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migration.user — Fri, 01 Oct 2021 18:05:59 GMT

Current Revision posted to Documents by migration.user on 10/1/2021 6:05:59 PM

Community Feedback 01 - We Respond to Your Theme Ideas!

kellyhensen — Fri, 18 Jan 2019 16:22:42 GMT

Current Revision posted to Documents by kellyhensen on 1/18/2019 4:22:42 PM

Join the Ben Heck team every week for amazing hacks! Watch them build and mod community-inspired projects using electronics!

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Community Feedback

Mini Pinball Kit

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www.youtube.com/watch

Ben and Karen respond to feedback from community members about what they want to see in the custom pinball game that they are building. It turns out there is a lot more to pinball than whacking and hitting things so you can arbitrarily get points. There are actual storylines, evolving through gameplay, with angles and mechanisms more complicated than you might realize. The plan is to make templates that allow you to add your own customization. If you're not familiar with how pinball games work, go to your local arcade, find a pinball game you like, and look at the mechanisms that are in there that you enjoy.

What pinball game would YOU want?

In the comments below let us know what you would like to see in your own custom mini pinball game!

Tags: mini pinball, community feedback, custom miniature pinball, miniature pinball, communityfeedbacktbhs

Community Feedback 04 - Mini Pinball

tariq.ahmad — Fri, 18 Jan 2019 16:21:10 GMT

Current Revision posted to Documents by tariq.ahmad on 1/18/2019 4:21:10 PM

element14's The Ben Heck Show

Join the Ben Heck team every week for amazing hacks! Watch them build and mod community-inspired projects using electronics!

Back to The Ben Heck Show homepage

Community Feedback

Super Glue Gun

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www.youtube.com/watch

Community Members make suggestions to the team as they work on their mini pinball kit. Feedback includes using thin recesses on the table to make the ball change its directory, using an Arduino SoftTimer library for timing the PWM and bouncing, alternate ways of making the table such as taking a look at the mechanics on Stern's mini playfield for Family Guy/Shrek, and alternate ways of making the table such as optional posts between the flippers.

Community Feedback comes from cht0026 , prampec , and grahambest !

Congratulations you win a Free Ben Heck T-Shirt!

cht0026 has an idea for making the game more challenging or frustrating depending on your point of view. He’d like to know if it’s possible to make some very thin recesses on the table and make the ball change its trajectory. The analogy he uses is the way that big planets affect small planets. Ben recalls a similar idea with the Orbiter 1 from Stern Electronics (1977-1984). It had a vacuum-form play field and a space-theme where the ball would make all these crazy orbits making it really hard to play. Really, what made the ball change directory is when it hits something, or went around in a loop, or goes up a ramp. A divot in the play field wouldn’t do a whole lot and worse it might trap the ball.

prampec wants to know why the team doesn’t just use a timer library for timing the PWM and bouncing. He recommends the “Arduino SoftTimer” library, and not just because he wrote the library, as he believes it can do a decent job in time-sensitive situations like this. He then realizes that the PciManager library won’t work with Teensy because debouncing doesn’t work out of the box. Ben gives an explanation of what this means.

grahambest suggests the team take a look at the mechanics for the mini playfield in Stern’s Family Guy/Shrek. They’re using the same 5/8 ball and have already solved the problem the team has encountered. He’s concerned that changing the flipper angle from 30 to 15 degrees won’t allow you to execute a proper bounce pass. He suggests alternate ways of making the table such as an optional post between the flippers.

Tags: communityfeedbacktbhs

Mini Pinball Kit: Ideas List

makerkaren — Mon, 07 Aug 2017 21:55:07 GMT

Current Revision posted to Documents by makerkaren on 8/7/2017 9:55:07 PM

element14's The Ben Heck Show

Join the Ben Heck team every week for amazing hacks! Watch them build and mod community-inspired projects using electronics!

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Mini Pinball Kit

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I want to gather all the ideas you all post for the build. If I missed something, let me know in the comments.

