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Author Topic: That's How I Roll! (Skeeball build)  (Read 236982 times)

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Xiaou2

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Re: That's How I Roll! (Skeeball build)
« Reply #40 on: April 14, 2009, 09:56:54 pm »
You could possibly skip the solenoid,  and use a motor setup.

 A motor with a circle disc which pulls the gate down, and keeps it down
for enough time for all the balls to drop to the bottom.

 The disc would have contacts on it, so as to act as a circuit to power the
motor.   When the motor reaches the end of the circuit, it stops.  When you
press the start button, it over-rides the circuit, giving the motor enough power
to jump on the circuit path and continue to the end.


 Solenoids are great... but the hardest part is that they need about 24 to 30 volts
to be powerful enough to do decent work.   Not so easy finding a cheap 30 volt
high amp power supply.  Gota be an electronic guru to know how to use
a transformer or something like that to change the output levels of a lower end
supply.


 Trebeck,  you might consider making a Fold-Up skeeball.  Most of the size is due to
the ramp.  Once you fold that up in 2 or 3 sections,  it would only take a fraction
of that space.   Ill post my design a little later...


thatpurplestuff

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Re: That's How I Roll! (Skeeball build)
« Reply #41 on: April 15, 2009, 02:10:14 am »
Xiaou2- I think I follow what you are saying.  I have no experience with that kind of thing whatsoever, but conceptually I think I get it.  Could you point me towards the type of motor that you are talking about?  I really wouldn't even know where to begin in terms of knowing what to buy to create something like that.

In regards to the build, I got a little bit done today.  I attached the bottom half of the score display area, and began dismantling the LCD screen that is going to get mounted within it.  I also attached the blocks to hold the scoring ring area, so the game is actually playable on a VERY basic level.  My buddy came over and we were rolling tennis balls up the ramp for a minute or two, but it wasn't too fun considering there were no rings to catch them and the tennis balls were way too bouncy.  I didn't take any pics, but I will later.

If anyone else has any ideas for the ball release mechanism, please feel free to chime in.  I'm open to any way possible of making this thing so the balls release with the push of a button.  Please help.. haha.

So once again, we find that evil of the past seeps into the present like salad dressing through cheap wax paper, mixing memory and desire.

Xiaou2

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Re: That's How I Roll! (Skeeball build)
« Reply #42 on: April 15, 2009, 02:22:00 am »

 Sorry man, but I dont really have the time to try to design such a mechanism.
I only know the concept, which could help to create it.

 If I recall correctly, the older Skeeball Machines used a Pull Lever to release
the balls.  You could do something like this... or even use a foot pedal release.
All mechanics, and no electronics.


 Here was the foldup concept...




SavannahLion

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Octo

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Re: That's How I Roll! (Skeeball build)
« Reply #44 on: April 15, 2009, 08:56:25 am »
^ That would have been my suggestion: A stepper motor with a cog attached to the shaft that can pivot a stopping lever hinged inside the ball return.... Have the motor rotate 180^ at the press of the START button to release a cascade of balls. Have a second button at the base of the ball slot that rotates the last 180^ to raise the trapdoor for collecting the balls.

Sorry, I would have done it in ACAD, but I'm eating my frosted flakes and don't much feel like it right now... :laugh2:
« Last Edit: April 15, 2009, 09:00:46 am by Octo »

thatpurplestuff

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Re: That's How I Roll! (Skeeball build)
« Reply #45 on: April 15, 2009, 11:08:08 pm »
Thanks for the great ideas, everyone.  I'm seriously looking into motors for the ball return now (I never would have thought of a windshield wiper motor... thanks SavannahLion!), although I'm not ruling out solenoids altogether.  I hit some snags last night that I'm still trying to fully understand tonight.  My scoring area has kinda looked "off" to me for a while now, meaning that my 50 and 100 rings look like they are too far apart when I compare them with pics of actual Skeeball machines.  Also, when my scoring area is placed in the frame of the Skeeball machine it seems too long and will actually interfere with the ball return unless I modify the frame to accomodate it.  It rests far too high when I placed it according to the measurements, and overall there is something just plain wrong with it.

