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Complete Mishmash self build - let’s make a pinball machine

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A quick idea for the Input/Output driver board. just a bunch of shift registers (ins and outs) and headers to connect to other boards, playfield etc.



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small board to plug in the two playfield solenoid connectors. I’ll also need the flipper switch wires coming in here. Terminal connectors to link up to the mosfet boards.

How it all connects together.
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Here is my existing cpu board. As well as the esp32s i can fit on a 5v supply board and a real time clock board, which will probably be handy. These boards were designed for my clocks and led lamps, but will be a fair start for this project too. By using off the shelf boards for the esp32, the RTC and the voltage regulator, I can build stuff up very fast and cheap. these boards are ridiculously cheap. £3 for an esp32s board and about £1 for each of the others. I can’t build a board myself cheaper than that.
 
Making the shift registers work with a matrix might be a little software heavy? You could use a 595 to drive the columns and then scan the rows looking for an active switch using the 164/5's. I doubt you would need drivers as you are only looking for a high/low, there isn't any current to deal with.
 
Always fancied having a twiddle with one of these (or the other similar things) but haven't thought of anything I could do with one :)
(believe you can program them with C or C++ ? Been a long time since I did any asm [feels like 68000 years ;) ] )
 
Get yourself an arduino starter kit. they are a really good way to learn as they have the processor and a load of things to connect to it (lights, displays, motors, servos etc) and example software programs so you learn the basics. it was the best £35 i ever spent and sent me down a new amazing road of discovery. The arduino IDE is free and literally limitless amounts of code that folk have written so you leverage up on that.
 
I bought an arduino starter kit, managed to get a couple of outputs on but after that I was stuck, it just gathers dust now, are there any online tutorials or explanations you could recommend?

I do have a keyboard project I would like to attempt, switch matrix on a membrane to give USB/PS2 protocol outputs, but too deep for me.

@AlanJ It was your very impressive playfield clad ceiling that inspired me, that said you do seem to have a little more time available than myself 😂

Chris.
 
taz turbo said:
It was your very impressive playfield clad ceiling that inspired me, that said you do seem to have a little more time available than myself 😂
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Looking at the stuff he has on the go im not convinced theres only one of him. I have a suspicion hes actually created a cloning machine and there are several of him doing all this stuff ;)
 
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Spent this morning designing up a prototype circuit and board. I could easily breadboard this but there are so many wires, it’s just easier to get a pcb made. £6.65 incl deliver and import duty from china. that’s for 5 boards, so a few spare if i mess up, or want to use to make up just a part of the circuit, or for future use.

In the end i decided to stick the esp32s board on there along with room for a real time clock board. I’m going to separate off the 5v power supply as lots of things will need to tap into that

I’ve added a dedicated connector for the switch matrix tgat matches the connector on the playfield, but i’ve also added 2 generic 8 way headers for the switch rows and cols. I’ve got 16 way output for the solenoids and a further 8 for sound and anything else.

Inve also added 8 more inputs for anything else - can’t think what i might need, but just in case

I’ve linked in the correct wiring for the rtc module as well as a ws2812b or similar light output. I’ve added a header to output to max7219 displays but at this stage i’m not sure which outputs on the esp32s to use, so allowed these to be jumped later on.

So I think i’ve done as much as i can with this v1.0 prototype. hopefully it will arrive early aug after my holidays.
 
I’ve been studying the APIs into scorbit, and that would eventually be a nice bit of icing on the cake of this project. but a looooooong way to go before that
 
Been looking for something to handle the coil voltage 43v DC. Found this mains transformer is a lot I bought off Ebay a while back. 34v will be good enough once rectified up to DC. Only issue is, Im not sure how much power it can handle, it doesn't look big enough nor the windings thick enough to carry the current.

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I will hook it up and see how it performs

I've then mocked up the PSU area of the build:
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Whilst I was in the garage I hunted out these 8X32 dot matrix displays for the score displays.
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These ue max7219 chips to power them and Ive used them before so have snippets of code already available.

Back to the transformer, I'll hook it up to the mains and see if it can power a coil or two, or three, worst case current draw is when both flippers are energised at the same time as another coil - e.g. thumper bumper. There are only 3 flippers on the game, but potentially could still have all 3 firing on full power plus something else. Thats about 35A peak draw.
 
Got the playfield out of the garage and started to hook it up to the power

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I plugged a couple of male headers into the 2 plugs that carry the wires to each of the coils, then i could momentarily touch the -ve crock clip to each one.

