Week 9: meeting 4-28-15

This is a video of the LEDs turning off when a sensor is hit. The blue LEDs turn off when the flex sensors is activated and the yellow LEDs turn off when the touch sensors are activated. This will allow for the lights to flash during the game.

Week 8 5/22/15: Pinball Machine Frame

5/22/15

Front View of the pinball machine frame

Diagonal View of the pinball machine frame

Back View of the pinball machine

Week 8: 5-21-15

During the day the frame was constructed with plating for the sides, bottom, and front. The backboard was also built so there will be a place for the display to be; space was taken into account for all of the wiring. Code for the sensors is still under development but is making progress, when the code is fully completed then the wiring will be done for the machine. The ultrasonic is no longer counting but it doesn't reset after 3 failures, instead it just stops the code completely. The construction is going to be continued when everything else, wiring and coding, is fully complete.

Week 8 meeting 5-19-15

In the meeting, the ultrasonic started to have issues when it came to being in a code with multiple sensors. The touch and flex sensor worked together in a single code but ultrasonic would only count instead of sensing when something got within a certain range of it. A layout of the sensors is being developed to show people how the setup for the senors that are used will be arranged. The blog layout has also been changed to fit a Drexel theme. The display and touch sensor have been put into one code and the force put on the touch sensor was able to be seen on the display.

Construction of backboard frame and side plating

As shown on the top, the backboard frame that will house the display was assembled and drilled to the pinball machine. The bottom part shows the side plating has been added to the sides. It also has been added to the front and bottom.

Week 7 meeting 5/14/15

During the meeting the code for a working display sensor has been made. It can display "High Score" and "Score" along with numbers that correspond to points. The other objective that was attempted to be done during the meeting was getting the code for the three main sensors that will track points working in one single code. An issue with this is that when the touch sensor was active then the ultrasonic sensor would stop working, the ultrasonic also didn't sense when something was within a certain range of it, instead it was counting. Multiple attempts at fixing this problem were done but nothing was found to fix it. Originally the construction of the machine was supposed to be done at the machine shop but the shop was closed during the scheduled time of construction. A new time has been scheduled so there will be about an hour to 1 1/2 hours for construction. The pieces for the machine have been traced and are ready to be cut out and assembled. Once completed then the sensors can be placed and wired in preparation for the final product.

Week 6 meeting: 5/7/15

During the meeting, the parts needed for the game platform, flippers and starting ramp were settled on. The parts that are needed are plywood, plastic sheets, screws, PVC pipes, 2x4 wood and a white marker. The display for the pinball machine was coded for, though more coding will be needed in order to properly display the player's score. The blueprint paper that will be used for the pinball machine's design were obtained and so has multiple breadboards and Leds. Coding for the touch sensors that will be used on the three targets was created. For the starting ramp, PVC pipe was chosen to be used  to be used since its easy to work with and modify when creating the curve at the end of the ramp. The plastic sheets will be used to cover the top of the pinball machine. This will make sure the pinball doesn't leave the playing field if it's hit too hard and makes sure nothing gets inside the machine from the top. The spring that will be used on the ball launcher was tested. A new spring was considered due to the fact that the tension or spring constant was too high making stretching the spring difficult. Multiple design ideas for the sensors and flippers were created.