I'm REALLLY hoping that the entire problem lies on me misreading unclet's measurements.  When looking at his sketch, I think I may have confused a dimension that lies within the 38" rectangle to be a dimension added on to the 38" rectangle.  If that's the case, then I just need to recut my score area to be 38" long instead of 42 3/8".  It looks like that will make it fit correctly in the frame and also fix the distance problem between rings.  Again, I'm really hoping that's what the problem is because otherwise I have no idea what I messed up.

Also, just wanted to publicly thank unclet for being so helpful throughout this build.  I've been emailing him with questions for a while now and he's always very helpful and fast to respond.  Thanks buddy!

No real progress made today, but I'm hoping to get some things sorted tomorrow.

So once again, we find that evil of the past seeps into the present like salad dressing through cheap wax paper, mixing memory and desire.

thatpurplestuff

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Re: That's How I Roll! (Skeeball build)
« Reply #46 on: April 17, 2009, 01:42:35 am »
Ok, a really quick update.  As you can see from the attached photo, my scoring area was too long and therefore made all of my dimensions for the ball return, scoring, etc out of whack.  After looking at the measurement pics again, I thought I knew what I did wrong but wasn't sure.  Unclet was kind enough to confirm the correct dimensions, so tonight I bought some more wood and cut the new scoring area.  After placing the new piece in the frame, it looks great and it appears that everything will line up perfectly.  Things are back on track... more later!

So once again, we find that evil of the past seeps into the present like salad dressing through cheap wax paper, mixing memory and desire.

wooowman93

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Re: That's How I Roll! (Skeeball build)
« Reply #47 on: April 17, 2009, 06:47:37 pm »
Aren't you scared of balls flying everywhere and then BOOM there goes your 60" TV

thatpurplestuff

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Re: That's How I Roll! (Skeeball build)
« Reply #48 on: April 18, 2009, 08:08:47 pm »
wooowman93- Haha I don't have a tv that big, plus I'm gonna build a net for this thing.

Like usual, I didn't get as much done today as I thought, but I began the layout for the marquee scoring area and drilled holes / inserted lights to shine down on the playfield.  I got the ramp material cut, finally attached the hop ramp permanently, and cut misc border trim for the machine.  The main thing that I got done was the goofy mouse-trap looking area underneath the scoring area.  Yes, those are pushbuttons there and yes I have tested them extensively and they actually work really well.  I was gonna get those tripwire switches, but I've got a ton of pushbuttons collecting dust so I figured I'd see if I could find a way to use them.  The ball return is still a mess and I'm still tinkering with pieces of wood trying to find the most simple way to get the scored balls and the missed balls to both end up in the same place.  Hopefully I'll get that done, attach the marquee and monitor, and bolt the rings on tomorrow.  We'll see if I get that all done, but if I do that means that except for a net this thing will be a functional yet still very ugly Skeeball machine.

So once again, we find that evil of the past seeps into the present like salad dressing through cheap wax paper, mixing memory and desire.

unclet

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Re: That's How I Roll! (Skeeball build)
« Reply #49 on: April 18, 2009, 09:05:46 pm »
Looking good. 

Interesting use of pushbuttons to keep score.  I might try to retrofit my Skeeball with pushbuttons next time my existing switches no longer work.   Using a pushbutton instead of the metal arm switches will save me a lot of money on replacement parts and most likely will never have to be replaced.  Cool idea.

Octo

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Re: That's How I Roll! (Skeeball build)
« Reply #50 on: April 18, 2009, 10:31:15 pm »
Looks great, but with your return/pushbutton system, won't a ball in the 100 holes also trigger the switch for the 50 hole? Will you just rig the 100 buttons to score as 50 so it adds up to 100? ???

Xiaou2

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Re: That's How I Roll! (Skeeball build)
« Reply #51 on: April 18, 2009, 11:41:42 pm »

 Actually, I have doubt that those pushbuttons will work well.   The outside button
bezel may cause the ball to deflect past the center of the button. (like a ramp)
 
 You Might be able to drill the holes so that the bezel is flush with the surface...
and or to sand the bezels down a bit.

 Also, you would want to remove the button springs too.  And even then.. Im not so
sure there will be enough pressure to push the button down with a fast moving
ball.

