I am modding my Pinbot with some Neopixel Rings from Adafruit. I am running them with a small wearables microcontroller platform called Flora. I ran into a few hurdles just getting the software to run on my Linux PC so that I could program them.

I found also to install these in the game has a few challenges. For one, there is no good way to mount them in or on the pop caps. I think a slightly larger or smaller one would be a better way to go. These are 16 pixel units. The diameter puts them right above the screw holes to mount the cap as well. Ugh. Plus, on Pinbot there is no clearance between the top of the caps and the mini playfield. I am letting them float with no attachment for the time being. The wire is sufficiently stiff enough to keep them in place. Something I could work out later, or maybe on a different game it would work better. So it goes with pioneer work.

The sketch (program) is just a simple cut and paste, all it does is randomly "sparkle" the pixels. I'll be playing around with some more patterns later. I have to see if I can get the software installed on my laptop.

adafruit_.jpg

neopop.jpg

You have a much better fit with those larger rings Cappi. Anyone can see those two mounting screws plain as day.

Ryan,
Yes, they are RGB. Neopixels are a name for WS2812 LEDs, basically. Look up Neopixels on Adafruit and Youtube. People are putting these things on everything from skateboards, to quad copters and clothing. The controllers are tiny boards, too. You can even get tiny GPS and motion detectors. You can make a clock, a GPS, even a compass. I've been contemplating doing something with Pinbots bumpers for a while, and kind of just stumbled into this Neopixel option.

As far as making a ring goes for multiple machines goes, I agree that would be cool. Someone was working on a 3D printed one with a socket to accept the ring. I don't know how far along they are with that. I think you could cover a lot of games with a few basic designs and multiple screw locations, or more with something like an adapter plate. Would be easier with games with pop bumpers out in the open, rather than those with something right over the pop, like Pinbots mini playfield.

Then there is also getting the wires through the playfield. It would be cool if there were only two wires that you could attach to the lamp socket, but there's 3: ground, power, and data. On my Pinbot, I just drilled a hole through the pop body and playfield big enough for the 3 wires and left the lamp socket stock so it could be reverted back if needed. I didn't care about drilling the Pinbot since it is not the best playfield.

I'd be interested in your success stories. Some details please? As far as the wires go, I didn't really spend a lot of time with that part of it. Thought about pulling the lamp and using the existing lamp feed holes, perhaps it would be necessary to enlarge one of the holes slightly to accommodate the third wire, it's just something I figured I could go back to experimenting with. Now that I have some of the preliminary road paved, I can go back and explore some possibilities.

Here's an update. This is "revision 2.0".

1. Switched out the Flora board for a Trinket Pro, even then the Trinket Pro still has specs that are overkill for this project. At $9.95 the Trinket Pro is half the cost of the Flora.
2. In this revision I used the 12 pixel rings mounted in clear caps. Even though the smaller ring fits inside the support "ridge", it still somewhat blocks the screw holes. I found when mounting them they snapped on quite secure without needing screws anyway. Plus, on Pinbot the mini playfield lays right on top of the caps so they are not going anywhere. So if anyone is planning to do a project like this, you might consider the much larger 24 pixel rings to fit on the outside of the pop cap support "ridge".
3. Added a photoresistor input circuit to pickup the flash lamps under the Increase Solar Value insert, this allows pop flashes to cause a program interaction so that the rings can do something interactive, such as flashing, when the pops are activated.

popcaps.jpg

Thanks, Art!

No, this is still overkill using the Trinket Pro, but since I don't really know the long term plans and I am quite green as far as the programming goes, I figured to allow plenty of overhead for future designs. It's still only an amazing $9.95.

Thanks for the compliments.

Yeah, this is quite a bit far from plug and play. Running power, getting three wires through the playfield on a pop isn't too hard, as you can use a very fine gauge wire with these low current LEDs, it's just that in most cases you'll have to pull the bulb socket to just do that. Have to be mindful of running the wires away from moving parts, too.

How'd that work out for you, Cappi? The 24 pixel ring looks like a great fit for the cap.