Most of the coils worked, some are not working so i will check them out later. lhs flipper not working but the right did work but was gunning. i fiddled with its eos switch and got it to hold, it then triggered the top rhs flipper which also held. Transformer didn’t blow up but needs a good proper test. For the time being it’s in the build.

I made a makeshift heat sink for the bridge rectifier out of an old aluminium disc plate. looks a bit odd, but it should help!
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taz turbo said:
Alan "hmm I know, lets build a pinball machine!"

Everyone else "sounds great"

Alan "I've just got all the parts I'll need out of the garage/shed"

:-o
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that’s why i had to build a shed. 😂😂

Much of this stuff already bought for other projects. Ok ok I admit it, i’m just addicted to buying ****e off ebay. There I said it !!!! 😂😂😂😂

I’ve made a list of all parts used & cost as i use them or get them out ready to be used. I’m hoping all the control electronics and leds etc are less than £200.
 
taz turbo said:
Alan "hmm I know, lets build a pinball machine!"

Everyone else "sounds great"

Alan "I've just got all the parts I'll need out of the garage/shed"

:-o
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Never, EVER, leave Alan in a shed with a van. You do know he was part of a crack commando unit that was sent to prison by a military court for a crime it didn't commit, don't you?

He promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the Yorkshire underground.
Today, still wanted by the government, he survives as a reviver of tech.

If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find him, maybe you can hire the Alan-team ;)
 
Is the intention to use the playfield as is. That is to say leave everything where it is - rather than move things around ?

This will presumably have a bearing on any artwork is all im thinkin
 
HomerRamone said:
Is the intention to use the playfield as is. That is to say leave everything where it is - rather than move things around ?

This will presumably have a bearing on any artwork is all im thinkin
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Yes i’m not planning on making any changes at all, so yes a new artwork playfield overlay would have to match up to 8 ball champ layout
 
AlanJ said:
Yes i’m not planning on making any changes at all, so yes a new artwork playfield overlay would have to match up to 8 ball champ layout
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When I was considering getting an overlay made for CG I was talking to a place that *sounded* like they could help. But after many emails I sorta gave up.
It sounded like they could print what was required - that is to say adhesive vinyl, with *printed* white and transparency. But it sounded like the white layer needed to be a vector layer - rather than a rasterized one. I wasn't able to get a straight answer if this was required or suggested. I could have just separated the white components out on the CG playfield image I had but converting to a vector is a different matter.

Of course if this was taken into consideration when creating the playfield image...
 
Had a bit of a brainwave as I got up this morning. Doh! I have already designed a board that has input and output shift registers on it :
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This is from my project which updates a bally game from 6 digit scoring to 7 digits. it has edp32s dev board and 2 165 input and 2 595 output shift registers.

So, I can use this as a tester for the switch matrix to see if i can read the switches and how fast

I’ve mapped the switch matrix cols (outputs) and rows (inputs) to their position on the playfield plug, and then mapped these to the relevant shift register input and output pins :
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So, now i should be able to hook these up using some breadboard jumper leads.

Then write some test code to scan the matrix
The code needs to put out a high signal on each of the columns in turn, and more each column that is high, read each of the 8 rows looking for any highs returned, which means a switch is closed.
 
HomerRamone said:
When I was considering getting an overlay made for CG I was talking to a place that *sounded* like they could help. But after many emails I sorta gave up.
It sounded like they could print what was required - that is to say adhesive vinyl, with *printed* white and transparency. But it sounded like the white layer needed to be a vector layer - rather than a rasterized one. I wasn't able to get a straight answer if this was required or suggested. I could have just separated the white components out on the CG playfield image I had but converting to a vector is a different matter.

Of course if this was taken into consideration when creating the playfield image...
Click to expand...
All this art and graaphics stuff is like a dark art to me - I have no idea how to create or print graphics, so I will have to ask for help on that, if and when I get a working game going!
 
So I designed a little pcb to carry a Pi with a PSU and 4 LED drivers for a project to replace a Bally Sounds Deluxe. I didn't finish the project but I have repurposed the board (and added 4 more drivers via a carrier protoboard) and it now runs my Cactus Canyon Continued. It will be at Pinfest in case anyone is interested. Since the minimum qty is 5 boards at JLCpcb, I have a couple of spares too, if anyone wants one.

pcb2.jpgpcb1.jpg
 
@AlanJ great to see your passion getting this up and running.
The speed your project is running at is ten time faster than my own :)
 
AlanJ said:
All this art and graaphics stuff is like a dark art to me - I have no idea how to create or print graphics, so I will have to ask for help on that, if and when I get a working game going!
Click to expand...
I can print stuff - rearrange it, chop it, edit it (graft a head on it :) )...
Cant draw to save my life though.
 
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