Integrating forecourt fuel dispensers with point-of-sale terminals is one of the most demanding engineering challenges in retail petroleum due to disparate vendor protocols (Gilbarco, Wayne, Tatsuno, Tokheim, Bennett) and proprietary signaling voltages.
1. The Critical Role of the PTS-2 Forecourt Controller
The PTS-2 Controller serves as a ruggedized industrial protocol translator and galvanic isolation buffer between hazardous forecourt hardware and internal LAN applications:
- Hardware Isolation: Shields back-office computing infrastructure from outdoor power surges and static transients through opto-isolated interfaces.
- Protocol Normalization: Translates diverse Current Loop, 2-wire, and RS-485 proprietary serial streams into standard JSON/REST and TCP/IP sockets over Ethernet.
- Simultaneous Multi-Channel Control: Orchestrates up to 16 fueling dispensers and 16 ATG probes with sub-50ms latency.
2. The 4-Stage Digital Transaction Sequence
Every automated fueling sequence follows a strictly governed telemetry handshake:
- Nozzle State Event: Lifting the nozzle triggers a microswitch interrupt transmitted via PTS-2 to the POS device (Sunmi V3 or fixed terminal).
- Cryptographic Pre-Authorization: Target volume or fiscal amount is locked. The POS issues an authorized preset command unlocking the dispenser valves.
- Real-Time Metering Telemetry: Dispenser pulser signals stream through PTS-2, rendering live volumetric digits on POS displays.
- Fiscal Finalization: Returning the nozzle to holster automatically seals the transaction record, pushes electronic invoice data to ZATCA, and balances shift totals.
3. Eliminating Shrinkage and Unauthorized Fueling
Through deterministic hardware interlocking, dispensers remain completely dead until an authenticated sale is created, eliminating off-the-record dispensing and unaccounted fuel loss.