Cool! From the way the title was written I was thinking something a lot more dire. I hope someone can post more detailed pics when it gets shown at Pintastic

Anything to get the younger crowd interested is a good thing!!

Hi Jake, Thanks for your interest. My students created this machine. I’d be happy to answer any questions or send more pics. It’s a unique design where the students used a PLC (programmable logic controller) for the game control and logic talking to a raspberry pi which handled the audio and video. Brian

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Nice job, everything labeled or ready to be labeled, and hopefully everyone got a chance to know what it's like to do the wiring themselves.

Tell us more about the light intensity pot (I think that's what it says). Is that done in software?

Thanks Jake, it plays very hard and fast. More than I expected. The dealers choice we started with was slow and tired. This is a drain monster. The kids also added video game modes to it. It was a fun project. Thanks for posting your interest. The kids are excited about all the press it’s getting. I don’t think they fully realize what an accomplishment they have done.

Thanks LCM, they all did some wiring. I had them rewire a lot if it was spaghetti. They kept wire run sheets and full documentation of every termination, wire color, and gauge. Most of the students were able to get involved in multiple tasks. I handled it like an engineering project. I was the manager and each student an engineer on the team with specific responsibilities. Status reports were due each week. Design review meetings held. They got real life experience on a concept to production project. The light intensity is a pulse width modulation board controlling the back box lighting. We used high intensity automotive led lights in the back box. They were running very warm and too bright. We added the PWM controller so we didn’t overheat the back glass which is acrylic that we cut on a laser cutter at school.

Kudos to the kidos however, that logic controller is overkill and adds to the weight.

P3 multimorphic would have been a cooler project.

I think you're missing the point. These kids are students at a vocational school - it's a learning exercise. They are being trained to do robotics in an industrial environment, which is why they went with PLCs and din-rail mounted industrial components. A multimorphic kit *might* be cooler (extremely debatable), but if their instructor had them go that route then it would be a gross waste of their tuition money.

Thanks bdw85. My thoughts exactly. Bmad21, you are missing the point. I was an industrial automation engineer for 30 years. The plc is overkill in a pinball machine. My students are being taught robotics and automation technology to go out into industry. This project was about applying the skills they have learned and creating something from concept to production. Multimorphic is not part of our curriculum and no use to them in industry. I suppose I could have had them design a packaging line, but pinball seemed more fun and engaging for high schoolers ..

They did an excellent job. You're definitely teaching them the correct way - I wish some of my technicians could wire that cleanly and document their panel installs as well as your students did. If you don't mind me asking, what software did you have the students use with the Raspberry Pi?

Hi Bdw85, Thanks for the support. I spend a lot of time teaching proper wiring and documentation. About 1/2 of my students end up in industry as technicians or assembly personnel. These are invaluable skills. The other 1/2 heads to college for engineering which also benefit from these skills. I am excited that all 11 seniors who worked on this project are going to college for engineering of various disciplines.
I don’t mind at all. I love answering questions about this project. The students used Python to program the Rasberry Pi.

Inst Vocational school handled by the county? Vocational school was a separate thing from high school on the same level.

But this really does not prep a serious high school student for a profession out of school.

Some head engineer is gonna laugh at this experience. They are not going to trust a person with this kind of education especially when the equipment is tasked with handling a 500 hp motor spinning a belt that ferrying boxes to and fro a location.

And yes industrial grade programical logic controllers are overkill for this kind of thing.

Things that operate I dunno vfos for motor drives. If you seriously think I'm stupid for saying this I work around this kid of equipment every mon-Fri.

Nice job! Are there any gameplay videos? You should have the students show it off at the nearest pinball show

Dude, he just said 1/2 his students end up in the industry. Maybe you wouldn’t hire them but apparently quite a few people would. This is an awesome project and a more fun and engaging way of getting his students to learn the tech and gain valuable experiences.

Brianpin mad respect to your students and yourself - and thanks for sharing the project! Hopefully you’ve inspired a few to continue the homebrew pinball journey or at least spark interest in pinball

Is that your professional opinion as a truck loader at UPS? Something tells me you're not qualified to decide what is and isn't good experience for future technicians and engineers. https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/i-m-a-ups-loader-ask-me-

LOL. And I thought the guy on Facebook that complained that you ruined a Dealer's Choice was a weirdo.

