Temperature System Inside the Coolers/Freezers
The Instant Systems Coolers and Freezers models 600, 700, and 850 are equipped with advanced temperature sensors located at the top of the cooled area. These sensors are seamlessly integrated with the kiosk software to ensure compliance with various Health and Food regulations. Given that these regulations can vary by country, the software offers configurable settings to appropriately respond to temperature fluctuations (refer to Configuration Settings for details).
| Functions | Model | ||
| 600 | 700 | 850 | |
| Auto-locking if temperature is outside of allowed temperature range for a specified duration | x | x | x |
| Remote locking/unlocking of coolers | x | x | x |
| For DUOs and Lounge models, only cooler affected by bad temperature will auto-lock | x | x | x |
| Disable Auto-locking even if temperature go down if frequency (two times) or duration (Bad temperature for more than 1 hours) is met. | x | x | |
| Monitor readings and view historical graphs of the temperature in back office (see image below) | x | x | x |
| Configure Cooler/Freezer temperature remotely | x | x | |
| Auto-locking because of bad temperature can be configured to send email alert | x | x | x |
| Ability to configure open hours for kiosks. If time and day is outside of an open interval, the kiosk will auto-lock. | x | x | x |
| Ability to specify auto-locking schedules per product. Example: If kiosk has fresh salad in stock after 9PM a Tuesday, auto-lock the cooler(s) that contains that product. | x | x | x |
Configuration Settings
BadTemperatureDuration
• Default value: -1
• Description: This setting specifies the duration (in minutes) after which the cooler will lock down if a bad temperature is detected. A value of -1 disables this feature.
TemperatureAlarmDiff
• Default value: 5.0
• Description: This setting defines the temperature difference (in degrees) that will trigger an alarm if exceeded.
TemperatureValue
• Description: This is the target temperature and should be set to match the cooler's temperature.
Temperature Notifications
When a kiosk detects a bad temperature, an email notification will be sent to all addresses specified in the server setting Service.AlertMailTo and the kiosk setting MailTo.Alert.
Additionally, the kiosk will enter maintenance mode, which will be reflected in the Admin Dashboard.
Configuration Instructions
These settings can be configured by editing the kiosk settings:
1. Go to Admin > Network > Information > Kiosk.
2. Search for the specific kiosk.
3. Click on the kiosk ID.
4. Navigate to the Temperature Settings tab (see image below).
To apply these settings network-wide, set the default values in the kiosk settings:
1. Go to Admin > Network > Settings > Kiosk Setting.
2. Search for the relevant settings.
NAMA – Automatic Shutoff Control Configuration
To comply with NAMA standard Section 701 – Automatic Shutoff Controls, the vending system must prevent product access if the unit fails to maintain food-safe temperature conditions.
This includes:
- Automatically disabling vending if temperatures exceed 5 °C (41 °F) for more than 30 minutes
- Ensuring the shutoff mode does not interfere with door closure
- Providing a field-testable configuration
The configuration settings described below are required to ensure compliance with these provisions.
Required Settings
| Setting | Value | Description |
| BadTemperatureDuration | 30 | Number of minutes the temperature may remain above the allowed threshold (5 °C) before auto-lock is triggered. |
| TemperatureAlarmDiff | 1 to 2 | Allowed difference from target temperature before an alarm is triggered. For example, with a target of 3 °C and TemperatureAlarmDiff = 2, the alarm will trigger at 5 °C. |
| TemperatureValue | 3 | Target temperature of the cooler, used to calculate trigger point for lockout. Should be set low enough to ensure that product temperature does not exceed 5 °C. |
| KioskLockingEnabled | True | Enables the auto-locking function based on temperature. |
| TemperatureControl | iqbox | Method of temperature measurement (must match hardware configuration). |
Field Evaluation Procedure
The following test procedure may be used by field technicians or public health inspectors to verify compliance with NAMA 701 Automatic Shutoff Controls:
- Simulate normal use by opening the cooler door for 30 seconds.
- Observe the kiosk behavior:
- If the temperature exceeds the configured limit (e.g., 5 °C), the vending should be disabled automatically after the configured BadTemperatureDuration (e.g., 30 minutes).
- A visual alert or maintenance mode should be triggered.
- Verify temperature readings using the kiosk dashboard or backend logs.
- Ensure that the door can be closed normally even if shutoff has been activated.
- Optionally, test the notification email by monitoring alert triggers defined in Service.AlertMailTo.