Check this out: fully programmable and controllable GI lighting tied into gameplay. This took me about two evenings (maybe 6 hours) to put together which included figuring out everything, soldering, and doing a bit of programming.

V3 of the system with ramp lights

V2 of the system tied into gameplay:

V1 Tied into gameplay (programming needs some work as this may cause seizures):

Demo/test of colors:

Breakdown of materials:

Pinduino: $40
Arduino Mega: $15
String of 50 addressable LEDs: $20
1M strip of 60 addressable LEDs: $20
Some wire.

If people are interested, I'll post step-by-step instructions on how to build this.

The programming can be dialed how you like it, but wait till I post a video tied into gameplay. The first version can (will) induce seizures!

These are the lights used in the GI. They are a perfect fit to press into the existing GI holes.

Here's a link to get them on Ebay: ebay.com link: 50PCS WS2811 RGB Full Color 12mm Pixels digital Addressable LED String DC 5V FA

I just cut the string in half and ran one string up along each side filling the GI holes.

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Here you can see them wired along with the normal GI sockets dangling.

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Huh! I thought there'd be more interest in this. Relatively inexpensive, straight forward, and works on nearly any game.

Probably not too bad, but then again, Eli's ramp kit is so. . . 2013. I replaced mine with addressable LED strips. This video, shot during the day, has both Eli's and addressable LEDs installed. You can see just a bit of difference in brightness (not to mention the much cooler effects you can do with addressable LEDs rather than just a fiber optic tube.)

My Tron is at a friends house, but I'll definitely do a full GI replacement when I get it back.

I unplugged the GI from the power driver board (takes 1 second). Otherwise there is a high chance of shorting and blowing a fuse (which I did, twice, while figuring this all out).

Great to hear! I'll get these posted sometime this week or over the weekend.

That is the awesomeness of the pinduino. The code is free and open source: https://github.com/elyons/professor_pinball_pinduino_sketches/

You can program it anyway that you like. Want to induce seizures? No problem. Want to keep your grandma happy? No problem. Want a mind-blowing electric koolaid acid test? No problem! Up to you.

In any case, the IM code needs some work and I need to make some additions to the core Pinduino library to do some better control over the two sets of LED lights.

By your icon, I can tell that you have sensitive eyes.

Seriously though, you can dial back the brightness in the code, or add a diffuser to the tube the LED strips are in, or wrap them on the sides of the ramp rather than underneath it (which I want to do). Just be a bit creative (and save yourself a good chunk of change in the process).

Me too. It is now in a box somewhere, collecting dust.

Totally! I spent all of 15 minutes writing this code last night.

I had a chance to do some more programming last night. I added in a couple of functions to the main pinduino library to control all addressable LED channels at the same time and updated the Ironman GI code (all posted to GitHub). To cut down on the harshness of the light when the GI change color, I have it programmed so the GIs and apron/backpanel LED strips are using different colors. Also, I added back in the spots over the slings and have them set to white. That combination makes the color effects look good without compromising the visibility of the ball.

First off, thanks everyone for all the positive comments! The real reward is seeing other people get a chance to do this themselves, modify these ideas, and come up with something new. If you can fix a bad transistor on a power driver board, strip a playfield, and post to an online forum, you can definitely handle putting something like this together. If anyone does want to learn how to solder LED strips, assemble wiring harnesses, or get an Arduino programmed, I've written a set of tutorials: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B2njOnd06CCOUmdKc1pKZGE1VkU/0B2njOnd06CCOdlBCVzdiWFZhUVE

I will be adding this one too.

In the meanwhile, I finished this tonight and added the ramp lights back. It IS over the top, super flashy, and absolutely awesome. If you don't like it, make it better! (And post instructions so others can build on your stuff.) Of course, great ideas are always welcome, so keep them coming.

Thanks Tsskinne! It should work -- Snux used the leds in an F14's socket holes, and I've added a Pinduino to a TOM and TAF without any issues (instructions are in the link above). I also recall someone adding one to a system 11.

The Pinduino has 16 optoisolators that monitor high current circuits and converts their activity to something an Arduino can read. On Sten SAM and Whitestar systems, this let's you monitor everything happening on J6/J7, which are usually all the flashers, and some coils and motors. For this project, I'm monitoring most of the flashers and then designing lighting effects on what has been triggered. You can go nuts and monitor controlled switches and lamps too. BigLebowski has some nice shields for sale and open source code available for the Arduino that let you monitor switches and lamps, and there are some other projects that have some awesome pictures and demos, but no products available yet.

Here is an example of the code monitoring J7 pin 8 (War Machine):

For the GI which has two LED circuits called adrLED1 and adrLED2:

if ( pd.pinState()->J7(8) ){//War Machine front
    pd.adrLED1()->color("green", 255);
    pd.adrLED2()->color("cyan", 255);
    delay(500);
    trigger = 1;
  }

For the Ramps which has one LED circuit called adrLED1

if ( pd.pinState()->J7(8) )
    pd.adrLED1()->spreadInFromPoint2Color (R_START, "red", "blue", 0);
    pd.adrLED1()->fadeOut(100);
    trigger=1;
  }

All code has been and always will be open source: https://github.com/elyons/professor_pinball_pinduino_sketches

No. I just unplugged the GI from the power driver board, unscrewed the sockets, took out the bulbs, and wrapped/zip tied the bulb sockets around the main wiring harness under the playfield. Easy to do and easy to reverse if you want to put the normal GI lights back in.

Had some time to write up the instructions on how to do this. I started a thread so people can post question and corrects: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/diy-ultimate-color-changing-gi-interactive-with-gameplay

As well as a google doc (which you can print out): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1q4ocskLaG9377kGTRL-7TVRDCNNiFv-U_TAz9zaoilE

In case people missed this, I did a similar thing to Tron:

Great news. I just heard from Rock Custom Pinball that he (Rock914) has everything in stock for selling/distributing pinduinos. From what I understand, he is working through a backlog of orders created when he was getting the BOM together and will soon be taking new orders. Thanks Chris for taking this forward and making new kits!

It should work without any problem. The basic design of the pinduino is to monitor coil/flashers -- as long as you can tie into those (e.g., J6/J7 on SAM/Whitestars), and have a 12V power to the pinduino board and 5V for the LED lights, everything will work.

Also, you can use a computer power supply to get 12V and 5V (which I use through this board from Seeed: http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/ATX-breakout-board-bench-power-supply-p-1222.html). I use this on games that are extra sensitive to excess current usage and blow fuses, or when I go overboard with the number of LEDs being powered.