 Unclet, did you use pushbutton leafs?   Or use official Skeeball type switches?
(3" long trip-wire type.  Round wire - not a flat bar. Trip wire probably 1mm diameter)


 Purple - The fake wood didnt look too bad on the backboard.. but it does not look
good when combined with the ramp, because its grain is going in a different
direction.  Looks very bad that way.   Probably wont look that bad if you redo the
ramp to match the top section.

unclet

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Re: That's How I Roll! (Skeeball build)
« Reply #52 on: April 19, 2009, 08:17:35 am »
My skeeball machine uses the metal arm switches.  The skeeball rolls into the metal arm of the switch thus causing it to activate the switch.

In my Skeeball machine the "100" hole has a switch which registers 50 points and the "50, 40,30,20,10" holes have one switch each which register 10 points (see pic attached).    When a ball goes into the 100 hole then first registers 50 points then rolls down the center and trips the 50,40,30,20,10 hole switches as well on the way down to total another 50 points.   Just another example ..... if the ball goes into the 30 point hole then it rolls down the center and trips the 30,20,10 switches thus totalling 30 points.

I personally believe the wooden skeeballs a quite heavy enough to roll over a pushbutton top, especially in my system where the skeeball falls down the center of the machine and trips multiple switches rather fast.

thatpurplestuff

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Re: That's How I Roll! (Skeeball build)
« Reply #53 on: April 19, 2009, 03:05:27 pm »
The pushbuttons actually work surprisingly well.  I thought that I may have to recess them a bit, but they work great as is.  The balls are definitely heavy enough to trigger the buttons as they pass over, and the size of the balls actually allows them to almost push the button down completely before it even hits the bezel.  I struggled for a while to figure out a way to get that upper left 100 hole to make it to the right hand side without passing the 50 hole, but in the end I figured I'd just make both 100 holes score 50 and then pass the actual 50 to make 100.  Actual Skeeball machines utilize this method of compound scoring, and if I don't like it I can always go back and change it later.

Xiaou2- Unfortunately the vinyl flooring doesn't come with the grain going the other direction, so to get the material for the entire ramp I would have had to buy waaay more than I needed.  I would have preferred to have the grain running along the ramp, but with my budget it wasn't really feasible.  I tried the scoring area with the grain going in the same direction, but I ended up using it the way I did because I felt it just looked better.

I'm sure that there are some things I am going to want to change once this thing is all painted and put together, so pretty much every element of this machine can be replaced.  Anyway, thanks for the input / interest in my build everyone!  I'm off to cut out the marquee area and mount the monitor.

So once again, we find that evil of the past seeps into the present like salad dressing through cheap wax paper, mixing memory and desire.

thatpurplestuff

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Re: That's How I Roll! (Skeeball build)
« Reply #54 on: April 20, 2009, 12:23:12 am »
Got the marquee scoring area cut and the lcd screen mounted in it.  I had to do some really out of the box routing to get the screen to fit... namely taking the bearing off of a 1/4" slot cutting bit to get a little bit of extra cut depth.  I'm rethinking having the speakers in the front and considering putting them facing down next to the light bulbs.  This would give me extra space for art up front, but I'm still unsure about what I want to do.  Didn't get anything else done, and I didn't take enough pictures.

So once again, we find that evil of the past seeps into the present like salad dressing through cheap wax paper, mixing memory and desire.

unclet

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Re: That's How I Roll! (Skeeball build)
« Reply #55 on: April 20, 2009, 06:43:26 am »
I believe the speaker for my Skeeball machine is mounted right at the front of the machine where the front legs are located.   Also, to save space, why not just use one speaker instead of two?

thatpurplestuff

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Re: That's How I Roll! (Skeeball build)
« Reply #56 on: April 24, 2009, 03:14:29 am »
Some build pics... kinda rushed today to make it playable.  Had some friends over to test it out, and surprisingly only a few tiny things need tweaking mechanically.  The buttons aren't wired yet, and the big 10 ring looks like crap because I haven't attached the bolts it is supposed to have on each side.  No net yet, which is why the 100s aren't labeled.  Also, the speaker grills were bigger than I thought they were, so I need to modify the marquee graphics accordingly.  More later.

