Posts categorized under: class-notes

by Garth Zeglin
in class-notes

Mechanisms

Our course objective is to build a pinball machine or ball sculpture. In the DIY spirit of building rather than buying, what kinds of structures can be easily made with the parts on hand? Our resources include a CNC router, laser cutter, and the Physical Computing Lab inventory.

  1. Playfield. This ...

by Garth Zeglin
in class notes

Pinball Problem Statement

So for our purposes, what's a pinball machine? Let's start by identifying some elements of a traditional game:

  1. one or more moving balls
  2. a physical cabinet: backboard, bumpers, rails, ramps, holes, pins, glass top
  3. ball sensors: microswitches, magnetic sensors
  4. actuators: kickers, flippers, magnets, etc.
  5. light: event indicators, game ...