So I happened across an old soda machine that works great. I have had it for years and now that the kids are out if the house, I can finally put beer in it! I would like to add it to my Hubitat and was hoping maybe the forum had someone knowledgeable on vending machine repair.
Happy to give more specifics on the make and model with a wiring diagram. But "Alexa, may I have a [beer]" is something I have been wanting to do for awhile and figured this was a very Lounge worthy topic.
And depending on the time of day... Alexa should give you some snarky remarks 
Like. "Mr. Gnant, are you sure you need another, it is getting late and you have had 7 already"
AMAZING idea! My sister in law's dad is a retired pepsi repair man I'll ask her if he'd be willing to consult on it. If it's working, you'll have to think outside the box. Here's an alexa project I did, and now I'll be keeping my eye out for a soda machine too. 
did this with node red.
"Mr Gnant, no you may not, it's 9AM"
@april.brandt let your sister-in-law's dad know it is a Royal Vendors Inc. Brand, model RVCDE 552-8. That would be awesome!!!! I know it is possible to set to free (at 75 cents now, and no I didnt make money off the kids, we have a red solo cup full of quarters). That should eliminate the payment circuit.
Reaching out right now. He's old skool so might not have email. Is there something specific that you want to ask? (besides setting it to free)
Hooking up a controller in line with each motor that dispenses seems easy enough. But there has to be some feedback circuit that tells it when to stop. I think that will be the thinking out of the box part.
a zooz Zen16 maybe is the first thing that came to mind. I think you could control everything with one of those. Or two.
If the motors are AC current, that would work perfect. I Would need three as there are 8 selections.
You could ask CSH about how they made Drink and Snack run. There used to be pages on them but could not find the full details quickly.
https://csh.rit.edu/about/projects.html
Not directly Alexa, but they were pretty detailed (in the past) about getting the guts of the machines working.
Could you use a low voltage relay to close the contact on the button? Similar to a garage door opener hack? Then you wouldn't have to deal with AC or feedback loops or anything.
I thought of that too and was actually wondering if I could use an LED controller for just that. Just turn on one color channel for 1 second and let the machine do the rest.
you would need a couple but the Zooz Zen 16 should work.
Hubduino and an 8 relay board? 
$$8.99 on Amazon
I run my whole pool off of one of those.
@cssteele I have never used the Arduino IDE or HubDuino, but willing to learn. I need to start doing some diagnosis to figure out which are AC and DC circuits and the corresponding voltages.
Edit: Or find the manual online...
That manual shows 10 vend motors and 10 push buttons. Are you expecting to use only 8? Or is your machine a 'smaller' 8 button version?
Mine is the smaller 8 button version. But the thing holds over 500 cans.
Holy Moly Batman! That's a lot of Beer. Or sodas and Beer. Or heck it's a lot of whatever the heck you put in it. Neat project.
What's the operating cost of one of those things? Thinking refrigeration here...
S.
Wow, there are quite a few various models on eBay. Freight could be substantial.
Royal Vendors Vending Machine
Download the Hubitat app
