Episode 607 Reboot request

You may need to start by sharing some pictures of the version of the game that you are after creating, as they vary quite a bit.

Over here in my youth it was known as the 'Donkey Derby' but that I believe that was a copy of George Valentine Tonner's 'Kentucky Derby' game. Some had animatronic horses on a Scalextric type track whereas some were pulled along by ropes wrapped around pulleys more like Lorrainbow's design. Some were controlled by rolling balls into pockets, and others by tapping switches alternately. Horses have been replaced by camels and rabbits as well.

If you still want to use a pinball mechanism, then perhaps look at the Ben Heck Show episode archive, as he built a number of pinball machines from scratch.

I recall that some were based on linear tracks like Lorrainbow's Strava version whereas some were based on oval tracks.

Size varied a lot as well from the large arcade versions like this Blackpool Pier Entertainment - Donkey Derby to small table top toys like this Desktop Horse Racing Derby .

The ball-rolling ones tended to be at the larger end of to scale so not clear as to how large a build your were thinking of ?

6 foot long. Big enough for a family get together. Even a smaller size would be great.  I could make a simple roller ball game. Drop a ball in and it hits a couple of pins on the way down to the points holes -like a pachinko machine.

That's one I'll have to see. Thank you for pointing me to his stuff. I still want the horses (or cars) to race across the wall or on a table top. Thank you  

Yes, my youth was filled with the same thing. Oh those were great times. Now we have n inept moron running our country. I presume you are in the UK?

What I really want is based on George Valentine Tonner's Kentucky Derby. I played that at the fairgrounds every year with my mom.

With Arduinos and programmable RGB's, it would be easy to have the lights advance instead of mechanical horses. I could use a laser cutter to cut out the horses in a row and cover them with colored plastic.

The lights would be behind the cutout illuminating the horses as they advance. They would advance when the ball hits one of three switches to gain points. 

The patent was quite brilliant on your part. As my friend would say "I'm chuffed!" I think that's the correct saying. 

We managed to leave politics off this forum. Let's keep it focused on engineering.

Instead of rolling pool balls into pockets you could use a pinball type setup which perhaps would allow for a smaller user input panel. You could try scaling down the balls and still hand roll into pockets but I'm not sure that would feel quite right somehow.   

The patent I linked to for the rabbit version flips a ball into a wheel causing it to rotate forwards or backwards which then turns the rotary switch to provide power to the track. That could be quite compact.

A mini pinball game could be used as the basis to roll smaller balls into the pockets. 

/challenges-projects/element14-presents/benheck/ben-heck-exclusive/w/documents/3384/mini-pinball-kit-12-the-end-is-nigh----episode-334

You could use a Galton board type setup where each output channel has a different weighting advancing the horse by different amounts. Depends on whether you want use skill or luck to drive the game.

The overall design can be split into two - the user input mechanism that decides whether or not the horses should advance or not, and then the output display mechanism that moves the horses.

I just tried the FLUX.AI to create the game. It works mostly but it needs to be a little more intuitive. I used ChatGPT to create a prompt and then used the prompt in FLUX. CoPilot spit out a lot of stuff as it asked questions. Here's the thing, every time it uses CoPilot, it charges  .05 per unit after the free 50 credits are used up. I didn't know this. I paid $48.00 because CoPilot wouldn't answer the question with everything I needed, It was a question at a time ringing up my bill. Don't get me wrong, it's pretty good, but it feels like I was led down a dark alley way. That being said, they offered to refund the money when the charge goes through. And they were very understanding. I will finish this game in flux as soon as I have more money to pay. Oh, you can't buy credits in advance. And they can't tell you how many credits your project will take. Hiring  a person to create this would have been in the thousands plus the parts. For a DIYer, this is a better alternative and it includes documentation if it doesn't work and I still need an electrical engineer to fix it.  AI makes mistakes, so there's that. 

I thought I'd share this with you to mull over for anyone else thinking of using that platform.  Here's the prompt I used:

Project Title:
Single-ESP32 Addressable RGB Horse Race Game PCB Design (SMD, Detachable, Trailer-Mounted)

Project Description:
We are creating an interactive "Horse Race Game" designed for carnival trailer mounting. This game uses a single ESP32 to control 12 addressable RGB LED strips (e.g., WS2812B) that simulate a horse race. Each LED strip represents one "horse" and is mounted behind silhouette cutouts. To protect the LED strips during transport and facilitate quick setup at carnival events, the LED strips will be purchased separately and designed to be easily detachable. They will be segmented into groups (for example, 5 LEDs per segment) with intentional gaps (approximately three inches) between each segment. Dedicated connector strips will rejoin the segments by maintaining proper 5V, GND, and data connections.

