Project: the integration of a traditional QSR drive-thru speaker post into the already established architecture and design of the Coates 02 Outdoor Digital Menu Board (ODMB) being deployed at 10K+ sites across the US and Canada as a secondary add on product. Key design constraints included:
Secondary installation of the ISB post installation of the ODMB.
Functionality of the communications array including the camera, speaker and microphone in the drive-thru environment accord multiple technology providers and customers.
Proper branding and design language to marry with existing ODMB product and un-intrusive aesthetic to not distract from the digital content shown on the screens.
UL, safety, and ingress protection.
Ease of installation, manufacturing and deployment.
The goal was to marry traditional speaker post with the ODMB. Note there are single and double screen versions of the ODMB which have similar architecture that would need to be considered.
Under Side and Top Mounted ISB options don’t work within the constraints of the speaker and microphones. At the top position ambient noise would be too apparent over the headset system they are a part of and hinder communication between the customer and the order taker. The under sided mount posed several issues; the microphone being that low would pick up sounds of vehicles’ exhaust over that of the customers’ voices and additionally in Northern areas of the world snow accumulation could impact sound quality.
Plan view layouts of the functionality of attaching the 02 Integrated Speaker Box (ISB) in various positions on the Outdoor Digital Menu Board(ODMB). Considerations for the sound quality, sound quality precipitously drops over a meter in distance from the microphone, angle of vision of the customer to the ODMB, and proximity to the path of the vehicle had to be scrutinized for feasibility. The center placement had the best functionality but the worst for installation as a secondary product. For a double screened ODMB the left handed ISB was the most efficient within all constraints.
Size mockups out of foam board attached to the double ODMB showing the difference between utilizing the speakers currently available on the market vs a more idealized slim line design that would require lower profile speakers to be developed. Although the slimline design was preferential; developing new speakers was cost prohibitive and potentially troublesome due to tech requirements of the clients’ other tech providers.
Regardless of the balance the given to the design by the centered ISB, it would not allow for a post production installation on to the ODMB. Additionally, the digital content is designed to contiguous with each of the screens’ content related to the other; the separation created by the ISB would visually disrupt this content with a separation of 12”.
To help the customers understand that the order will occur at this location with in the drive-thru “ORDER HERE” is written on the ISB. Consideration of scale and interaction of the “ORDER HERE” command with the sound perforation become a crucial detail.
In order to maintain the UL certification on the ODMB via UL48 the power constraints of the ISB were kept to low/communications level voltages. This allowed the ISB to be UL approved as an addition to the original sign product.
1st manufactured prototype installation. The microphone has 20 position possibilities, 50 mm apart, up and down ISB for versatility in placement based on the requirements of each individual site it is installed to ensure the best sound quality. Hydrophobic membranes were explored for ingress protection from water and pests. This path was abandoned as installation of the membranes would pose too many installation/production issues in manufacturing.
Instead the options were reduced to 3 giving enough variety in height that a sound technician installing the speaker and microphone could adjust to the environment for optimal communications sound quality.
Proof of Concept installation in the field.
As a part of the complete design, packaging and branding of that packaging were considered. Constraints such as quantity per pallet and protection of the ISB within were strictly adhered to.
A bracket, the same one used twice, was designed to allow for the ISB to be installed along with a protective glass enclosure. These brackets needed to be both structural sound to handle wind load and safely act as wire chase for the audio and data wires that Chanel through them.
Final production model for the Samsung OH55F 55” screen installed at a Starbucks and at a McDonalds.
Here is the ISB during a presentation for the Microsoft Build 2019 // Vision Keynote + Imagination World Cup : https://youtu.be/ZbpjLchrYgw
