I've looked into this. really depends on how you go about it (investment in equipment). Just the playfield alone (cnc'd routed, ink, inserts, clear) you're talking minimum $500 (CPR is probably not far off). Add a pair of flipper mechs ($90), flipper bats, a few posts, and a basic way to drive it (no code, just flipping) which means hitting it with 48v for 1/2 a second then switching to 12v for holding.

If you ignore the finished playfield portion (just picking up a reasonable sheet of 1/2" baltic birch), I bet you can make a starting whitewood for prototyping for around $160.. but keep in mind that's no shooter, no ball trough. That's placing a ball, playing, and then manually putting the ball back into play.

I think junkyard cats would actually sell. It's so close to what could have been a late 80's williams that I think a lot of fans of system 11 would plop down money to buy that.

You might be able to export .obj over to IGES, then import IGES but it would probably be a dumb solid. Also how precise to scale are your models? Most cad software is 3 decimals, most 3d animation software I've seen doesn't really have a scale other than units.

that's an insanely busy playfield

I think you're going about that wrong. I don't think you want to use a leadscrew at all (and I'm not sure how you intend to flip it?) I've got ways to do what you want to do, but it has to be reliable (and not get tangled after many tries), and not get messed up during transport.

Sometimes the fastest way is paper (if you can draw, which I can). I can sketch something much quicker than I can model it to see if something is feasible, but CAD doesn't lie. Once you start modeling and assembling, you find out if it's possible to create (no undercuts) and assemble. It's one thing having parts together as a snapshot, it's another moving those objects together. Unlike earlier versions of Pro-engineer, Solidworks has had the ability to assemble with hinges for a long time which makes it more realistically assembled (not necessarily rigid).

I think 2008 was the year that many companies switched over (including the place I used to work at) because solidworks was finally more affordable than renewing the pro/e license, and you got more features. It just sucked that they switched on us while we were in the middle of a huge project with an aggressive schedule (with no training to ease us in other than a book). I don't miss those days of pro/e complaining when a reference got lost (especially high in the feature tree). Solidworks will tell you there's a problem, but will render what it can and let you resume assembling. Pro/e will stop you in your tracks and force you to fix the issue.

Ben heck used brass rods, bent them into shape (they're soft) and soldered them together. It holds up plenty well for a prototype
http://www.benheck.com/americas-most-haunted-making-of/

I've tried to argue this (I thought the same thing), but really as long as the shooter lane ends where the orbit shot starts, you're not really losing real estate (you can only make a shot so far over).

that's not a half bad idea (also makes it replaceable when it wears), but it still requires you to route out a pocket in your design to a specific depth with a router. If you make it the same thickness as the playfield, it would only require you to handcut a pocket (could just use a jigsaw). When I made my whitewood, the one thing I cringed at was making that shooter lane. I basically started with a light plunge (using a ruler to guide me), and ran my line.. Plunged a little more, ran the same path stopping short, little more plunge.. until I had my shape fairly close. Then came back with sandpaper to smooth out the jagged steps.

Laser can be cheaper for onesy-twoseys. Waterjet is usually a minimal setup charge of $50 (but can be faster and more cost effective in quantities). However, waterjet fillets on corners are based on thickness of material and nozzle size, so if you need sharp corners this isn't going to work unless you create reliefs (a hole at the corner). Another solution is Wire EDM, but it can be really slow.

I paid $40 to have a piece of 1/2" x 2' x 4' baltic birch shipped from a guy in St louis, and it was JUST ok quality (but had dents and was pretty soft). Then I picked up the same size wood from lowes for $12 because I needed a 2nd playfield, and it was nice and straight, hard, and 9-ply layered. Home depot has a lot of crap warped wood, lowes tends to keep theirs flat on a shelf. If I was to redo my playfield, I'd just go to my local lowes, seriously.

guilty

I'm a guinea pig for a guy that's spinning his own boards, that have PWM solenoid drivers pre-programmed for flippers (48v initial hit, then 12v hold). From I've talked with him it sounds like it will be a lot of cut-n-paste basic programming for scoring (with a framework template to display scoring on an LCD). I'm on the verge of getting my flippers wired up to start flipping on my whitewood. He has a blog if you want to read his progres:
http://openpinballproject.wordpress.com

3d printers aren't without issues. Our professional Stratasys at work has issues about once a month now (usually clogged nozzles, broken material, or the platform needing shimming). Of course it's also 8 years old and just became obsolete (no more service support) so we'll be buying a new version this year. Thankfully the hobby market has pushed prices down while innovating (reducing failed parts, making printing more reliable). Even professional printers are following the same path. Our old printer cost $150k 8 years ago, the new one is $120k, has a better LCD interface, is faster and more reliable (and warns you when service parts are likely to go bad like nozzles and belts).

