3 years of no updates

I am bad at blogging.  I think it's because I just use twitter and facebook and whatever else instead.

I have been working on getting Blynk working with a Propeller board. Maybe I'll post some of that stuff once it has something to show?

More pinball project progress

So I set aside the Flash play field for later.  I now have a High Speed play field that is complete (just worn out a bit) and a cabinet with back box for it.  I have it all setup next to my Bad Cats.

It has a P-ROC and a "System 11 Combo board" that I have all hooked up with the wiring harness and some custom power cables I made for my PSUs (since the cabinet came with no boards at all).

Anyway, here's a video of it showing the lamp attract mode using pinmame to run it.

P-ROC Project progress

I got the playfield lamps going using the P-ROC + 8x8 driver board:

P-ROC Project.

I'm building another pinball machine. This time starting with an existing one. An old Flash playfield and lower cabinet given to me by Jeri Ellsworth.  It's missing parts, has some water damage, and the artwork is cracked and quite worn, but it'll do for my needs.

I've got a bunch of new parts to use with it, and I'm going to be controlling it with a P-ROC board from Multimorphic.  Below is a photo of the P-ROC along with some driver boards and a partial wiring harness I have been making.

Kicked Due to Excess Flood

Over the next week, I will be updating this here blog with several backlogged things including, my trip to the Parallax Expo / UPEW, Maker Faire Bay Area, and more.

Don't worry! I'll go back to my more usual slower pace of updating afterwards.

Update:  Ok, so this never happened. Sorry, but things got kind of crazy with moving and stuff. I will post stuff soon(ish).

ELEV8 Fun

I finally got around to editing a video together of the footage from my GoPro HD attached to my ELEV8. The footage was all taken on January 29th at a park near my house.

Adventures in 3D printing...

So a while back I contributed to an Indiegogo (like kickstarter) for the eMaker Huxley. A RepRap based 3D printer kit.  When I got the kit I built the thing pretty quickly and tried to print some stuff. It kind of worked, but the I could only print very small simple things and even those were low quality compared to what I saw others being able to do.  So I let it sit for a while as other things came up.

What it looked like then...

A few weeks ago I decided to try "fixing" it. So I rebuilt the extruder and hot end (more carefully this time), and I spent a bunch of time adjusting everything to be square and level as best as possible.  After that it did start printing much better, but still I wasn't totally happy.

I did a bunch of research on different firmware and host software and the ones I really wanted to use wouldn't work well on the Sanguinololu board I had without first upgrading the MCU chip.  I ended up buying a RAMPS 1.4 board and an Arduino Mega 2560 to run it for now (I am starting work on an interface adapter for the RAMPS 1.4 board and a Propeller Platform or Quickstart board.) .  The software I am currently using is the Repetier firmware and host with Slic3r to produce gcode from STL files.  I am pretty happy with the print quality now.

What it looks likes now.

Here are some of the things I've printed with it:

A spool for filament coils

Some random test objects and stuff

I've been watching the new Doctor Who

The bracket for the RAMPS board &
a bracket for  hooking servos together

Minecraft creeper
want's to give you a hug!

This is what I was able to print with 1 pound of filament.
Quite a bit of stuff, lots of failed stuff from early on, and
lots of test objects as I was tuning things.

Parallax ELEV-8 Quadcopter

I recently visited Parallax in Rocklin, CA, and while there I was given an ELEV-8 quadcopter to build (thanks Ken!). Here's a neat picture of the completed ELEV-8 at night with the LEDs on:

And here is a video I put together of my build pictures and video clips of it flying:

Walking

I started doing regular walks in early May. Since May 9th (when I started using Runkeeper to track them), I have done 54 walks with a total distance of 82 miles. My longest single walk was 2.34 miles on the trail behind my house. Most of the time I walk on the path at Miramar Lake which is between work and home.

Below are some photos from the lake:

Next are some photos from the trail behind my house:

And here's one showing the solar panels on my house (that I can see from part of the trail behind my house):

Star Wars Legos & Stuff

Someone wanted to see my Star Wars Lego stuff. So here's a few pics:

555 Contest Entry (fixed)

I rearranged the wiring a little, and added caps at every score trigger circuit input. That fixed the noise problem enough that I was able to re-enable the drop target reset feature and the pop bumper scoring.