You guys are great. Keep the ideas coming!

Parts Needed: (so far)

Microcontroller Requirements:
- Able to process game logic at a fast pace (10,000Hz+)
- Ability to stream 2 channels of WAV audio from an SD card (sound FX/music)
- Can drive a display of some sort, such as an LCD or LED.
- Enough I/O for buttons and game sensors.
System Mechanical Requirements:
- Drive at least 2 solenoids (flippers) up to 6 would be nice.
- I/R or switch sensor control to detect what the ball is doing.
- Servo control for additional game features.
Interface Requirements:
- 2 flipper buttons, 1 start button
- Ball plunger
- On/Off switch
- USB programming port and SD card slot
Display Requirements:
- Cheap! Which means small, but not so small that a player can't read it.
- Alphanumeric to display rules, goals, and which player is up.
- Hitachi 44780 might work, if we can find them cheap enough (<$5)
Sound Requirements
- Maybe just one speaker which we mix stereo audio into.
- Maybe the flipper buttons in attract mode act as volume controls (saves us from using a knob)
- Headphone jack near the back of the unit on the main board? Keep everything on the main board if possible.
- Quick mute option?

Other Design Factors

Target audience:
- People who want to design their own games.
- Fun project for kids.
- How does this compare to the cardboard pinball kit which costs $50?
Cost:
- No more than $250, meaning we have to get our price under $80.
- What are the most expensive parts? Can we exclude things (like batteries) to make it cheaper?
- Need a wall wart for power.
Overall size:
- Slightly longer than original mini pinball, otherwise mostly the same.

Project Progress

Designed symmetrical flipper assembly that can be made for left or right based off how the metal is bent.
Designed everything to use a single size of solenoid, which is smaller (cheaper) than before.
Successful test with Teensy 3.6 MCU.
Started worked on code libraries including game state machine loop.

Project To-Do

Design more parts to be in the game, such as small pop bumpers, targets or slings. How many will be included in the kit?
Try to avoid injection molding as much as possible.
How will the case be made?
How do we make this kit as customizable as possible?
Sourcing parts.
Designing all-in-one PCB.
Best thing to use for switches? Experimenting with IR modules but they might be too expensive.

Tags: injection molding, project aesthetics, portable pinball, micro controller, concepts, audio, tbhs, infrared, project, theb en heck show, pcb, projects, tbhs pinball kit, princted circuit board, the ben heck show, case design, the ben heck show mini pinball kit, usb programming, injection moulding, ideas, aeshtetics, pinball concepts, pinball, microcontroller, project progress, mcu, teensy 3.6 mcu, teensy, mini pinball kit, pinball design, infra-red, teensy 3.6, arduino, flippers, pinball ideas

Your Customized Pinball Kit

makerkaren — Mon, 07 Aug 2017 21:50:32 GMT

Current Revision posted to Documents by makerkaren on 8/7/2017 9:50:32 PM

element14's The Ben Heck Show

Join the Ben Heck team every week for amazing hacks! Watch them build and mod community-inspired projects using electronics!

Back to The Ben Heck Show homepage

Mini Pinball Kit

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The Ben Heck Show team has been working on designing the mechs for the Mini Pinball Kit. Pinball games contain bumpers, ramps, additional flippers, drop targets, various displays, flashing lights, and habitrails. Designing a kit where mechanisms can be placed in various configurations can get tricky. We want the kit to be capable of as many configurations as possible, BUT we might have to narrow down which mechanisms are included in the kit. So we thought we'd consult you. What are your favorite mechanisms to be included in a pinball game? What would you like to see included in your kit? Do you have other ideas for the kit? Share in the comments below!