With that said, if you really want to get into 3d printing, shapeways isn't a terrible way to go if you're patient, or if you want to save money and deal local, there's a couple websites that can hook you up with local hobby printers:

https://www.3dhubs.com/
http://www.makexyz.com

I'm sure it varies by area, I'm actually surprised you didn't get better response in the california area with all the maker sheds out there. I got some parts made from a local guy, had really great communication throughout.

Shouldn't matter, autolaunch is nothing more than a solenoid with a rubber tip. A manual shooter rod should mount at the same height.

I second that

Thanks for making it a wiki, it'll get populated much faster that way. Haven't gotten my confirmation email yet to make edits.

At lunchtime. Still didn't get an email, but I have access to make edits now.

I filled in a few areas with general info (because so many sections are blank). Also added a ton of custom pins:
http://pinballmakers.com/wiki/index.php/Custom_Games

Posts can be held in by either a screw, or a post screw which can be self tapping:
http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=2078

or machine threaded (which needs a T-nut under the playfield).
http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=2077
http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=231

I prefer T-nuts because the self-tapping ones can become loose, which makes for removing plastics a pain. Not to say T-nuts can't strip underneath, but not if you don't over torque the screw.

One thing that's not on the wiki (and I wonder if it's appropriate, or could be kept updated) is a vendor list seeing how surely not everyone can fabricate everything themselves (or want to). Things like:
CNC'd playfield with printing - SPookY pinball, or xtremepinball.com
wireform ramps - http://www.rollingballsculpture.com
Toppers and plastics (shapes only) - http://www.laseriffic.com
Off the shelf vendors (pinball life, marco, bay area, mad amusements, etc)

Had no idea NTC had 3d printing capabilities. I've gotten quotes from multiple vendors in chicago, nobody has been able to beat the prices from chicago waterjet. There's also the option of wire-edm.

Awesome.. already in there adding to the list you started. For those adding, it's probably a good idea to try to keep things in alphabetical order.

Also I find it interesting how much it's erroring out, because so many people are adding to the list at the same time and it's getting confused

System I'm using (still in development by someone else) is taking 48V, PWM'ing to 12V after half a second:

What's nice about CPU control, it's can be adjusted after the fact. Also by simplying it and pulling transistors to ground, it eliminates wiring. This is my playfield completely wired for 6 solenoids (lighting will add some wires), but you can see how clean it can be (using cable tie mounts really helps with wire management)
playfield.JPG

This is the board closeup that drives it all. There's another board for doing advanced stuff like delayed timing, but this board is programmed to just fire things and makes getting a whitewood layout really easy and quick.
solenoid_board.JPG

I was fortunate enough to find almost the exact same power supply off ebay for $25 (you'd be surprised what you can find there), some guy was selling a brand new wrapped one he was going to use for some servos.
ebay.com link: 48v DC Power Supply PSU 7 3A 350W Stepper Servo

Reminder to everyone contributing to pinballmakers.com (and I didn't realize this until someone edited one my entries), please upload any images you plan on using:
http://pinballmakers.com/wiki/index.php/Special:Upload

Then after it's uploaded, copy the link of that image.
If you hyperlink to another site, not only are you costing them bandwidth, but if they opt to delete that file, it's gone forever.

ooh, the shirts are on sale. I'm pulling the trigger
http://skreened.com/pinballmakers/

I tried opening the DWG file for the playfield layout both in draftsight and edrawing viewer, and it errors out. I went ahead and traced a space shuttle playfield and uploaded a DWG file.

One issue I see, as far as playfields go, is choosing parts.

* Flippers - doesn't matter, bushing size and position are common
* sling mechs -hole patterns are common no matter what you use (but will likely be Stern slings)
* pop bumpers - Hole size common

However...
* trough - Only one I see off the shelf that's available is Stern, which is not the same cutout as a williams
* inline guides - Only one off the shelf available is modern Williams, which I believe is the same as Sega/Data East? I believe early solid state is different

Ideally (going to try to work on this) is to get a generic playfield that works with common off-the-shelf parts. I wonder if it makes more sense to trace a Stern pinball playfield?