« Last Edit: April 24, 2009, 03:16:57 am by thatpurplestuff »

So once again, we find that evil of the past seeps into the present like salad dressing through cheap wax paper, mixing memory and desire.

jfunk

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Re: That's How I Roll! (Skeeball build)
« Reply #57 on: April 24, 2009, 08:15:21 am »
AWESOME!

Fordman

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Re: That's How I Roll! (Skeeball build)
« Reply #58 on: April 24, 2009, 09:08:32 am »
 :applaud: Fantastic!  :applaud:

Now build 10 more, dispense tickets, offer spider rings, tootsie rolls, 1" diameter rubber balls, plastic jewelry for prizes!  Also offer bad pizza and look out Chuck E Cheese! :laugh2:

All Kidding aside, that would be the most popular thing in my neighborhood!  :notworthy: :notworthy:

Great Build!

Fordman

ivwshane

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Re: That's How I Roll! (Skeeball build)
« Reply #59 on: April 25, 2009, 03:48:07 am »
Are you going to have a cage around it? So that a ball doesn't accidentally hit the lcd?

thatpurplestuff

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Re: That's How I Roll! (Skeeball build)
« Reply #60 on: April 25, 2009, 01:56:47 pm »
ivwshane- The lcd screen has plexi in front of it, plus it'll have a net around the scoring area.  In a few weeks I'm going to make the final net frame by routing mdf to the exact dimensions I want, but for now I've just stuck some pvc together in order to make it playable and see what shapes work best.
« Last Edit: April 25, 2009, 02:04:11 pm by thatpurplestuff »

So once again, we find that evil of the past seeps into the present like salad dressing through cheap wax paper, mixing memory and desire.

Firebat138

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Re: That's How I Roll! (Skeeball build)
« Reply #61 on: April 26, 2009, 09:25:42 am »
Wow...THis is turning out great.... Congrats....Nice work
Click below to see my Metal Gear/Splinter Cell Machine... http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=108360.0

Click below to see my PinCab - PinWARS
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,164660.0.html

thatpurplestuff

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Re: That's How I Roll! (Skeeball build)
« Reply #62 on: April 26, 2009, 08:03:29 pm »
Firebat138- Thanks!

Skeeball is wired up, playable, and we just spent the last two nights drinking loads of beer with our friends and rolling wooden balls.  There are definitely some kinks to work out, but overall I couldn’t be happier with the machine so far.

I was on the fence about my speaker placement, but after using RandyT’s software I’m very happy that I went with two speakers.  The sound is awesome.

First, I added that black mesh drawer lining stuff and it is absolutely amazing in terms of dampening the sound of the balls hitting the wood.  The balls now travel through the machine very quietly.  The little dome “wall protectors” work great for the two lowest rings… they knock the ball right into the hole every time.  Originally I had planned on flattening them out into a donut-shape and putting a rivet through them to attach them to the rings, but the adhesive that they come with is very strong and works fine by itself.  I first installed the bottom dome a bit low on the ring, and while it worked most of the time it would hold the ball inside the ring if it didn’t hit it fast enough.  They both work great after just mounting them a bit higher. 

The ball return now works flawlessly, although I wish I could say the same thing about the scoring.  The balls trigger the buttons great… actually too great considering about 2 of every 10 balls double scores.  I might be able to tweak this thing to death and finally get it registering correctly, but I’m thinking I may just bite the bullet and buy the switches with the metal arms.  They are pricey, but I want something that works 100% of the time and pushbuttons don’t seem to be wanting to cooperate.

One big decision I’ve made after a weekend of Skeeball is that I am scrapping the ball release altogether.  The more I thought about it, the more I realized that for what I am wanting to do with this machine, a ball release is fairly worthless and actually a hindrance in some ways.  I don’t plan on putting a coin slot in it and the software counts the balls played, so keeping the balls from the players until a game is started doesn’t really serve a purpose.  Also, I eventually want to make different game modes, and I don’t want to have a self-imposed limit of 9 balls.

