Parts lists- Amazon Affiliated

Here is a listing of parts i used or plan on to use. I will try to associate each build stage with the parts if they are unique for latter stages II and III or more. Stage I is a music player that will play automatically when you start the game, play random songs on the sd card, and then turn off when the game is done. Power options are multiple where one could tap off the machine and install an outlet, run power from its own outlets or even from a computer. There are pros and cons for each but all in all you really cant go wrong. Stage II is the music player and then a means to replace the score reels function with electronically keeping score, Stage III is I and II and then replacing the chimes with all digital sounds. There is also means to add video display, lighting, that go beyond that Pretty much anything for Stage II and beyond will use the same items carried over from stage I.. If you know of a better component to use, please share in the forum

I am also listing some of the tools I am using or recommend but most likely you may already have most of them as it doesn’t need much. Right now my criteria is “did they work” and that is about it.

If at times may have some completed units for sale. please email me at emsfx1@gmail-com if you want to go that route.

Here is a link fo rmp3 players https://amzn.to/3MCGOtj:

Here is a link to an Arduino Mega – (we use the Mega because it has lots of pins and can run two mp3 players simultaneously. https://amzn.to/4s4AhI0

Here is a link to the Arduino Mega’s Shield. A Shield goes over the mega, reverses the pins to females, and make them easier to access. https://amzn.to/4sb4oxB

Here is a power cord for the mega https://amzn.to/4j0RwWs

Next up is sensors. There are a lot of different sensors you can use. There are Hall sensors which detect magnetic fields in solenoids and motors, Light sensors that tell when a bulb is on or off, (infrared(?) or motion sensors that detect motion, , Voltage/optocoupler sensor to detect switches or solenoids going on or off. I am learning new ways to detect things and there may be others as well. Pretty much the theory of operation is the MEga’s sensor detects something and then the Mega does something like play a sound, add a score, start a timer etc.

link for hall sensor https://amzn.to/4aoogXt

link for infrared motion sensor https://amzn.to/4p1vp3K

this is a optocoupler sensor to monitor when a leaf switch or even a solenoid is activated. Notice the voltage as you need to go from 24Vish to down to 5v for the arduino. https://amzn.to/48ZWyxI

These are not sensors but when you find that its hard to mount a light sensor and get a clear view of the bulb, you solder an extension to the bulb and light these up when the bulb is on and then detect it with an light sensor https://amzn.to/4j4kjt9

Here is the light sensor that can detect a bulb or the leds https://amzn.to/4j4kjt9

You are going to need wires to connect everything. I want to have all end males with female ended wires. I did used male to female wires for longer runs but shorter female to female at the arduino. Lengths can vary as well so just get a bunch of different sizes and lengths. Roughly measure where your source is like the backbox to you arduino and account for twist and turns.. Try to keep the same color for each wire run else you will go crazy. Also pay attention to the sensor’s pin order as they are not always the same order as on the Arduino. Sometimes the pins locations will cross each other in order to connect the voltage, ground and sensor signal

Here is a wire source https://amzn.to/3XXSPfg

Here is a collection of Jumper wires.https://amzn.to/4ap4onc

Here is a link for rolls of wires https://amzn.to/44xbQc7

Now using the approach I did, you will need a pcb board. You could even use a breadboard but I wanted something a little better. Here is a link for a protoboard https://amzn.to/48MKlOk

You also need some header pins https://amzn.to/4qbN9KA

and 1k and 2k resistors ( can use 2.2K as well). https://amzn.to/4j4mAor

  • Note:, you may want these to mount the mp3 players on the protoboard. At first i thought the mp3 players were bad but then I started figuring out what I was doing and the mp3 player were working fine but I cut the sock in half and mount to the board so could easily swap out mp3 players and i keep this practice. Update: I think using the Sound Modules DY-HV20T are easier than this way .
  • socket for mp3 players https://amzn.to/4j4mAor
  • here is link for some terminal blocks to connect speaker wires to. The means of connecting speakers can vary but these are mounted on the smaller electo cookies and then this connection is mounted outside the enclosure that houses the system https://amzn.to/3KQzg5F: Update : Not Needed for DYHt20T. method
  • Now if you haven’t figured it out yet you can actually build quite a number of systems if you buy a kit to get started.

enclosures for the system are open ended. i found some small clear tool kits cases at Dollar General and remove the dividers with a dremel tool.such as this https://amzn.to/3KZckRI.

General Tools- Here are a listing of some tools one needs. They are basic solders things. Now I didn’t have any laptop at the time so I got the least expensive I could find. As my development pinball machine was outside my home, I needed to build and bench test the system on my desk but then when trying things out in the field I would need a display to see what the arduino is doing and sensing in the on the machine. You just need something to download code into your arduino from that can get close to your pinball machine.

Here is link for a solder iron kit https://amzn.to/3LbyVul

Here is a link to a low cost laptop. https://amzn.to/4pHIuQF

Lastly speakers are very open ended. I ended up using a pair from Goodwill,. You don’t need much as the system has only 3W of power but on my second hand speakers it fine for pinball.

here is link to small speakers for testing on your bench https://amzn.to/3KZdfSa

These above items will get you almost everything for stage 1 and almost everything for stage II depending on the display you want.

There are other items that are still being investigated. If somebody would like to attempt to utilize these and let us know how they work out, it would be very interesting.

link to esp32 https://amzn.to/3KZdLzA

make sound better? https://amzn.to/4p1pPhy

I am seeing if One can utilize these guys as mp3 players as a simplification. what i like is that is has a jack for a speaker already built in. https://amzn.to/4p1pPhy

If you just wanted to add the music sound track and don’t need to run sound effects or do crazy scoring then you go go this route. My limited understanding is that an Arduino uno can only do one thing, as it has one set of transaction pins (TX1 ,Rx1) while the MEga has 3 sets (and doesn’t cost lot more) but sometimes KISS philosophy is better. https://amzn.to/496uitD

Here is a link for another mp3 sound player, It however uses more the 5 volts to operate. It like 6-30v ( but read they specs). This most likely means that one with need to add a separate power supply (or tap off the GI circuit as at least on a Chicago coin pin its 6volts). It could be also be as simple as getting a 12 volt adapter and drawing its power off of this. Anyhoo, while that seems to be the trade off, the upside is it seems to have a lot a power to produce louder even volumes-like up to 11. https://amzn.to/4s6PSXD

This is another sound player that i have been trying out. . I had a little more success wit this one. One items that i like is that there is a LED on the board that light up when at least you have power. This is very helpful when compared to the other prior board as you can at least rule out power source as a problem if the board not working. Both boards still lack any visual diagnostic other than the power but having the power only led really helps.. https://amzn.to/4pggRNM. There is something to be said with the original approach as it is easier to troubleshoot. and the power requirements is less as this board takes 6 volts. (but it provides a lot more power for the spreaker4s. )

I have included a video of me talking through the components https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AydaucLQVsI

Power Supply: I have been looking at using the voice modules in lieu of building mp3 from scratch. One difference is that amount of power it requires. The original system got its power from a 5v source and powers everything. The sound module approach required more power as the output is louder 3w vs 20w. This can be solved by a power supply with a pigtal input. It is listed here. https://amzn.to/4bBIxt1

Here is a link to cable management accessories to help the install look nice. https://amzn.to/4rjDli1