{"id":19060,"date":"2018-07-24T14:14:23","date_gmt":"2018-07-24T13:14:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.recantha.co.uk\/blog\/?p=19060"},"modified":"2018-07-24T14:14:23","modified_gmt":"2018-07-24T13:14:23","slug":"gorgeous-mafia-themed-pinball-machine-controlled-by-a-raspberry-pi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.recantha.co.uk\/blog\/?p=19060","title":{"rendered":"Gorgeous Mafia-themed pinball machine controlled by a Raspberry Pi"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Janos Kiss, Ot\u00edlia Pasar\u00e9ti and Romain Fontaine set up a pinball manufacturing company, called Team Pinball<\/a>, in Cardiff a little over a year ago and have been quietly, and secretly, beavering away on their new machines. The game, based on a Mafia theme, features a 10.1″ LCD built into the back board:<\/p>\n

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Although most of the mechanical parts in the machine are standard and easily available (for easy replacement in case of breakdowns), the main ‘brain’ inside the machine is a Raspberry Pi 3!<\/p>\n

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Janos explains the electronics pictured above:<\/p>\n

The platform is composed of a Raspberry Pi 3 and a single electronic board (R-board) with through-hole components. The Raspberry Pi 3 runs the game software and interfaces with the machine through the R-board. All the switches are direct switches, they are connected to the R-board and scanned a thousand times every second. The CPU will send responses to the solenoids in less than 3 milliseconds giving sharp feedback and a no-lag experience for the player. The game comes with full RGB LEDs which are also controlled by the CPU. A 12V PSU and a 48V transformer are used for the electronics and the solenoids respectively.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The software on the Pi is a custom Linux operating system called JOS, written in C++.<\/p>\n

This next photo is just to show off the gorgeous underside of the playing area:<\/p>\n

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Machines are made to order by the Cardiff team and the suggested retail price of the units is \u00a36,750, which isn’t bad considering the bespoke nature of the machines!<\/p>\n

You can see the trailer for the machines below and read more over at Pinball News<\/a>. The company’s website can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Thanks to Zak on Twitter<\/a> for spotting this one!<\/em><\/p>\n