After holding up the PVC net frame to the machine, I’m not even going to bother attaching it.  It is REALLY fugly, and I don’t want to be drilling holes in this machine for a temporary solution.  This week, I’ll begin designing/cutting the actual frame and attaching the net.  In terms of other goals for this week, I’ve been putting off attaching the final bolts to the bottom ring (so it doesn’t look all warped and goofy) so that’s going to be on my to-do list.  I also want to create the little sand pads that prevent the balls from bouncing out of the higher rings.  Cutting the top covers for both sides of the lane is definitely a priority as well.  The scoreboard needs a bit of tweaking for the printed graphic, and I need to create something to keep the whole thing closed (right now it only stays closed because it is a tight fit.)  If anyone has any ideas on what I should do about the rounded edge on the front of the Skeeball machine where the metal for the coin slot and ball area normally are, I'm all ears.  I don't plan on buying parts from an actual machine to put there, so I've gotta come up with something as a replacement and so far I'm drawing a blank.

We are planning on starting a weekly Skeeball league as soon as this is done and painted, and we've already got people wanting in.  Overall, I'm really happy with this thing but there is still plenty of work to be done!  More updates this week!
« Last Edit: April 26, 2009, 08:08:42 pm by thatpurplestuff »

So once again, we find that evil of the past seeps into the present like salad dressing through cheap wax paper, mixing memory and desire.

Xiaou2

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Re: That's How I Roll! (Skeeball build)
« Reply #63 on: April 27, 2009, 12:40:32 am »

 Looking good man.

 A thought about the netting...

 Most netting looks horrendous.  I wonder if high pound  clear fishing line
wouldnt work as a much nicer looking solution.

 Maybe double up so that each line consist of two cords.  In the standard
criss-cross pattern.


Deefish

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Re: That's How I Roll! (Skeeball build)
« Reply #64 on: April 27, 2009, 03:09:57 pm »

Hey great looking machine!

You could use a piece of plexi to cover the scoring area to keep stray balls in bounds. You wouldnt see it like the netting and if it gets to scuffed up over time you can replace it. A bonus would be it might deflect the lighting downward in a cool way toward the drop holes.

Awesome project!

Cheers,
Deefish

thatpurplestuff

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Re: That's How I Roll! (Skeeball build)
« Reply #65 on: April 27, 2009, 10:04:29 pm »
Thanks for the suggestions about netting options, everyone.  I've got two types of netting already, but I'm still not sure what I'm going to end up doing.

It's way too windy here to get any cutting done, so I figured that I'd record a video of the Skeeball machine in action.  I've been tweaking with the ball counter to try to get it to quit counting balls twice, and now it actually misses balls occasionally.  I think the metal arm switches are the way to go.  Oh yeah, and just because I love Skeeball doesn't mean I'm good at it... haha.

If anyone has any suggestions about what to put on the front of the machine to cover the curved edges, I'm all ears.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcLVoyk8xrc&feature=channel_page[/youtube]
« Last Edit: April 27, 2009, 10:42:23 pm by thatpurplestuff »

So once again, we find that evil of the past seeps into the present like salad dressing through cheap wax paper, mixing memory and desire.

thatpurplestuff

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Re: That's How I Roll! (Skeeball build)
« Reply #66 on: April 29, 2009, 09:28:36 pm »
I just won 12 Cherry Skeeball metal arm switches for $23 including shipping.  Outside of ebay, the only places I've found with these switches were at least $4.50 a pop without tax or shipping.  Score.

So once again, we find that evil of the past seeps into the present like salad dressing through cheap wax paper, mixing memory and desire.

urbecrisch

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Re: That's How I Roll! (Skeeball build)
« Reply #67 on: April 29, 2009, 11:37:07 pm »
Wow!  You suck at Skeeball!  :laugh2:

Great looking machine!  Very impressive!  What was the total cost of the build?  I couldn't find the total in the thread.

I saw a 13' working skeeball in my area with balls for $1200.  If I wasn't remodeling the basement I would probably snatch it up!

thatpurplestuff

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Re: That's How I Roll! (Skeeball build)
« Reply #68 on: April 30, 2009, 01:28:35 am »
urbecrisch- Haha you'd think after test-playing this thing for as long as I have that I'd actually start getting good at it, but nope.

