So, i've been working on another project alongside my others since the pinball play expo show back in october last year. I've kept this one quiet until now as i just got the final bugs and issues straightened out and have a basic proto working.

The idea came from chats and discussions with my friends who have early Bally games and who played my arduino based supersonic pinball table. The idea was to find a way to upgrade the flipper control of early bally games and give the flipper and their response a little more kick and bite, but without having to change the flipper mechs, power requirements, or buttons.

So, i have created a board that can be retro fitted into existing bally power driver boards by replacing the flipper relay. This board is cpu controlled reading the switch button inputs, performing switch debouncing and in turn driving the flipper coils via 2 mosfet transistors. This gives the flippers a little more snap as all the power is sent to the flipper straight away. It also means the flipper buttons will no longer wear out, as they are now low voltage not high voltage ground drives.

Further more, another feature of having a cpu controlled board and an idea i have is you can have various 'party mode' settings built in a dip switch options For example:

SW1: Reversed Flippers
SW2: Timed Flippers
SW3: Weak Flippers
SW4: Double Flippers

Here's some pics of my prototype.

IMG_3639.jpg
IMG_3638.JPG

Please let me know if you would be interested in such a board for your games?

I don't have a fixed price yet, but i am aiming for around £40 - £50 plus any vat and shipping to your country. The next stage of development will be to get a nice neat pcb layed out and made that will plug into the existing driver board. As with all my projects it will be a neat affair and look factory.

The board will fit into the old flipper relay position and there will be no wiring modifications. The pics are just to show the proto using vero board, not a final design.