skeeball with arduino/pi

[spanks_4]

I know some people have done skeeball machines with Arduino and raspberry pi, but I'm still lost and confused..

I have a Skeeball Lightning machine with a dead display and PCB so I'm wanting to put in an Arduino, pi, solenoid for releasing the balls, and an lcd for score/ball display.

I am completely clueless when it comes to this stuff so any help would be greatly appreciated because my kid is about to have a fit over this thing not working.

[spanks_4]

This machine uses the light sensors for ball detection... Not sure if that makes a difference or not.

[lilshawn]

could probably be done with an arduino. I don't think A pi has enough of the proper IO to do everything. i'm not 100% on PI IO. the PI has like 20 something but some are dedicated GPIO for a specific purpose...so it really varies depending on which route you go.


depending on how the display is, you might be able to find an I2C driver to drive it so you wouldn't have to drive it directly saving you a pile of IO.  all the switches are fine to drive straight in. You'd have to count it all out.

then, just a matter of programming.

really depends on how "into it" you want to get. if you are experienced with electronics it should be pretty easy...if not, maybe not so much.

compare what maybe an arduino MEGA (or an UNO with four i2C - 7 segment drivers) with the relays and whatnot you'd need to convert it would all cost....VS just getting a replacement board for your machine would be.

consider also this could take you anywhere from a few days if you go hambone and know what you are doing in all aspects... to a month or more to get setup, programmed and installed... It all depends on how proficient you are. This wouldn't be turn key that's for sure.

[PL1]

I know some people have done skeeball machines with Arduino and raspberry pi, but I'm still lost and confused..

I have a Skeeball Lightning machine with a dead display and PCB so I'm wanting to put in an Arduino, pi, solenoid for releasing the balls, and an lcd for score/ball display.

I am completely clueless when it comes to this stuff so any help would be greatly appreciated because my kid is about to have a fit over this thing not working.

This is a challenging project, but you should be able to pull it off.   

-- Software
There are several skee-ball software packages currently available.

RandyT from GroovyGameGear released a version, as did several other BYOAC skee-ball builders.
(list of builds here)

Your choice of software will dictate hardware choices such as whether to use a keyboard-style encoder or a gamepad-style encoder.

-- Ball release solenoid
This will be a problem, unless you can find software that already supports it.

You may need to rig an override switch, manual bypass, or just disable the ball catch. 

-- Inputs
Running the sensors through the GPIO pins on a Pi is possible, but those are 3.3v inputs.

The sensors on your machine are probably running on 5v.

With that in mind, you're probably better off using an "active low" encoder like IPac, KeyWiz, etc. (NOT an "active-high" ZD Encoder)

This machine uses the light sensors for ball detection... Not sure if that makes a difference or not.

There are two basic types of optical sensors: beam break and reflective.
-  Beam break works with any type of ball that blocks the IR beam.
-  Reflective only works with certain types of balls.

The good news is that the sensors and balls work together on your system, so you should be able to wire the sensors to an active low encoder.

Disclaimer: I've only worked with beam break sensors.  The reflective sensors should also work, but may need to be wired differently.


Scott

[spanks_4]

I ordered the pi, arduino, and solenoid today. The next hard part is going to be figuring out how to setup the pi, which looks easy, and then setting up the arduino to work with the pi and figuring out where to put the code. Which the only thing I don't see in this guys code is an input for the gutter sensor and the start button. Maybe I'm missing it

I ran across this and decided to use his code because I like classic skeeball, but the combo thing adds a nice variance that the kiddo should love:

For the sensors I was planning on running the 5V to the arduino 5v plug or put in a switcher and put the 5v on it.

For the ball coil I'm using one of these solenoids. I will have to figure out how to write code for it to release long enough to let 9 balls pass and then lock back up. https://www.amazon.com/Uxcell-BEM-14840DA-24-480V-3-32VDC-Rectangle/dp/B00E1LC1VK/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?_encoding=UTF8&dpID=51CWnVIVdFL&dpPl=1&keywords=solid%20state%20relay&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&qid=1499542872&ref=plSrch&ref_=mp_s_a_1_4&sr=8-4

I also have two led strips running on the sides of the lane that for some reason when tied together one side won't light all the colors, but other side is ok so might actually need a power supply for it which would also run the sensors.

I'm jumping in head first on this, but after it's done I should have a game that's reliable and fun to play.

