CREE RGBW LEDs have arrived

Here is a picture of the 3 RGBW CREE high intensity LEDs I ordered. These will be wired on the top of the back box for the cabinet, and will flash various colors during game play.

They will be ROM controlled and flash according to various game sequences that can be programmed for each table.

LEDs will need to be mounted on a heat sink before they can be installed, they are very small about the size of a quarter but deliver a lot of light.

Pinball Cabinet Video

Pinball cabinet is nearly complete, just waiting on art and will eventually install 3 LED flashers that are already wired for.

Here is a video demonstrating the software, and also the force feedback.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAxeYPCR_FE

Cabinet Rough Installation Nearly Completed

Spent much of the day today cleaning up the wiring and finishing off the installation of all LEDWIZ controlled devices as well as iPAC inputs.

Using the real coin door buttons for the PinMame ROM controls. This will allow me to use the test buttons on the door to turn up and down the volume in the game, as well as change game features like how many credits, or other more advanced details such as when to award free balls etc. This feature will also allow me to test certain switches and solenoids just like in a real pinball machine, which will help me with LEDWIZ configuration to get lights and solenoids firing in sync with the game.

All that is left to install now is the 3 CREE RGBW LEDs that I have on order. Wiring is there, but I will need to install and solder these with appropriate heat sinks. These LEDs will be very bright, about 700 lumens. The LEDs will be installed in flasher caps on the back box, and will fire off different colors in time with the game.

Cleaning up the Wiring

Wiring is a bit of a mess right now. Started off thinking I would need only about 7 relays to drive 7 solenoids, I'm not up to 10 relays so that I can also drive a gear and shaker motor, as well as another solenoid for a knocker.

Once I have everything fit and working correctly, I will shorten the wires and clean everything up. Last piece to add are three CREE RGBW LEDs that I will mount on the top of the back box for flashers.

2 More Cabinets Finished

Building 3 cabinets total, first one is a bit of an experiment to understand how to create the force feedback and other effects, as well as to iron out software details and cabinet design.

Much faster building these second two, now that much of the learning curve is complete. First cabinet is almost finished, waiting for the 3 flasher LEDs to finish the LEDWIZ install, and cabinet art is ordered and on its way. Now that I've nailed down all the internal components, will be much easier to wire these as well, first one because of various changes and additions required many changes to the wiring harnesses so it is not as clean now as it could be.

Have an issue currently where the iPAC seems to want to fire off randomly, suspect it is related to EMF. I've isolated the solenoid wiring from the input button wiring, and am going to mount the iPAC in a grounded metal box and see if that resolves the issue.

Pinball Force Feedback

Ford starter solenoids are installed and now firing in sync with events in the pinball ROM. Feedback is very realistic, and you can certainly hear and feel these solenoids when they fire. I am firing solenoids for events like left and right flipper, slingshots, knocker, and pop bumpers.

To make the solenoids louder I drilled out the rivets that hold the bottom to the solenoid housing, and removed the rubber and cork dampeners. They had a dull sound with these installed, and removing these pieces made them much more mechanical and sharper sounding. I was also able to flush mount the solenoids using screws in the holes where the rivets had been, to make them even louder I installed a couple of washers between the plastic and metal bottom so that the unit was not sealed to allow more sound to escape.

Only remaining items that need to be installed now for force feedback in the cabinet, are a gear and shaker motor. I have a lead on a couple of parts that should work, I will drive these off the same relays I use for these solenoids.

These solenoids draw a fair bit of current, testing them with a multimeter inline and looking for current in mAs, they draw 3 AMPs every time they fire. The controller board I am using can only drive devices of 500mA or less, so these would certainly do it in if it weren't for the 12V DC relays I am using to switch these off and on.

As far as power goes, I have the LEDWIZ powered by 12 volts from an extra PC power supply, the LEDWIZ activates the relays, and the solenoids are driven on their own seperate power supply that is isolated from the one I am using for the LEDWIZ. Ford solenoids can be found for about $13 after market, or about $8 at the autowreckers.

LED Testing

Here are some LED stripes I picked up, as well as a single LED. I have several colors in the strips and singles. Planning to power these using 3.3 volts from the power supply. Number of people tell me they should have a resistor, but since I'm using an optimum voltage I can't understand why?

If anyone has a good reason why these should have a resistor even though I'm using the correct voltage though let me know.

I could see it if I was driving them with 12 volts or something, but they seem to work fine with the 3.3 volts and aren't putting any load on the power supply.

Definately after building the Pinball cabinet have some ideas for these lights, was thinking to create some ambient lighting effects in the basement theater room that could be timed to music etc. But that is a little bit lame, and not a huge priority. It's just I've bought a lot of LEDs, and probably won't end up using them all.