I just uploaded a Williams and a Stern playfield, which includes the holes for the slings.
http://pinballmakers.com/wiki/index.php/Files_Section#CAD_Drawings

Crap, is there any way of making it harder to sign up for an account? I'm assuming these are spammers looking to use a wiki to turn it into a link farm? Under recent changes today, it's nothing but new accounts.

Or maybe a question about pinball gets PM'd to your pinside account. Surely if you're a pinball builder, you're a pinside member.

This is the company in chicago that still makes most of the original inserts:
http://www.foremostplastic.com/Page9.html

No, it's just a gap around it (tends to stay centered). Slots are typically only 3/16" wide.

I uploaded pdf's of the Stern and williams playfields (C-size) so you don't even need CAD, you can upload it to any local printer and get a 1 scale printout to attach to plywood for all the reference cuts.

I think it's really hard to figure anything out on paper without any way of testing it. I modeled everything I wanted in solidworks, and realizing it's really only conceptual reference because many things will need adjusting when you start realizing how physics and limitations of flipper power start impacting your design. Still fun to doodle to conceptualize new ideas.

Yea, like a ramp that goes nowhere .. Perhaps they could have waited another week before showing something
aliens_pinball.jpg

true.. I suppose people did pre-order this title. Better to keep customers somewhat updated unlike some companies. Of course isn't this title scheduled to ship in April or some unrealistic date like that? Hats off to heighway if they can really pull off all these titles in the same year, I do like their designs and swappable playfields.

Would you consider mine half finished? I have better than a ramp to nowhere, I have no ramp
http://www.homebrewpinball.blogspot.com/2015/02/3rd-flipper-hooked-up.html

Perhaps Heighway is going to come up with their own version of a cliffy protection, wood is only strong on the edges

Couple things:
1. I uploaded that stern file. I traced it off of an AC/DC image but it's not exact (probably good enough for prototyping). I did do one side and mirror it so at least it's symmetrical
2. What do you mean by template? Are you getting a piece of metal cut and then cutting the wood yourself? Why not just have a company CNC the plywood itself? Also keep in mind if you're gonna route it yourself, you have to modify it to allow for half of the bit size (IE if you use a 1/4" bit, you have to offset all the lines in by 1/8)

I don't think his laser cutter would cut through metal, much less a piece that big

Wow that's surprisingly cheap. My local waterjet guy would probably charge at least double that.

If anyone is looking to start a project, there's a gottlieb trough for pretty cheap on ebay right now:
ebay.com link: Gottlieb Pinball Ball Return Kicker Assembly

Granted this only supports a single ball, it's not the worst thing to keeping it simple to start out.

I'm using the same assembly. Yes, these are 50 volt, especially that date range. There are 3 lugs because there are actually 2 windings. One side is 50 volt, one side is 12volt hold which is actuated by that EOS switch. I'm actually not even using the 12volt side in mine, my system PWM's the 50v down to 12v after 1/2 a second of 50V to kick.

What type of circuit are you building? Are you building a playfield from scratch or trying to drive an existing playfield with new drivers?

These two pages are pretty helpful when it comes to coils:
http://www.pinballmedic.net/coil_chart.html

http://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/FL-11630

that looks hella busy, but it doesn't look like you have any dead shots. I like that you overlayed major under playfield components on top, that helps to make sure you've left room for everything underneath.

I'm working on a "Making your own plastics section" on pinballmakers.
*EDIT* Moved and updated:
http://pinballmakers.com/wiki/index.php/Construction#Plastics

Whoever uploaded a ton of solidworks 2013 components.. THAT'S REEEALLL NICE!

With all the failings of pinball startups lately, I wondered if it would be applicable to add some sort of "business plan" to this wiki? Even though it's geared towards helping out the hobbyist looking to make one-offs, I don't see boutiques going away anytime soon and it would be good both for the person thinking of starting a business, and for the investors to have a checklist to see how reputable that business is.

