Pinball Design & Programming

Over the fall semester of 2022, I took a class which involved learning how to design and construct a pinball machine. Throughout the class, we were taught how to program mechanical parts using a microcontroller and how to solder wires to connect these parts together. Additionally, we were assigned to construct our own pinball machine out of wood and parts from old pinball machines. My team had to design and construct a pinball machine which included at least five main shots, at least one pop bumper, at least one ramp, and at least one orbital shot. Also, we were required to program each element to function and test the operational machine.

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Having the experience to design and build my own pinball machine has impacted me in many ways. Firstly, it reaffirms the enjoyment that I get from working hands-on that I have had since I was a child. My favorite part of the entire experience was the construction of the pinball machine itself, and it was satisfying to finally see the project that I was working on for the entire semester physically there and working. The experience also taught me more about coding simple pieces of hardware, which may become useful should I pick up this type of design as a hobby.

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Below are a couple of pictures of the pinball machine from the design and construction phases.