Tags: community, tbhs, mechanisms, mini pinball, theheckwithkaren_mini_pinball, theheckwithkaren, pinball, mini pinball kit

Mini Pinball Kit Steps

tariq.ahmad — Mon, 07 Aug 2017 21:48:58 GMT

Current Revision posted to Documents by tariq.ahmad on 8/7/2017 9:48:58 PM

element14's The Ben Heck Show

Join the Ben Heck team every week for amazing hacks! Watch them build and mod community-inspired projects using electronics!

Back to The Ben Heck Show homepage

Mini Pinball Kit

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Mini Pinball Kit

1. GETTING STARTED

- Discuss original idea / episodes (use footage flashbacks)
- Talk about what we liked / didn’t like
- Why we believe it’s a good project
- Map out project goals / major design challenges
- Design drawing and sketches
- Order in sample MCU’s and solenoids
- Decide major parts and begin sourcing:
  - What is the minimum # of mechs we can design to achieve a game?
  - Is this a kit? What’s the target cost?
  - What scale do we want to use?
  - Is the design generic, and buyer adds a theme?
  - What is the skill level to assemble?

GOAL: Create product roadmap & design spec

2. CHOOSING A MICROCONTROLLER

- What does the system need to do?
  - 1 channel SFX
  - 1 channel music
  - Video? LED? LCD?
  - What’s the cheapest way to display information?
  - Do we use the Teensy 3.0 like before or is there a better, cheaper option?
  - How do we make this as user-configurable as possible?
  - Experiment with several MCU’s, then order more of the one we like best

GOAL: Find the right MCU and starting sourcing for production.

3. DESIGNING MECHS

- Probably a multiple week project
- Can we design a “uni-mech” that can do everything?
  - Flippers
  - Load balls
  - Pop bumpers
  - Are these mechs injection molded?
    - Where can this be done?
    - Does a hackerspace has an injection mold we can try?
    - Can we get help from designers?
    - Things to keep in mind for injection molded design
    - Sourcing small solenoids / motors

GOAL: Design 1-2 mechs that can do everything, to limit manufacturing costs.

4. KERNEL & LIBRARIES

- (Certainly multiple episodes for this)
- Wire up a prototype board for testing (will design a PCB from this)
- Write libraries for users that do the following:
  - Speech and music calls
  - Switch detection
  - Solenoid and light control
  - Scorekeeping and rules
- Write a base kernel that will cycle through games
  - “Borrow” from other pinball projects?
  - Comment it well so users can create one
- Once kernel written, do a walk-through of how to create rules (screen cap sessions)
- Make a sample game like “Super Space Shuttle”
  - Walk viewers through how to code the kernel
  - Obtain graphics like end users would (FedEx/print shops)
  - Show how to create audio assets using something free like Audacity.

GOAL: Have a code base that gets a machine flipping.

5. PCB DESIGN

- Based off MCU and display, design the smallest PCB we can.
- Layout connectors, then MCU, then power/batteries.
- EAGLE tutorial, mostly a screencap episode.
- If we have a protoboard, then we can design PCB while doing other things.
- Send off for test PCB’s from China (takes 2-3 weeks) or a e14 prototype vendor in US.

GOAL: Have a working PCB that we can price and use for the prototype.

6. PHYSICAL GAME DESIGN

- Decide what size and scale the playfield will be.
- Design a casing around it, that can be assembled from a flat pack like Ikea.
  - Have “modules” where you can move around base components such as pops or toys.
  - Make game easy to configure.
  - Implement the mechs we designed into game.

GOAL: Have a machine that plays complete games.

7. CREATIVE DESIGN AND KITS

- Think of a fun generic theme to put on game.
- Start with a blank slate (as a buyer would) and work up from there
- Module and art design.
- Do a walk-through of how to create rules (screen cap sessions)
- Make a sample game like “Super Space Shuttle”
  - Walk viewers through how to code the kernel
  - Obtain graphics like end users would (FedEx/print shops)
  - Show how to create audio assets using something free like Audacity.

GOAL: Have a complete game, like Super Space Shuttle was.

Tags: mini_pinball, hack, heck, ben