I started a section in the files but haven't uploaded anything yet. I figure it's best to create this in excel files:
http://pinballmakers.com/wiki/index.php/Files_Section#Business_Plan

I don't pretend to know how a pinball company works, but maybe through open source eventually we'll get there?
Here's my very rough notes:
Specification sheet
=====================

standard/wide body
general feature count (flippers, pop bumpers, multiball count, flashers, etc)
cpu platform
backglass + DMD/alphanumberic or LCD
Number of playfield levels
toys (and quantity)
spring plunger or autoplunge
LED or incadescent bulbs
coin mechs?
powder coat or stainless hardware
License or unlicensed
production quantity

Supplier list
=============
off shelf component supplier(s) (flipper assemblies, slings, VUK's, etc)
cnc playfield/art
plastics
inserts
cabinet maker
speaker system
Production Manufacturer

Timeline
=============
Rough estimate of milestones and time for each to estimate completion date

Staff
=============
Designer
Mechanical engineer
Electrical engineer
Sound Engineer
Programmer
Artist
License Manager
Accountant

Cost
=============
Per pinball
BOM part cost
Shipping cost including packaging

All the below ammortized over quantity of pins
R&D (time x salary x employees)
Mfg cost
Employees cost
--------------
$ ____ Final pinball cost

I saw that tweeted yesterday. Granted it's just flipping (no scores, no sounds, just solenoids firing), it's still impressive considering they had to identify every coil and switch, assign a value, and plop it into their standard framework. I would love to see how long it takes to go from flipping, to basic rules / sound events.

Ooh nice. So is the WPF just the visual playfield layout portion, and you're using Caliburn.Micro and MassTransit just to tie together the .NET framework? It's like an open source version of jersey jack's system.

I did the same with mine. DE/Sega stern is one piece with like 3 screws.
http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=658

I started with a 2 piece and it was nearly impossible to get it aligned correctly. Sega also has lots of VUK's up on marco.

When have you ever seen solid wire anywhere in a pinball machine? Solid wire is VERY stiff, it would be a nightmare to route any solid wire under a playfield. You would never be running that many amps to require solid wire

Solid wire is usually used in homes because of the high amps (15-20), and because solid carries more amps in an equivalent diameter stranded. The most peak amps you'll see in a pinball is 4amps total, probably not much more than 1-2amps on any wire, which is why most wires are 18AWG.

I would own / restore at least one pinball to get familiar with off the shelf parts before you tried designing your own. I tried that tactic and went down a really bad path quick.

Nice, is that using a 1/4" bit? Can't wait to see it populated to see how things line up.

Most people do vinyl sticker overlays. Either you cut out the inserts and print an opaque label, or you print a clear label but paint the wood white (since most printers won't print white). It's done all of the time:
http://pinballmagic.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=6&chapter=0

It was for bill paxton

It's my understanding AMH is direct printed, same as the woz cabinets Charlie worked on

auto aligning router: genius. Curious what the price will be

that's not a bad idea actually, at least for a whitewood. once you get the lower half done, you worry about making mistakes because you're invested. About the only fix if you mess something up is to re-fill it with a matching piece of wood and level it. Hinges would only make minimal gaps (say 1/16"), and the gaps could be filled with a strip of rubber, or just use masking tape.

Only way to make the gaps disappear would be to recess the hinges (cutouts on the sides). As far as alignment vertically, you could glue hinges temporary in place (let them rest on the surface), and let the pieces lie flat, then go back and add screws for strength.

Again, I don't think you'd ever want to build a final game this way, it would only be for layout purposes. Once your shots look good, scan the holes, make a DXF, send it out to a CNC router.

Not exactly, but you typically want at bare minimum at least 1/16" clearance on each side of the ball (which means 1-3/8" total space).

For ramps, you typically want 1.5"-2.5" for the entrance to any ramp (so your shots aren't super hard to aim for), and then they can channel back down to 1-3/8" because a ball will find it's way.

MDF is horrible material. It's heavy, and it's terrible at holding anything as far as screws (and yes, it's very toxic to cut). People use it for one reason, it has a smooth surface that typically doesn't need sanding. It's just as expensive as plywood.

I'm wrapping up my wooden rotisserie (I never liked the common plumbing pipe/angle bracket/clamp version).
I plan to write up some plans and post soon.

Getting a "rotisserie" section hashed out:
http://pinballmakers.com/wiki/index.php/Construction#Rotisserie

agreed, I didn't create that section but I'll update it. Thanks Vid!

Only need 2x4 for a playfield:
http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/131171/Phenolic-Faced-Plywood-12mm-12-x-24-x-48.aspx

I'd expect to pay about $50 for a good piece of wood. I might have to look into that stuff.

