Europe. The machine is master on the bus and the payment peripherals are slaves, each at a fixed address: coin changer, bill validator, two cashless devices, communications gateway.
Version 3.0, published in March 2003, is the base practically every payment terminal sold for vending machines builds on today. A machine that speaks MDB is not tied to one payment provider — and does not run out of options if you change processor.
- Master / slave
- The machine commands, peripherals answer
- 9600 baud
- Serial bus, separate transmit and receive
- 24 – 34 V c.c.
- Peripherals are powered over the same cable
- 6 conductors
- A single standardised cable to the terminal
What goes on the bus.
Everything below uses the same port. You can start with card payment alone and add the rest later, without changing the machine.
Contactless cashless reader
Bank card, Apple Pay and Google Pay, QR code. Vending terminals with an MDB output — Nayax VPOS Touch or Onyx and equivalents — connect directly.
Coin changer with change
A dedicated address on the bus. The machine reads the available credit and orders change once the drink is delivered.
Bill validator
Same bus, different address. It can be added or removed without touching the machine electronics.
Telemetry gateway
The protocol reserves an address for communications as well: sales data can be pushed to the fleet-management platform.
Regulatory context in Romania
A commercial vending machine has to issue a fiscal receipt.
OUG 28/1999
Commercial vending machines taking cash or card payments fall under the obligation to be fitted with electronic fiscal devices, per the technical norms updated by HG 355/2023.
01.10.2024
The date from which the obligation actually applies. Fines for machines without a device start at 8,000 lei.
MDB
Fiscal printers approved for vending connect to the machine controller over MDB, EXECUTIVE or a parallel interface. With MDB already on the machine, the fiscal module reads transactions without touching the electronics.
Orientation only, not tax advice. The final configuration and fiscal registration are confirmed with the authorised distributor of the fiscal device.
An operating mode made for the public.
Kalerm X and Y series machines switch between three operating modes: professional, self-service and standard. In self-service the screen shows only the sales menu, recipes stay locked and access to settings requires authorisation.
The milk system cleans itself automatically, which matters in an unattended location, and Kalerm Coffee Cloud telemetry reports sales, machine status and consumables for every site in the network.
- Self-service mode
- Locked recipes
- Automatic milk cleaning
- Kalerm Coffee Cloud
Continuous service
The same coffee on the first order and the last.
Grinding, dosing and frothing are automatic, and the recipe stays locked in self-service mode. In an unattended location, consistency is not a preference — it is the only guarantee of the next sale.
From delivery to first sale.
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01
Power and water
Electrical connection and, depending on the model, mains supply or tank. Water filtration is set from the local hardness.
-
02
MDB connection
The six-conductor cable runs from the machine to the peripheral. The peripheral is powered over the same cable.
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03
Payment terminal
The cashless reader is enrolled with the processor, prices are set per drink and a live transaction is tested.
-
04
Fiscal device
The approved fiscal module is wired onto MDB and registered through its own authorised distributor.
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05
Telemetry and recipes
The machine joins Kalerm Coffee Cloud: recipes, production reports and alerts, remotely.
Where it pays for itself.
Offices with no barista
Staff pay by card; the company keeps no till and manages no coffee vouchers.
Fuel stations and convenience stores
Coffee at any hour with no staff assigned to the machine. The sale closes on the machine's own fiscal device.
Hotels, hospitals, campuses
Continuous-traffic areas where a machine with integrated payment replaces a service point with opening hours.
Coworking and gyms
Irregular but constant demand. Reports show exactly what sells and when, per site.
We configure the machine for your location.
Tell us where the machine sits and how you want to take payment, and we will send you a quote with the right model, the payment terminal and installation.