This note assumes that you have installed the Sinc Center and connected the Sinc modules (MSMs) to the machine. In this document we often refer to Sinc modules simply as modules. “Sinc modules”, “modules”, and “MSMs” mean the same thing.

The general procedure for setting up and launching the system involves:

1. Configuring a few parameters in the Sinc Center and verifying communication between critical components.
2. Setting proper DIP switch settings on the modules
3. Activating the modules
4. Configuring the prices to match those on the actual machine

First we provide an overview of the most critical application, Mitech Bridge, and discuss a few logistical issues around screen management.

Mitech Bridge is an App on the Android tablet computer. The application’s functions can be broken down into two components: The Payment User Interface (UI) and the administration area. The former allows users to select the machines and make payment, while the latter allows the system administrator to view various statuses and set various parameters. The app is called MitechBridge, officially registered with Android as com.mitechisys.com.bridge. The icon should exist on the desktop as follows:

When the tablet boots, Bridge will start automatically. The tablet also uses an application called Hide Bar to hide the notification area (top of tablet) and the navigation bar (button of tablet), which would otherwise allow a user to navigate outside of the App. Whenever the tablet boots, Hide Bar is automatically activated.

So generally, no manual administrator input is required to launch the Bridge or to hide the bars.

However, there may be instances when the administrator needs to show the bars (i.e to configure something in the tablet outside of the Bridge App) or when the administrator needs to hide the bars after showing them.

To show bars Press the Tablet’s power/Screen ON physical button.

To hide bars Reach the very top edge of the tablet screen and swipe down to bring the down the Android menu as shown below:

Then just tap “Hide system bar” (Mitech is working on a method to make this process easier) To open the Bridge application just tap the MitechBridge icon on the desktop (unless in Windows, Android only maintains one instance of each application so if Bridge is already running, tapping this icon merely brings the application window to the foreground). To access the administration area , in the support screen (or in the Out of Order screen), tap the administrator icon in the bottom right corner:

You will be prompted for a password. Mitech ships the MitechBridge application with the default password “1A”. It is strongly recommended that you change this password through the administration area or through the LaundroPortal (discussed later).

You may need to access and change router settings if A)you need to change how the router connects to the internet (Ethernet wire or 3G) or B)you want to check 3G modem signal strength. You access the router settings via a browser and you can use the Chrome browser on the tablet for doing so. The local network inside of the Sinc Center has IP address 50.50.50.X. The router is on 50.50.50.1. To access the router configuration menu, show the navigation menu if not shown (by pressing the power button), press the home key to show the home screen (in red circle as shown below) and open the Chrome browser App from the home screen.

Go to address 50.50.50.1. The login/password to the router is admin/admin.

To change between 3G and Ethernet, go to Network»Internet Access. You should see the following:

Choose between 3G Only and WAN Only. If the router is configured to connect to the internet via 3G modem, the Status tab will have a 3G section that indicators the signal strength as well as connectivity status:

Each Sinc system that you deploy should have a unique Location ID. This is configured through the settings inside of the Bridge Application. Open the Bridge application, log into the Administration area, and click the Setting button. Click the Location ID item and enter a 7-digit location ID (with zeroes prepended to the front as neccessary). At this point you should consider changing the administration passwords. Do so using the Administration Password item. You can also change the Administration password online through the Portal, where you can also add additional accounts (e.g for technicians).

At this point, you should verify that communication with critical components exists. Open the System Status tab and note the table:

This shows the general overview of the system, accounting for major components (except for MSMs, which are under the Machine info tab and will treated later). Under normal operating conditions, the statuses should indicate “OK” or “N/A”. If you see messages such as “Problem” or “No communication”, the issue must be investigated. The Bridge polls the status of these components every 2minutes. Therefore, status indicators may not be real-time. To force the polling of the status without waiting for the next poll time, press the “Refresh now” button.

Note that since the Bridge communicates with all of these components through the router, ensure that router and connections are proper, particularly if all components are showing problems!

It is critical to understand how the the Sinc modules communicate with the NCC. Sinc modules can communicate with the NCC if both are on the same network ID , which is unique to every Sinc system and is determined by the NCC (using the location ID and customer Key). The actual number of the network ID is not important to the owner.

There is a special network ID called the “Default” network ID, which is used by the NCC to find new Sinc modules and assign to them the Network ID of the NCC. When the modules have the Default network ID, they are considered deactivated. Once an Sinc modules has been assigned a network ID, this module is said to have an “Assigned” network ID and is considered activated.

There are two LEDs on the Sinc module. They have the following meaning:

Each module should also be configured for a washer/dryer number. This is done using the DIP switch. See DIP Switch setting page for details on how to set the DIP switch.

If modules are supplied by Mitech as deactivated (i.e the default Network ID), you need to activate them.

Note: Before you do this, ensure that Bridge is communicating with the NCC by inspecting the Controller Communication item in the System Status tab of the Bridge application. It should be “OK”.

1. Ensure that the target machine number and type is set using the DIP switch
2. Ensure that DIP switch SW2 is in the lower position. Move it down if is not.
3. Under the Machine Info tab of the Bridge application, press the Activate Modules button and wait. The command tells the NCC controller to switch to the Default network ID to seek out new modules.. This process takes around 20 seconds. If the Sinc station door is open, you can see the status of this activation process on the LCD display on the NCC controller. Once it is complete, the greed LED should be On and the Red LED should be off. Shortly after, you should also see the activated machines appear as an item in the table under the Machine Info tab in the Bridge application.

This table lists the various machines and their statuses and settings in the local Bridge database. This table is dynamically updated whenever the status of the MSM or of the corresponding machine changes (e.g from Idle to Busy), whenever a new MSM becomes activated; it is also periodically updated. Essentially the same information is forwarded to the LaundroPortal and can be seen on LaundroPortal website. When an MSM is operating properly, the Status column should indicate “OK- Idle”, “OK-Busy” or “OK – Cycle done”. If the MSM does not periodically check-in (or otherwise send anything to the Sinc Center), then this will be reflected in the Status column with either a “Timeout” or a “Machine Not Responding” message.

You can remove a machine from the Bridge database by pressing the red “X” button. You may want to do this if, for example, the machine is no longer in the laundry room, or you have some dummy machines from a demo (See the Simulation modes section for more info on setting dummy machines for demos). After you activated all machines, ensure that they all exist in this table, that the status is OK, and that the signal strength is reasonable (above 30).

For newly added machines, you need to set price and top-off settings.

You can deactivate a module (i.e put it into a the Default network ID) by toggling - pushing up and back down- switch SW2 on the DIP switch.

When a user starts a machine through the Sinc Center, the Sinc center sends the price to the MSM and the MSM sends as many $0.25-pulses as indicated in the message from the Sinc Center. Therefore, the price set in the Bridge must match that set on the machine. Use the Modify Prices button in the Machine Info tab to invoke the following dialog:

The Global price settings allow you to set the same prices on all washer/dryer while the Machine-specific price settings section allows you to set prices to individual machines. After entering the values, you must press Apply or Apply to all washers/dryers buttons.

The meaning of the fields:

Price: This is the full cycle price configured in the machine.

Top-off limit (dryers only): This is simply the maximum top-off dollar amount that could be added to a machine during any single purchase. Essentially, it just controls the number of buttons in the Top-off dialog. Top-offs have an increment of $0.25. The value entered for this parameter must be a multiple of 0.25. To disable top-off, simple set this field to 0.

Top-off time increment: This is the time, in minutes, that is added for every $0.25 in Top-off. This is only used for display purposes in the payment user interface.