I had considered this, but yea there can be some complicated hole cuts that you'd have to route twice (inserts wouldn't get cut on this layer). You'd still have the issue of the plastic getting cloudy over time (clear is harder and more apt to stay clear). IF you were interested in this, I would do it out of a thin layer of PETG since it's the best of both worlds (flame polishable like acrylic, nearly as impact resistant as polycarbonate).

Ben did it right when he built his 1/2 scale pinball (he's now done 3 pinball projects, and his background is art and doing game mods with realistic looking backdated bezels). He started with a routed playfield, stuck in inserts, then put on a layer of clear (mostly to hold the inserts, but also do give a clean smooth surface), then a layer of white (with inserts trimmed away with a cutter printer), then a layer of CMYK artwork printing on clear (the white layer backs up the areas that need backing)

The layers of vinyl are pretty thin (less than .012"), and there's still a layer on top (color layer). Pretty sure it all evens out, but if you REALLY wanted to make sure I suppose you could put a couple layers of clearcoat on top of the white layer, sand it smooth, THEN put the top color layer on, and then clearcoat over that.

I've got a pair of SEGA VUK's. Looking to get $35 each shipped in USA (international extra). They've been cleaned and tested. These can shoot a ball up a tube a good 6-8 inches. I'm using the same one on my project:
http://homebrewpinball.blogspot.com/2015/04/layout-video.html

Here's pics:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/dm3tumoxk2rulhc/AAB6IdwHbEnH2wXweeecHyiza?dl=0

Also have a SEGA ball trough, also cleaned and tested, can handle up to 6 balls. Looking to get $65 shipped in USA (international extra). Pics here:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/upair8ov3shjjcm/AABapBW1CWJCA0-uvUqxqtHra?dl=0

I've already been down this road. I started with a gutted Stern Memory Lane. Only parts I really ended up using off of it was the ball trough / apron. The flippers were weak, and the sling mechs were a pain to get lined up (because it's multiple pieces) and turned my playfield into swiss cheese. I ended up just buying modern sling and flipper assemblies from pinball life for $40 each. The one VUK I have is a used SEGA (since nobody really makes them). If you intend to do multiball, you pretty much have to buy the $129 Stern trough (supposedly PBL is working on an aftermarket of their own). I'm really surprised Stern hasn't redesigned the trough as a single injection molded piece (glass filled nylon is as tough or tougher than aluminum). I could see building a trough for less than $30 in parts with less labor if someone were willing to invest in a mold.

Vacuum forming "might" hold up so long as the balls don't drop in the trough, but the solenoid firing thousands of times might cause cracking because of the limited material choices. Injection molding would be the way to go, you could rib the hell out of it, and add all the switch mounts, holes, solenoid mount. A mold could pop out easily 100,000 parts (with some maintenance on the injection gate).

I built a shield for 2 levels of a product for work, one is aluminum and one is glass filled. surprisingly, during life testing the aluminum one formed a crack and bent, the plastic one didn't even crack and actually broke a cinder block.

it's crazy what stuff sells for, that's what happens when stuff isn't regularly available. Heck, even a 5-bank from capcom is $150
http://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/A-00154

Servos have gotten much better since the 90's, and CHEAP. The servos that Chuck is using at spooky for the door is a hobbyking (famous remote control hobby website that imports parts from china), mostly known for the very powerful turnigy brushless motors. Servos last a long time because they're sealed, and they dont' get dirty like a coil can. Servos also run on much lower voltage (I believe 6v).

Servos won't replace coils for flippers, slings, or a ball troughs because they don't have enough kick, but resetting targets should be fine (you're just moving it back up to the notch that the spring popped it out from)

I've cut up manilla folders for my project (we bought like 200 from costco 10 years ago), the thickness works great. Keeping in mind if you move your ramp around a lot, even masking tape may tear the cardboard, but hey.. not hard to make (pair of scissors makes a new one in 5 seconds)

It's a great feeling, and then it turns into "I fear making cuts because I don't want to screw up", and the deeper you get into the design, the less apt you are to make more cuts because if you screw up badly you'll either have to cover it up, or start over.
http://homebrewpinball.blogspot.com/2014/06/and-so-it-begins.html

If you need any help or tips, I'm sure everyone here working on something can chime in. If you need slings, VUK's, or a ball trough, I have spares for sale.

