All-Weather Sensors Improve Transaction Times at Retail Drive-Up Windows

Drive-up service facilitates quick, convenient transactions for retail stores and their customers. Installations may be as simple as a call button and a single drive-up window. Others may be more complex with two-way audio/video communication systems, multiple customer kiosks, pneumatic tubes and vehicle detection systems.

Buried in a shallow trench, Banner’s M-GAGE™ Q7LMEB detects vehicle presence at a drive-up window, triggering a timer and an alert to store staff.

Challenges

A large retail chain wanted to improve customer transaction times by retrofitting their drive-up systems with automated vehicle detection.

Additionally, the company wanted performance metrics, such as visit count and duration to determine where, how and whether to invest in additional or upgraded drive-up stations and staff. The system they would choose needed to be easy to install to minimize drive-up downtime and cost-effective for a large deployment. It would have to withstand common outdoor challenges, like dirt, wind, precipitation and temperature extremes.

Customer

A large retail chain in the U.S.

Customer Requirements

Cost-effective, minimally intrusive vehicle detection system for drive-up service retrofit

Banner Solution

M-GAGE™ Q7LMEB Flat-Pak sensors

Why Banner?

Cost – Compact, magnetic field detection sensors were a fraction of the cost and far less intrusive than inductive loop sensors
Ease of Installation – A narrow 1” wide, 3” deep trench was cut into the drive-up lane, sensor was placed and covered with sealant
Weather Resistance – Encapsulated circuit board housing is sealed in an adhesive-lined heat shrink sleeve

Solution

Banner’s M-GAGE™ Q7LMEB Flat-Pak sensors provided the company with discrete vehicle detection. Like an inductive loop deployment, the M-GAGE sensors were buried in the drive-up lane. However, their small size required only a shallow, narrow trench and a small amount of pavement sealer, minimizing cost and service downtime

. To protect against moisture and other environmental challenges, Banner encapsulated the sensors in sealed, adhesive-lined heat shrink epoxy sleeves. Each sensor measures magnetic field changes, making them immune to challenges common to outdoor deployments. A vehicle entering the detection area will alter the local magnetic field, triggering an alert to notify staff and a timer to record the visit duration, enabling the company to monitor drive-up performance. The M-GAGE is configured to trigger only when alterations to the local magnetic field are sufficient to be caused by a vehicle, minimizing false alerts.

Customer Benefits

Performance Assessment – Drive-up data helped the company improve processes and make informed investment decisions

M-GAGE™ Q7LMEB flat-pak vehicle detection sensor

M-GAGE Q7LMEB Features

• Compact, one-piece, self-contained sensor requires no external controller
• Installs in a fraction of time required to repair or replace failed inductive loops
• Designed for indoor or outdoor applications, above or below grade
• Reliably detects large metal objects

About Banner Engineering

Banner Engineering is a global leader in process automation and industrial automation with more than 3000 representatives and application engineers around the world. Banner Engineering manufactures and globally distributes sensors and solutions for the ITS industry and activities related to traffic and parking

Learn More

Visit www.bannerengineering.com for product information and to locate a distributor