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| RandyT:
--- Quote from: ShimmyAndGershon on April 14, 2010, 03:36:35 am ---We are also still unsure on what to use for the white circles around the target holes. skeeball.com wanted too much money for their rubber. We have already spent enough money on the balls from them, LEDs, and wood. My son is thinking of cutting open plastic pipe. --- End quote --- Check out some white vinyl "mopboard" at your local home store. If it's too thin for you, you can glue them back to back, but single thickness should do the trick. RandyT |
| samej71:
--- Quote from: ShimmyAndGershon on April 14, 2010, 03:36:35 am ---We are also still unsure on what to use for the white circles around the target holes. skeeball.com wanted too much money for their rubber. We have already spent enough money on the balls from them, LEDs, and wood. My son is thinking of cutting open plastic pipe. --- End quote --- Check out this post in a different DIY Skeeball thread. He used "4” white rubber wall base for the rings (“Baby’s Breath” is the Flexco off-white color description)". http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=91011.msg970658#msg970658 I originally was going to use an arduino clone and some 6.5" 7-segment LEDs, but after seeing all the game variations using the computer and LCD screen I changed my mind and I'm going that route. I even picked up some WOOT OFF lights to mount on top. :) I haven't settled on an interface board. I originally was leaning toward RandyT's LedWiz+GP but I'm having trouble getting information about it to determine if what I want to try to interface with it will work not. So, now I'm not sure if I want that or something from Ultimarc or use the arduino to interface (there are some really cheap versions that will work, $25-$35 depending on the feature set). Anyhow, you might want to look at ThePurpleStuff's whole thread. There are a lot of good ideas in it. Good luck with your build! --James |
| ShimmyAndGershon:
Thanks RandyT and samej71 for the mopboard/baseboard vinyl idea. Shimmy and I went to the biggest hardware store in town and looked at the different vinyl/plastic mopboards available. Most were too thin to handle the ball abuse, probably even after doubling. But they were much cheaper than skeeball's rubber. We found one that was stiff enough, but it had a wavy top. Another was stiff enough, but not high enough. Next stop will be a gardening store, as the hedging plastics are generally stiffer. A carpeting store might have the best choice. We'll see. My son Shimmy is still unsure how wide and how deep the gutter should be. We will be experimenting hopefully this week with placing a sensor in the gutter and attaching it to the microprocessor for the ball count. Anyone have the exact dimensions on the gutter (gap below the target area for balls with no points)? unclet? Google helped me find IC chips to interface the Vex Robotics microprocessor to our 3-inch LEDs (its not 4-inch, sorry). A 7447 chip for each LED looks able to handle the sink current from each LED segment. I still need to look up if the VEX microcontroller can supply exactly 5-volt output lines as BCD digits, even if the microprocessor is driven by a 12 volt power supply. Thanks also for the link to the other DIY skeeball. The idea of having an LED light up a target for a few seconds for extra points is great. It should be straightforward to code that into the microprocessor. Should we use lighting-strength LEDs for lighting up a target? Place them inside the target hole? |
| samej71:
I know you mentioned you already had some hardware you are wanting to use for this, but if the cost of the parts starts to add up to $40 you might want to consider an Arduino-like microcontroller. The ATMega128 can be found for as little at $39 w/free shipping on ebay. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270562834281#ht_992wt_1165 Like I mentioned in the last post, there are some cheaper clone boards (freeduino, perhaps) that were even cheaper. It has 12 PWM connections (could be used for 4 individual RGB leds/led banks, or ), 36 Digital I/O (3 digits * 7 segments = 21, 6 for ball sensors, and a handful left over for other lights/buttons), and 16 analog inputs for whatever you wanted. They're easily programmed via a computer, you write your program, connect the board via USB which appears as a thumb drive, and then copy the compiled program to drive. I've not done it personally, but have heard good things about it. If you scan this thread and the other one I pointed out, there have been some "blueprints" drawn up by the awesome UncleT with measurements. They have been the de-facto standard the DIY skees here have been based off of. I think the images are also available on his website, I believe. He's a great guy and I bet if you're unable to find the information in what is already posted, if you email or PM him I'm sure he'll be glad to help out. I did a quick search, and he does have that info posted. A page of photos is here http://unclet.arcadecontrols.com/SkeeBall/SkeeballPics1.html and the one with the information you'll need to determine the gutter size is http://unclet.arcadecontrols.com/SkeeBall/pics1/023-SkeeBall.jpg I've read the "real" skeeball material for the rings is made from the same material as the whitewall part of whitewall tires by Goodyear. Incidentally, you can get real Skeeball rings from Happ, but they're not cheap. You need to be careful about picking a material that is too tough--it might not withstand the stress of repeated ball impacts and crack, or even worse take some chunks out of the balls. Good luck in your search. Please let us know what you end up picking out and and how well it works for you. --James |
| unclet:
I would recommend looking for an arcade vendor in your area who has a broekn old skeeball machine and then buy the target area (with white rings) for $20 or $30 only. The white rings clean up nicely and they will withstand the pounding of the wooden balls. |
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