In terms of final cost, I really don't even know where I'm going to end up.  I think I'm somewhere around $500 now, which is way more than I thought I'd be at this point.  Surprisingly, very little of that amount was wasted... for the most part all of my purchases have been used and I haven't made too many mistakes (knock on wood).  I've also parted out one of my old arcades for the screen and computer hardware, so that stuff hasn't been factored in to the total cost.  I still need to build the net frame (I'm hoping I've got enough MDF scraps to make it work) and paint the entire machine, but other than that I think I'm done spending.  I've got enough plexi, netting, and wood to finish the rest of the things I have planned.  The only other purchases I foresee in the future are an LEDWiz+GP and some LED's to integrate some alternate gametypes for Skeeball, but those are down-the-road plans.

So once again, we find that evil of the past seeps into the present like salad dressing through cheap wax paper, mixing memory and desire.

Xiaou2

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Re: That's How I Roll! (Skeeball build)
« Reply #69 on: April 30, 2009, 02:27:52 am »
Curved Front:  The easiest way would probably to stick on 3 or so pieces of wood
in that area, glue them together and screw in place...  then sand them down to the
correct shape matching the contour of the rest of the machine.


unclet

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Re: That's How I Roll! (Skeeball build)
« Reply #70 on: April 30, 2009, 06:59:02 am »
Very nice indeed !!    :applaud:  :applaud:

thatpurplestuff

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Re: That's How I Roll! (Skeeball build)
« Reply #71 on: May 02, 2009, 12:24:51 am »
Xiaou2- That's not a bad idea.. I may try that.

unclet- Thanks!  Like I said earlier, I wouldn't have been able to build this thing without your measurements!  Not sure if you saw the post about the button switches, but I wouldn't recommend retrofitting your machine to use them.  They trigger fine, but they double score quite a bit.

Not much progress on the machine... spent yesterday doing some absolutely horrible routing on the covers for the sides, and spent today trying to salvage the work I did yesterday.  The end result still needs to be sanded down a bit, but it'll work.  I ended up having to route more wood out of the ball return area than I would have liked, simply because I slipped yesterday while cutting out the hole and took out way too much in one section.  In order to match the botched area, I had to botch the rest of it.

To get this thing ready to paint and play, I just need to cut the frame for the net, install the new switches, and install the last few bolts into the scoring area so it doesn't look all warped and goofy.  Slow and steady!
« Last Edit: May 02, 2009, 12:28:14 am by thatpurplestuff »

So once again, we find that evil of the past seeps into the present like salad dressing through cheap wax paper, mixing memory and desire.

unclet

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Re: That's How I Roll! (Skeeball build)
« Reply #72 on: May 02, 2009, 08:23:36 am »
Yeah, I have been following the post and read about the buttons not working out that well after all.   Thanks for the heads up.

thatpurplestuff

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Re: That's How I Roll! (Skeeball build)
« Reply #73 on: May 06, 2009, 01:37:00 am »
No picture updates tonight, but I think I've finally got the new switches in and working correctly.  I was having some issues with double counting switches, and it turned out two of the switches I was having issues with were faulty.  You would hear the actuator "click" but the trigger wouldn't fire, but if you pulled a little further it would trigger like crazy.  Just triggering it with my finger would cause 2 or 3 hits, when the correctly functioning switches would only fire once.  Anyway, after replacing those switches, things were almost perfect but very rarely the ball counter would double count.  It would only happen with the higher value scores, so I figured it had something to do with the speed in which the balls were coming down the chute.  I simply reduced the size of the hole that the balls exit the score area so that it was almost the exact size of the actual ball, so every ball slows down to the same speed by the time it exits.  That seemed to solve the problems... pictures later.

Question for unclet... have you had many issues with bad switches?  Did I just get a bad batch or is the failure rate on these triggers pretty high?

So once again, we find that evil of the past seeps into the present like salad dressing through cheap wax paper, mixing memory and desire.

unclet

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Re: That's How I Roll! (Skeeball build)
« Reply #74 on: May 06, 2009, 07:07:51 am »
I attached a picture of the type of Cherry micro-switches my machine uses.

When I install new switches then I find I might have to bend the little wire arm a bit so the ball does not cause two clicks of the switch to occur.   I think it has something to do with the little metal arm bouncing back and trigger an extra click of the switch sometimes.  I just bend the little metal arm of the switch around until it triggers one click only.  This was a tip I got from the arcade guy who sold me the machine.
« Last Edit: May 06, 2009, 04:43:47 pm by unclet »

thatpurplestuff

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Re: That's How I Roll! (Skeeball build)
« Reply #75 on: May 06, 2009, 10:46:28 am »
Yeah I bent all of my switches into little "J" shapes and they work great.  Initially, I sat there thinking "How in the hell am I going to get these switches installed so they trigger perfectly?" until I realized that I could just bend the metal arm wherever I wanted it.. haha.  I'm hoping I just had some bad luck with those two switches, because so far I haven't had any problems after I replaced them.