This is awesome. Great job leading this project. Hats off to your students as well.

BMad . I would like to say more however I will remain professional as I am a teacher and this is regarding a student project. With that said, you are making uninformed and ignorant comments. The point you are continually missing is the pinball was a fun group senior project designed for students to apply skills and theory they have learned. Overkill isn't even a consideration. Its not a production unit, it's a prototype. I suppose could have had them design a conveyor line that is controlled by a 500hp motor and they could do it. "Dunno" if you can, even if you work around that stuff m-f. Control systems are everywhere from Carwashes, Traffic lights, vending machines, Factories and yes pinball. This is a public vocational high school, and yes it does prep students for serious careers out of school. My students who are going into industry are making high wages working for companies like Amazon Robotics, Universal Studios, Form Labs, Kayem hot dogs, and Hansen Aerospace just to name a few. My other students are attending college for engineering at high level Boston schools. Their curriculum consists of Electrical High and low voltage, Electronics, PLC, HMI, Pneumatics, Software, Mechanical design, Industrial tool usage and safety, OSHA... VFD's(Not VFO's) Variable frequency drives, motion and motor control. I highly doubt a head engineer is "gonna" laugh at them. I have 40 years experience in the electronics/robotics/automation industry. 30 years as a Senior controls engineer and I clearly know what my students need to make it in industry and nobody is laughing. Get of your internet soapbox and just do what everyone else does on this site. Be respectful and enjoy pinball..

Hi Pinash, Thanks for compliment and your interest. Yes there is a “Space Knights” video mode. After spelling robot you get the special when lit light. If you get that lane switch you will get space knights mini game when your ball drains. I’ll post some video of it. You move a robot right and left with the flipper buttons avoiding swords being thrown at you from the space knight.
This will be displayed at Pintastic in Marlboro MA in September.

Thank You NHpolarbear. Please introduce yourself at Pintastic. Looking forward to meeting you.

Lol! Yes no kidding! You can’t make this stuff up. I think that guy should go to a world of wheels show and tell everybody they ruined all the cars because they were too lazy to design from scratch like he said to me.

Thanks so much. Your positive comments mean a lot to me and my students. Brian

This was already in the plan! Some of these students also serve on the Tech Team at Pintastic New England, which happens to be the nearest pinball show. See you there! https://pintasticnewengland.com/
.................David Marston

Brianpin also hats off to you! A fantastic job of doing a project that gets kids interested in electronics no matter what components are involved. If I had a project all those years ago like this, it would have remained in my "most fun things I did in life" list!

Again, great leadership and great execution!

You have never been inside a ups hub and it shows.My day starts when the buzzer goes off and belts starts moving.

How do you think your box gets sorted and packed? 10 legions of little garden people.

Computer controlled and monitored.

You didn't design that line. You don't maintain that line. As you have said in the past you start your day when the buzzer goes off and you load boxes for the day. You should stop replying to this thread - you are only revealing how little you know.

I have done more at ups that you are not privy to, so stop it.

I have associates in applied science in computer programming, electronics and networking.

I'm also in amateur radio, a highly technical hobby, I have built my own antennas and have a radio that needs some diodes added to it.

My cad program gets used often and design what I think to do, I sometimes think about a Design for my three manual electronic organ.

I have interviewed for two companies, belvac and sentry.

Nobody cares who your friends are. I have friends who work for NASA and I don't ride their coat tails on the internet to make myself seem smart.

Amateur radio is as simple or as complicated as you make it. Owning a broken radio (which you haven't repaired for some reason) doesn't make you an electronics wiz.

Sometimes thinking about designing something does not make you a designer.

Interviewing at companies but not getting the job only further cements that you are underqualified.

This is the last time I am going to reply to you. Have fun loading boxes on a conveyer belt today.

Keep being wrong about my job.

What an awesome story! Brian, you should be really proud of your students, as they clearly did a fantastic job.

I have to wonder how many of these students will eventually find their way into this hobby, reflecting back to this experience with great fondness. Very Cool.