Kiosk device management in quick service restaurant environments

Abstract

A kiosk system which is capable of maintaining kiosk devices online without physical manipulation is disclosed. The kiosk system is capable of forcing a programmatic re-initialization of kiosk devices when necessary. Individual devices in the kiosk system can be initialized and re-initialized in parallel with normal operation of the kiosk system.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of providing device management services in a kiosk system, the kiosk system having a kiosk application that provides a customer-operated quick service restaurant ordering interface, the method comprising:
 receiving a first device status code in a model registry of the kiosk system via an event bus, the device status code comprising data indicative of a kiosk device failure condition;   storing the first status code as current status data for a device model corresponding to the kiosk device in the failure condition;   issuing a command for the kiosk application to enter a lower function mode based at least in part on the first status code;   generating a re-initialization command for the failing kiosk device; and   transmitting the re-initialization command to the failing kiosk device.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 re-initializing the failing kiosk device;   obtaining a second status code from the re-initialized kiosk device, the status code indicative of normal device operation; and   storing the second status code as current status data for the device model corresponding to the re-initialized kiosk device.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising issuing a command for the kiosk application to enter another function mode based at least in part on the second status code. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first device status code received in the model registry of the kiosk system is sent to the model registry from a device management module via the event bus. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the re-initialization command is generated by a device management module in the kiosk system. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first device status code is received in the model registry asynchronously. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first device status code comprises a low paper status code and the kiosk device comprises a printing device. 
     
     
         8 . A kiosk device management system, comprising:
 a device management module configured to generate a first device status code, the device status code comprising data indicative of a kiosk device failure condition;   an event bus configured to receive the first device status code from the device management module; and   a model registry configured to receive the first device status code from the event bus and store the first status code as current status data for the device model corresponding to the kiosk device in the failure condition,   wherein the model registry is further configured to:
 issue a command for the kiosk application to enter a lower function mode based at least in part on the first status code; 
 receive a re-initialization command for the failing kiosk device; and 
 transmit the re-initialization command to the failing kiosk device. 
   
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the model registry is further configured to:
 issue a command to re-initialize the failing kiosk device;   obtain a second status code from the re-initialized kiosk device, the status code indicative of normal device operation; and   store the second status code as current status data for the device model corresponding to the re-initialized kiosk device.   
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the model registry is further configured to issue a command for the kiosk application to enter another function mode based at least in part on the second status code. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the device management module is further configured to generate the re-initialization command. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the model registry is further configured to receive the first device status code asynchronously. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the first device status code comprises a low paper status code and the kiosk device comprises a printing device. 
     
     
         14 . A method of managing a kiosk system, the method comprising:
 identifying a first device that has limited functionality;   attempting, via a device discover module, to discover a second device that provides at least a portion of the functionality typically provided by the first device;   switching services to the discovered second device if the attempt is successful; and   causing the kiosk to provide a message of notifying a customer of the limited functionality.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , further comprising:
 receiving, via an event bus, a notification related to the discovered second device from the device discovery module;   receiving, at a module registry, the information indicative of the discovered second device from the event bus; and   generating, at the module registry, a device model based on the received information.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 receiving, at a device management module, status codes from the discovered second device, and   sending a command to the discovered second device from the device management module, based on the received status code.   
     
     
         17 . A kiosk device management system, comprising:
 a model registry configured to identifying a first device that has limited functionality;   a device discovery module configured to discover a second device that provides at least a portion of the functionality typically provided by the first device; and   an event bus configured to receive a notification related to the discovered second device from the device discovery module,   wherein the model registry is further configured to:
 switch services to the discovered second device if the attempt is successful; and 
 cause the kiosk to provide a message of notifying a customer of the limited functionality. 
   
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 17 , further comprising:
 a module registry configured to receiving the information indicative of the discovered second device from the event bus, and generate a device model based on the received information.   
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 18 , further comprising:
 a device management module configured to receive status codes from the discovered second device, and send a command to the discovered second device based on the received status code.   
     
     
         20 . A method of providing device management services in a kiosk system, the kiosk system having a kiosk application that provides a customer-operated quick service restaurant ordering interface, the method comprising:
 receiving a first device status code in a model registry of the kiosk system, the device status code comprising data indicative of a kiosk device failure condition;   storing the first status code as current status data for a device model corresponding to the kiosk device in the failure condition;   issuing a command for the kiosk application to enter a lower function mode based at least in part on the first status code;   generating a re-initialization command for the failing kiosk device; and   transmitting the re-initialization command to the failing kiosk device.