So once again, we find that evil of the past seeps into the present like salad dressing through cheap wax paper, mixing memory and desire.

unclet

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Re: That's How I Roll! (Skeeball build)
« Reply #76 on: May 06, 2009, 04:44:05 pm »
I forgot to attach the picture in my last post .... I will attach it now.

Xiaou2

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Re: That's How I Roll! (Skeeball build)
« Reply #77 on: May 07, 2009, 03:26:11 am »

 It could be that when the ball hits, it flexes the wood or brace enough to cause that
additional switch trigger, via Strong vibrations. (or bounce)

 It would probably be better to brace all your mini-ramps together with some
thin strips of metal.  Binding it to the top and or sides of the box.

 The little L-brackets you used probably wouldnt hold up to the stresses of those
heavy balls for very long without upper bracing anyways.


Burke LaShell

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Re: That's How I Roll! (Skeeball build)
« Reply #78 on: May 07, 2009, 01:00:52 pm »
I didn't see how you are doing the scoring.  Do you have a custom program doing the work?  If so, you might be able to add a little "debounce" code.  Switches tend to bounce a little and produce multiple "pressed" events.  Maybe you could use something like...

Code: [Select]
1 Setup a counter variable, initialise to zero.
 2 Setup a regular sampling event, perhaps using a timer. Use a period of about 1ms.

 3   On a sample event:
 4   if switch signal is high then
 5     Reset the counter varaible to zero
 6     Set internal switch state to released
 7   else
 8     Increment the counter variable to a maximum of 10
 9   end if
10   if counter=10 then
11     Set internal switch state to pressed
12   end if

Awesome work.  It makes me want to make my own.
« Last Edit: May 07, 2009, 01:02:36 pm by Burke LaShell »

thatpurplestuff

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Re: That's How I Roll! (Skeeball build)
« Reply #79 on: May 08, 2009, 03:04:26 am »
Burke- Right now I'm using RandyT's Jumpball Software, but eventually I hope to write my own Skeeball software... we'll see.

Thanks for all of the great feedback about switches everyone, but I actually got the switches working perfectly over the last few days.

I keep putting off making the net frame (mainly because I'm not exactly sure how I want it to look yet, but also because we just spent all day Saturday vacuuming layer upon layer of MDF dust off of everything in the garage... it literally got EVERYWHERE and was absolute hell to clean up).  I've been officially banned from cutting MDF inside the garage, so all of my future work is going to have to be done in the driveway or backyard.. haha.  After this project I'm going to consider using other woods for future projects, because while MDF is easy to cut and work with it also made me very paranoid about breathing in my own garage.

Won't have much free time this weekend, but I'm hoping to get the nasty mess of computer guts actually organized and mounted within the machine instead of just crammed in.  I'm going to take the pot off the speakers and attach it outside of the cab, as well as hook the pc power up to a button outside and possibly even mount the power led on the back.  I literally bought these pushbuttons and ledholders 4 or 5 years ago for use with another project, and they've been sitting around waiting to be used since then.

Figured I'd also include some pics of the different types of netting that I've purchased so far, but I still haven't rejected some of the other ideas either (plexi, fishing line). The red netting is more string-like and may not be as durable, will look pretty good with the color scheme I'm going with, and it has 2 inch holes.  The brown-ish netting is from an Army supply store and is super durable, fairly ugly, and the holes are about 1/2" (and also looks like the kind of netting people might use to catch fish or kidnap human beings).

One of my buddies was kind enough to offer to stitch a border on the netting to fit whatever frame I decide on, and I may push my luck and ask her to sew up both types (or at least both types for 1 side) just to see what looks/functions best.  Anyway, thanks again for all of the input and comments everyone!

So once again, we find that evil of the past seeps into the present like salad dressing through cheap wax paper, mixing memory and desire.