Key Features and Requirements:

1. Microcontroller and Core Components:

   • A single ESP32 development board (SMD version or mounted on an SMD adapter) is used to drive the entire game.

   • The board is powered by a standard 5V workbench electronics power supply, which must supply sufficient current for all 12 LED strips.

   • All components share a common ground.

2. LED Display for the Horses:

   • 12 addressable RGB LED strips (e.g., WS2812B, each with approximately 30 LEDs) are used to display the progress of each horse.

   • The LED strips are connected via dedicated SMD detachable connectors on the PCB for quick and easy attachment/detachment.

   • The LED strips will be segmented into groups (e.g., groups of 5 LEDs) with a gap (around three inches) between each segment. These segments will be rejoined using connector strips to ensure proper electrical continuity for 5V, GND, and the data line.

   • Optionally, include an SMD 330 Ω resistor in series with each LED strip data line for signal protection.

3. Ball-Drop Sensor Box:

   • A physical sensor box, mounted on the trailer, includes 3 holes labeled "Hole 1", "Hole 2", and "Hole 3."

   • Each hole is equipped with microswitches arranged as follows:

     • Hole 1: 1 microswitch (awards 1 point)

     • Hole 2: 2 microswitches (awards 2 points)

     • Hole 3: 3 microswitches (awards 3 points)

   • Microswitches are connected to designated digital input pins on the ESP32 (via SMD connectors or solder pads) with the internal pull-up resistors enabled.

4. User Interface and Power Control:

   • An SMD pushbutton is provided to start the game (wired to a digital input on the ESP32).

   • An integrated SMD on/off toggle switch is incorporated into the power circuitry, allowing users to safely turn off the game.

   • (Optional) Additional SMD status indicator LEDs may be added for game status feedback.

5. PCB Design Guidelines (All SMD Components):

   • ESP32 Section:

     • Use the SMD footprint for the ESP32 module with proper routing for all necessary power, digital outputs, and sensor inputs.

     • Route 12 digital output lines to SMD headers or detachable connectors for the LED strips.

     • Include decoupling SMD capacitors (e.g., 0.1 µF and 10 µF) near the ESP32’s power pins.

   • LED Strip Connections:

     • Provide clearly labeled SMD connectors or low-profile headers for each LED strip’s data, 5V, and GND.

     • Ensure the connector design allows for easy attachment/detachment to protect the LED strips during transport.

     • Optionally integrate SMD 330 Ω resistors on the data lines.

   • Sensor Inputs:

     • Create SMD header pins or solder pad arrays for each microswitch from the ball-drop sensor box.

     • Label sensor inputs clearly as “Hole 1,” “Hole 2 (Switches 1 & 2),” and “Hole 3 (Switches 1, 2 & 3).”

   • Power Distribution and On/Off Switch:

     • Design robust common 5V and GND rails to handle the current for the LED strips.

     • Integrate the SMD on/off toggle switch into the power section so that users can disconnect the 5V rail or safely signal a shutdown.

     • Ensure proper trace widths for high-current sections.

   • Trailer-Mounted Considerations:

     • The PCB layout must be compact and robust to handle vibrations and movement typical in a trailer environment.

     • Use secure yet detachable connectors for the LED strips.

     • Clearly label all connectors and mounting points on the PCB silkscreen.

Additional Notes:

• The ESP32's fast main loop processes sensor inputs and updates the LED strips sequentially. However, due to the rapid cycling, the updates appear simultaneous.

• Once the start pushbutton is pressed, the game begins; sensor events update the respective horse's score, and when a horse reaches the finish line (e.g., 30 points), the game stops.

• The entire design is optimized for SMD components, and the LED strips are intentionally designed to be detachable, segmented, and rejoinable via connector strips.

• This project is powered by a standard 5V workbench electronics power supply.

Please use this detailed prompt to generate SMD-based PCB schematic files that fully address all aspects of the project, including the detachable LED strips for a trailer-mounted carnival installation.

Link to my FluxAI project   https://www.flux.ai/matencio/hrg-1?editor=schematic 

Check it out

The user interface probably the main size restriction if it is mechanical. A 6' long track would probably fit 2 people either side if you are rolling balls, or perhaps 3 either side if you are using some sort of pinball mechanism with less arm movement involved.

How many players and how deep a table were you thinking ? The roll a ball design usually requires that the pockets aren't  reachable at arms length to avoid cheating, but you could have some sort of a clear cover above the pockets to make sure the balls to have to be rolled in.