[ed12]

u do realize u can pull the full thing off  with just 1 https://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/arduinoBoardUno/
so 1 uno and away u go
all u need to do is go get the sketch file
reset your code to reflect your in's/out's and away u go
score counting is easy as pie.
and can be set as a binary out for the uno if u get tek ?
u can use the 2 way buss

ed

[Sjaak]

PM sent

[spanks_4]

u do realize u can pull the full thing off  with just 1 https://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/arduinoBoardUno/
so 1 uno and away u go
all u need to do is go get the sketch file
reset your code to reflect your in's/out's and away u go
score counting is easy as pie.
and can be set as a binary out for the uno if u get tek ?
u can use the 2 way buss

ed

Out of this I understood what an uno was and what pie is which is amazing lol...
This stuff is a mystery to me, but hopefully Sjaak and PL1 can get me in the right direction..

[SORHP]

Subscribed

[spanks_4]

Update: I stripped all of the wiring out of this thing and started working on running new wires. Waiting on some more wires to come in to go from sensor boards to the Pi. Lots to do still, but slowly making progress...

[matsadona]

Always wanted to build one my self, but that is way far in the future unfortunately. But as ed12 says, why make it more complex with the Rpi? The Arduino boards is fully capable of handling all I/O interfaces and scores etc. It boots instantly and no worries about Linux, scripts and other hacks you will have to take care of with a RPI.
The only thing that would require a RPI is a fancy gfx heavy scoreboard display with animations etc.
If you need sound there are plenty of mp3 and WAV trigger boards that can play anything, and you get them for only a few dollars. There are more expensive ones that can play several sounds in parallel if needed. And they are really easy to hook up to an arduino. Either you connect one output per sound or you set up a serial connection.

There are also the Teensy boards that is pretty similar to the Arduino boards, but with way more muscles under the hood. Then you could go with some HUB75 LED panels for the scoreboard with animations etc.

[Sjaak]

The only thing that would require a RPI is a fancy gfx heavy scoreboard display with animations etc.

Not just animations, but also custom skeeball games 

[matsadona]

The only thing that would require a RPI is a fancy gfx heavy scoreboard display with animations etc.

Not just animations, but also custom skeeball games 

Fair enough. But with five holes to put the ball in, how much can you vary the gameplay since it is physically limited? Yes different modes/sequences etc of course, but that can be prompted by the game indicating with lamps/led strips where to shoot and when.
Not saying a RPI driven monitor wouldn't add to the game - just saying it isn't necessary for the gameplay (much like pinball machines).

[Sjaak]

Fair enough. But with five holes to put the ball in, how much can you vary the gameplay since it is physically limited? Yes different modes/sequences etc of course, but that can be prompted by the game indicating with lamps/led strips where to shoot and when.
Not saying a RPI driven monitor wouldn't add to the game - just saying it isn't necessary for the gameplay (much like pinball machines).

You are right that you don't need a rpi to control the sensors and do some score counting or even play some sounds and control a simple led panel. This can all be done using an arduino and a shield for the sound and probably some driver board for the led panel. All those parts are getting close to the cost of a rpi and cheap lcd screen and you would have to write the code to get it all working.

I agree that there is not much variety, it's basically games that require accuracy or speed or a combination. But I think the games/sounds/music/smoke effects can add to the fun of playing skeeball.

[nitrogen_widget]

you could do a cricket game on the machine.
i'm looking at amazon and the price for a knock off arduino uno +stuff and the price of an rpi zero w + stuff is roughly the same.

You can go either way here.

[matsadona]

Fair enough. But with five holes to put the ball in, how much can you vary the gameplay since it is physically limited? Yes different modes/sequences etc of course, but that can be prompted by the game indicating with lamps/led strips where to shoot and when.
Not saying a RPI driven monitor wouldn't add to the game - just saying it isn't necessary for the gameplay (much like pinball machines).

You are right that you don't need a rpi to control the sensors and do some score counting or even play some sounds and control a simple led panel. This can all be done using an arduino and a shield for the sound and probably some driver board for the led panel. All those parts are getting close to the cost of a rpi and cheap lcd screen and you would have to write the code to get it all working.

I agree that there is not much variety, it's basically games that require accuracy or speed or a combination. But I think the games/sounds/music/smoke effects can add to the fun of playing skeeball.

Yeah, don't get me wrong - I love to add the extras. I was looking on this from a personal perspective and for me it would be more simple to put together some code for the Arduino than messing around with Linux 

[big420atx]

spanks_4

I was wondering if you have made any progress over the holidays. This mod is something that I have been wanting to do myself for awhile now. I feel like your project will finally help me get things rolling.

All the best luck to you man.

[DaOld Man]

Liking this project!