that sounds like fun. a programmable WPC board.
wow.
Here's some info on that:
http://groups.google.com/group/rec....16405a9?lnk=gst&q=who+dunnit#8b992626316405a9
http://www.pinballcontrollers.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=66&Itemid=55
The P-ROC (Pinball - Remote Operations Controller) is a circuit board that enables a computer to control a pinball machine over USB.
* Develop your pinball ruleset in the language of your choice on the PC. The P-ROC hardware controls the drivers and reads the switch matrix for you, providing switch events as they occur.
o Functionality verified in all 3 major operating systems (Windows, OS X, Linux)
* Designed as both a drop-in CPU board replacement for pinball games built on WPC, WPC95, Stern SAM and Whitestar technologies, and as a controller for ground-up homebrew pinball machines with support for your own custom toys with unique I/O requirements.
* Use open source software developed for use with a P-ROC to get your homebrew pinball project off the ground quickly. A P-ROC can be used with existing pinball driver boards or those of your own design.
* Control all of the elements on your machine:
o 208 driver I/Os (for lamps, leds, coils, motors, etc)
+ Includes direct, matrixed, and multiplexed drivers to support a variety of hardware configurations.
o 32 direct switches
o 16x8 switch matrix
o Dot Matrix Display (DMD)
* Configure switch–driver links in hardware to enable lightning fast reaction times where needed.
o ie: flippers, slingshots, and jet bumpers
* Use multiple DMD frame buffers to create smooth animations. Each frame supports up to 16 levels of brightness (colors).
* Protect your machine again software crashes. Watchdog timer logic shuts off drivers to protect your game when the P-ROC is not in communication with the PC/microprocessor-side software.
* Optionally use an embedded controller, such as an Arduino prototyping board, for fully self-contained applications.
* Combine a P-ROC with a driver board and power supply to create a complete programmable pinball system architecture.
Now you can implement custom game software!
The P-ROC communicates with a host PC over USB. Your custom game software applications will run on the PC and use the P-ROC for control of the real-time machine related functions, such as switch monitoring, output driving, and DMD driving. Therefore, the game application can implement the high level game management functions and leave the low level timing critical functions to the P-ROC, thereby eliminating any potential problems with bus latency or software reaction time.