Just going to reply all here:
Yep I'll publish documentation in the near future. Namely schematics and wiring diagram.
All machines will be shipping with surface mount transistors. After the wardens for the whole run have been manufactured, we can then do a run with through hole transistors if a decent amount of people want them. They likely would cost a bit more than the surface mount version, but you could send your surface mount board back to us for credit toward the through hole version. We may sell them to the general public in the future, but no plans are currently in motion to support that.
Here's some basic specs:
24 controllable 48V outputs with millisecond PWM and TVS diodes. Divided into 3 banks with PTC resettable fuses on each bank.
A bank of 8 configurable outputs which can each be individually configured as one of:
-controllable 12V output with ms PWM, TVS, PTC
-controllable 5V output with optional pullup, ms PWM, TVS, PTC
-servo control output, TVS on data line, PTC
8 banks of 8 switch inputs (64 total)
4 I2C expansion ports
-2 switch input interrupts in each port, each capable of addressing an additional 64 switch inputs (512 total switch inputs across all 4 ports)
2 serial ports configured to drive clocked serial RGB LED chains
USB type A port for serial communication with host PC
optional flash expansion
optional SD card slot
tag-connect programming header
2 on-board RGB status LEDs
ports to hook into on-board serial and i2c busses
reverse input voltage protection
All design, and some assembly is done in house. We did a gauntlet of testing on the initial batch over a year ago, and the design has seen somewhere in the neighborhood of 4000 games played, and most boards have seen several hundred cycles of lifting the playfield up. No major issues to speak of. They are designed to be robust after all; mounting points near most connectors to limit flex, the few shock/vibe sensitive components like MLCCs are placed far from areas of stress. The boards are fabbed as 4-layer 1.6mm with 2oz outer copper and 1oz internal, heat resistant substrate (TG-155 FR4). The PTC fuses are fantastic too! If somehow a coil gets stuck on, they can prevent the transistor and coil from frying, but return to normal operation after power is removed for a moment, so no more having to manually change fuses while you troubleshoot a troublesome coil! I've even seen them save transistors when a diode was wired in backwards! Though, I wouldn't expect that to happen consistently haha.
Generally, the power and coil stuff uses the familiar Molex Mini-fit Jr. family of connectors. Switch inputs are 10-pin (8 inputs, 1 5V power, 1 ground) 0.1" headers with a friction lock. All the low voltage/comms stuff uses 8p8c connectors/common ethernet cabling. The I2C expansion ports can communicate with any other I2C device, allowing for all manner of expansion boards. Optos are plugged into a 16-input daughter board connected to a switch input bank.
This is a new design. I did design it to be similar to the Pinotaur in function simply because we needed it to be a near drop in replacement, but the actual architecture under the hood is completely new. Ben isn't involved with the warden, but we are working with him on other stuff.
The game is still run on a mini-pc (though the warden alone could probably run a DMD era game just fine, given an audio output expansion). The warden basically controls frame buffers for LED data, monitors for switch state changes, and drives the outputs that control mechs. The games are still coded in unity (C#). The warden firmware is written in C.
The service menu and settings are actually all stored on the PC. The warden starts up effectively in a sleep state and waits for serial comms from the host PC. I think you'll really dig the service menu in scooby though. If not for the LCD, all that stuff could be moved onto the warden, but since the PC is there, it makes sense to organize it that way. The warden can handle timing-critical tasks, like flipper and sling control also.
Last I heard, Parker/Ben did still intend to make the Pinotaur available to the public, but I don't know the timeline, or if that's still their intention. I do believe they're still being produced at least!