Print 1 at local print shop. Lay it down on plywood, tape in place, then start cutting.

You can trace by pressing hard with a pencil.. though keep in mind even if you have a layout, physics work differently in the real world and you'll be making adjustments anyway. My suggestion is to put blue tape down, hot glue the ball guides, test your shots, then trace the position of them.

I love seeing alternate ways to create things. The cardboard ramps seem to work pretty well so long as you reinforce them with cardboard gussets (see nightmare before christmas). That thing has very long curvy ramps, and I've yet to see the ball get stuck. It's going to play super fast once he moves over to plastic or steel.

seriously though, don't assume things are going to work like you think they are, gravity might be consistent but shots are not. Once you create your first ramp from cardboard. You might (probably) will have to start over, and that's ok. You'll see what works and what doesn't, and you'll just get better and faster at building ramps. Before you know it, making small tweaks and rebuilding a ramp can be done in less than an hour and your layout will go much faster.

I tried to replicate the loop-da-loop ramp shot from gottlieb gold wings. As of this morning I'm on like my 7th try (cardboard and steel hot glued together). Needless to say, I'm giving up on it. Even if I could get it to work how I want it, it won't be reliable, and I can only imagine horrible ball hangs.

recent posts show my frustration:
http://homebrewpinball.blogspot.com

Tried triangles, worked like crap (just bent over). I cut out open circles with a slit so it could flex as the wall turns. The walls aren't the issue, it's trying to aim sideways. for firmness, I built gussets out of thicker cardboard, I was trying to avoid having to do that everytime.

I have a 3d model, I didn't want to waste material until I thought I had a viable design (also I only have a printer at work, and try to minimize G-jobs).

A more enclosed section may help. I want more than a loop, I'm trying to make the ramp an (S) shape to spell something out (like guns n roses by data east did).

sway.jpg

Guns-N-Roses_0002_Upper-Playfield[1].jpg

Looks like the living hinge stuff (when you laser cuts), except it does it without cuts

polycarbonate would be your best chance at getting something that would last. Might have to rib the heck out of the back of it to strengthen it.

I highly doubt it, but what are you inferring? Routing out, say a Stern Metallica playfield (minus inserts and art) and selling it?

I'm not a lawyer, but even if you could patent a layout, firepower is 35 years old. I don't know that it would fall under trademark either. Most of the things that planetary pinball defends it's IP over is art and sound, which fall under copywright which is life of author plus 70 years:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_domain

True.. Better add 2 extra posts, and don't mention firepower again.

exactly.. plus with companies releasing 4-6 titles/year, imagine how expensive that would get patenting a layout everytime.

Terry just added a homebrew section!
http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=catalog&parent=378&pg=1

He should.. even though he doesn't own one, I know he does a lot of business with Charlie Emery. Second best option is to contact Ben Heck:
http://www.benheck.com/services

The Stern assembly looks like only the plate plus coil, there's no plunger, bell or spring. The williams assembly is complete and drops right in, just mount and hook up power.

So who here hates leaf switches and would like to see more cherry switches being used?

I give them major props for going this route. No dust going through the playfield, no cutouts, nearly limitless switch cycles. I bought a couple on ebay, but they didn't come with very good instructions on how they function so I gave up for now.

My current project I have brackets for mounting a cherry switch in the drain troft, the flipper buttons, and standup targets (slings are next). I much prefer the stiffness and that snap action of a cherry switch over leaf switches that always bend out of alignment, and are no longer necessary since high voltage is typically not going through them anymore on modern controllers.

4-29mm depending on which sensor you go with
http://www.omega.com/pptst/iPROX.html

Added Williams and DE/SEGA/Stern inlanes. Unfortunately they are Solidworks 2014, I can't run 2013 since I upgraded to 64-bit windows.
http://pinballmakers.com/wiki/index.php/Files_Section#3D_Templates

raspberry pi2 model A is only $20 and I believe the same processor as B (just less internal memory, only one usb port, and lack of wifi). Both will easily do HD 1080p video (1920 x 1080) and probably all the 3d you can throw at it (it'll run Quake 3 at 60fps):

The fact that mission pinball supports linux is awesome, it keeps it cheap and low powered (raspberry pi 2 only consumes a max of 130mah at 5v).

The answer is: 42, or 3 licks
tootsie-pop-owl[1].jpg