The launcher is what the player uses to begin their experience. A good pull of the handle is what determines the speed and strength of which the ball is released into the game. The was no coding needed for this particular part of the pinabll- it's all manual and it's all up to you!

The bumpers play the role of obstacles for the ball and essentially the player. If you manage to shoot the ball too close, the bumpers bump the ball out into the board. Unless you plan on it, they're usually what knock the ball off the intended track. 

In coding the bumpers, my partners had to account for what would make the bumpers actually react to the ball. So, we used copper tape and pasted it all around the bumper site. We made it so that everytime the ball came in contact with the tape, it would cause a reaction in the code and tell the servo (the mechanical engine) to make the bumper do its job: bump! 

Targets are the goal of pinball machines. They are what players try to hit in order to gain points (which is how you build and maintain a high score). Once securing a base and figuring out where to put our targets, we had to solder wires onto the reactive parts of the servo (what the paddel hits). This wiring allowed us to code and make it so that every time the paddle was hit, points would go up on the scoreboard. 

The launchers of a pinball are what the players use to propell the ball upwards after the initial launch. They flick the ball to gain major points if the player is skilled enough. In coding the launchers.... 

The servo is what creates an interactive and moving component of our pinball. It is fastened securely under the pinball, but you can see it working with the moving temple at the top of our board.

Coding the servo proved to be one of the most complex and challenging parts. My partner wanted the servo to rotate in a continuous fashion while also alternating directions every few seconds. Code functions like time.sleep and time.monotonic were vital in allowing the servo to exist and move independently. 

This was a heavily coded and wired component. Not only did our code have to add up points, it had to engage with players in theme. We used time-sleeps and different commands that allowed the scoreboard to react whenever the ball passed certain parts of the pinball board. Such parts are layered in copper tape which are what cause the scoreboard to react one the ball touches it. 

After much trial and error, we finally coded the lights to show different patterns and to light up when certain things happen. An especially challenging part was making sure no staple guns went through the actual bulb(s) of the light because a few had gone through and didn't allow us to code them or light them up in general. It got to the point where we had to take out an entire strip and re-wire and code it from scratch. 

The board design didn't require any coding, it's made entirely out of wood and was assembled by hand. The features of the board were created digitally and printed on vinyl (poster-like paper). Other than the vinyl, all of the boards features were sketched by my partner and handpainted mainly by me. We collaborated on every part of the board's designs. 

All parts of the pinball machine were collaborated on between my partner and I in order to create an engaging and functioning game for all ages. It's meant to challenging and engage players as a fun little obstacle course of sorts for the ball.  This proved to be the most challenging assignment/project of my junior year, but also the most rewarding. 

Above is a video of 1 of 3 of our bumpers. It's the prototype which means it isn't fashioned with a on-theme topper (see final). The bumpers are wired and equipped with copper tape so they're reactive to the ball. To give it the "bumping" motion, we had to wire and fasten selenoids to the bottom of our machine. Our biggest challenge was consistency. The bumper wouldn't always hit the balls everytime they came in contact. So, we had to troubleshoot and move wires around to find a "sweet spot" that would keep the bumping consistent upon contact. We also had to consider the amount of copper tape as it is an important conductor for the wires. We needed enough to gain consistency, but didn't want to compromise the aesthetic/look of our overall pinball. 

Above is a video of 1 of 3 of our bumpers. It's the final version and is fashioned with an on-theme topper. The topper is the design you see on top that represents something of japanese culture as the theme is a Japanese Bullet Train. The bumpers are still wired and equipped with wire tape to make them reactive. The finals also have selenoids that give them their "bumping" motion. The bumpers' purpose is to make hitting the targets more difficult (or easier depending on skill level) for the player(s).  When the ball comes in contact with the bumpers; it is either bumped on or off course. After hard work, my partner and I finally got the bumpers to work at an acceptable constitency; 

This is a video we took in order to study how an effective pinball launcher does its job. One thing we made huge note of was the material and shape of the launcher's end (as in the part of the launcher that makes physical contact with the ball). It wasn't necessarily a pointy end, but the material was defined and the shape was acute and conical. We noticed it allowed for a good transfer of kentic energy and was consistently pushing the ball up and out. 

While this photo isn't necessarily of any pinball machine, it was on par with my partner and I's theme for our pinball machine. This photo is the lighting scheme for a New York train map. Our own pinball machine involves trains and so we thought this picture was good inspiration for our LEDs and lighting plan.