Convert pinball to virtual pinball

[allan]

Re: Convert pinball to virtual pinball

Like the space. Need a couple of mirror balls and a smoke machine.
Just want a beer now. Wait its 8AM.

[tsbservice]

Re: Convert pinball to virtual pinball

Like the space. Need a couple of mirror balls and a smoke machine.
Just want a beer now. Wait its 8AM.

Lol...completely agree. I envisioned a glass of whiskey and cigar
Nice work Billy!

[BillyCarpenter]

Re: Convert pinball to virtual pinball

I had all but given up on installing the Teensy 3.2 control board and the interactive LED's. But after about the 1000th try, I got it. What a light show.

Check it out:

[BillyCarpenter]

Re: Convert pinball to virtual pinball

I know I said I was finished with the pinball machine but I decided to add a couple of upgrades. The one major upgrade that I made was Addressable LED strips underneath the cabinet. These give off a nice ambiance. Keep in mind that these are controlled by gameplay. In fact, every LED in the cabinet is controlled by Direct Output Feedback (DOF). DOF is merely a piece of software that controls hardware. It's the man in the middle, if you will.

There are many other smaller upgrades that I made that I won't go into because it would take too long. Some of them involved me learning how to code. When I say that I learned how to code, I mean on a VERY SMALL scale. Still, it's interesting. It's interesting how the code it written and how it stores the information in different folders.

What I've come to realize is that I'll never be "finished" with this pinball machine. There's always new stuff. New games. New effects. At the moment, I'm working on 3D pinball. It looks cool. There's also virtual reality pinball. We'll see.

[Copier Addict]

Re: Convert pinball to virtual pinball

I know I said I was finished with the pinball machine but I decided to add a couple of upgrades. The one major upgrade that I made was Addressable LED strips underneath the cabinet. These give off a nice ambiance. Keep in mind that these are controlled by gameplay. In fact, every LED in the cabinet is controlled by Direct Output Feedback (DOF). DOF is merely a piece of software that controls hardware. It's the man in the middle, if you will.

There are many other smaller upgrades that I made that I won't go into because it would take too long. Some of them involved me learning how to code. When I say that I learned how to code, I mean on a VERY SMALL scale. Still, it's interesting. It's interesting how the code it written and how it stores the information in different folders.

What I've come to realize is that I'll never be "finished" with this pinball machine. There's always new stuff. New games. New effects. At the moment, I'm working on 3D pinball. It looks cool. There's also virtual reality pinball. We'll see.

Take a bow dude. It's a pretty amazing project. And maybe take a nap too, I'm sure you're exhausted. Lol

[allan]

Re: Convert pinball to virtual pinball

I had all but given up on installing the Teensy 3.2 control board and the interactive LED's. But after about the 1000th try, I got it. What a light show.

Check it out:

Take a bow dude. It's a pretty amazing project. And maybe take a nap too, I'm sure you're exhausted. Lol

Man that is so awesome. Its a work of technical art. Those Teensy's are very capable MCU's I am fortunate enough to be able to mess with the coding and firmware for them.
Took time to learn the C programing language but its to satisfying to write well functioning code to control hardware.

Mad respect Sir.

[BillyCarpenter]

Re: Convert pinball to virtual pinball

Man that is so awesome. Its a work of technical art. Those Teensy's are very capable MCU's I am fortunate enough to be able to mess with the coding and firmware for them.
Took time to learn the C programing language but its to satisfying to write well functioning code to control hardware.

Mad respect Sir.

Due to the shortage of microchips, The Teensy is in short supply. There are serveral different versions of the Teensy. I needed the Teensy 3.2 and ended up paying $75 for it. That's about triple the normal cost. I had to order it with no pins and solder all of them on. I then had to find the correct firmware for the pinball table and then load the code on there.

I won't lie, it kicked my ass for a while.

[allan]

Re: Convert pinball to virtual pinball

Due to the shortage of microchips, The Teensy is in short supply. There are serveral different versions of the Teensy. I needed the Teensy 3.2 and ended up paying $75 for it. That's about triple the normal cost. I had to order it with no pins and solder all of them on. I then had to find the correct firmware for the pinball table and then load the code on there.

I won't lie, it kicked my ass for a while.

Yea it can be time consuming and frustrating. Right at the start of getting familiar wit MCU's and programing it took me 2 weeks to figure out why the chips I ordered did not work. Learned all about fuse bits and boot loaders the hard way. Could probably have used an Arduino mega but takes a whole new skill set to know how to make that work. TSMC had to prioritize and focus manufacturing of consumer electronic chips instead of the development tools. The processor storm is still raging on and will affect us for a little while longer. The market for consumer toys has died down so they will go back to normal in some time. Simple board like the Raspberry Pi also went up 3 times or so. Image if you where tipped of on this market change 3 years ago...

Did you use the Arduino IDE to post the firmware?

[BillyCarpenter]

Re: Convert pinball to virtual pinball

Did you use the Arduino IDE to post the firmware?

Yes.


Arduino IDE 1.8.19

[BillyCarpenter]

Re: Convert pinball to virtual pinball

Added new pinball game. Willy Wonka



See below:

[BillyCarpenter]

Re: Convert pinball to virtual pinball

My new favorite virtuall pinball game. Check it out.