I made a new video (I hope it's acceptable to update this and it counts.):

555 Contest Entry

For the 555 contest, I have made a pinball machine. Sadly I ran out of time before I could get everything in and working. I do have the SiniScore 555 and several elements on the playfield work. Previous blog entries detail the build. Here is a picture of the playfield as it is right now:

Also, here are the latest schematic images:

Here's a picture of the breadboards with the above circuits:

It uses 13 555s in that configuration. The final version if I had gotten everything in and working would have used about 25 of them for the main functionality, and a dozen or so more for the LED lighting (flashers and such) and sound effects.

Here is a short video showing what I have working:

Progress?

I decided to stop putting more stuff on the playfield until I got what I had on there actually working with the proper power supply, and hooked up to SiniScore 555.

I've wired up the roll-over switches, the stand-up targets, the drop targets, and the one pop bumper. I've done basic test with each, and I have the stand-ups and roll-overs going through the merger board into SiniScore 555 and working with the proper PSUs. I still need to build the trigger circuits for the drop targets and hook up a drop target reset trigger. Also need to connect everything together so I can actually try playing it.

I am determined to enter something. It won't be what I had hoped, but hey, it's something.

SiniScore 555 Schematic

Above is the schematic of the main portion of SiniScore 555. The reset circuit is just a 555 circuit to debounce a button press. The merger circuit is just a series of 74HC32 (quad or gates) that merges the outputs of all the solenoid trigger circuits down to one signal to feed the first 4017 CLK line.

Almost there...

Just need to install 4 more pop bumpers and 2 stand-up targets.  Routing the slot for the drop target bank was difficult, but it works.

Playfield In Progress shots.

Below are a couple of shots of the Playfield in Progress.  I spent a bunch of time figuring out how I wanted it laid out, and then placed all the pieces approximately where they go. Now I am attaching them. I've got the left side stuff mostly done.

SiniScore 555 is Alive!

New Tools & Solenoid Trigger Circuit

Got some new tools:

Also, worked out the solenoid trigger circuit. This circuit will let me trigger a solenoid with a short burst when a switch is closed, and it will let me signal the score unit with a 5v level signal at the same time. It doesn't matter how long the switch stays closed, there will always only be one short pulse per switch close event. I can use this with the Pop Bumpers, Slingshots, and to reset the drop targets. I can use the same thing minus the TIP120 and high power side for the drop targets, stand up targets, and rollover switches. Needless to say I am going to have a lot of these in the machine (8 with the TIP120s and around 20 with just the score pulse).  Here's my test setup for it (the pcb on the left there is just providing regulated 5v, the 24v supply is off to right out of the picture):

And here is the schematic. It's done with ExpressSCH, so I can share that file if anyone wants it.

Slower progress today...

Since I had to work, I only had a few hours to work on the pinball today. I did some work on figuring out the circuit I need at each solenoid, it's close.  Using a 555 in monostable mode to drive a TIP120 that drives the solenoid. I need this so that I can direct a low power signal to the score circuit at the same time (e.g. when you hit a pop bumper) and also for when I need to drive a solenoid for other reasons like the drop target reset.

Once this circuit is worked out, I need to make a whole bunch of them.

5x 555s, 4x 4017s, 6x 4066s, and 4 Servos = SiniScore 555

Each servo is driven by a 555 circuit, but with a twist. Instead of a POT controlling the servo position, I have 5 resisters that position the servo appropriately. The resisters are "selected" via a 4066 and 4017 circuit. The 4017 outputs drive the 4066 switches to feed power through one of the resisters going into the 555 circuit.
Each 4017 is setup to reset itself on the 5th count, that count also clocks the next 4017. The first 4017's clock is driven from a series of 74HC32 (quad or gates) which has all the switches feeding them.

The 5th 555 circuit is setup as a simple monostable circuit that when triggered goes through a 4066 to reset all of the 4017s. This allows me to reset the score at the start of a new game or at power up.

If I have time this will all go onto a proto board PCB (or maybe a couple). Hopefully, it's okay if some of my circuits are still on breadboards for the 555 contest.