For fun, entertainment and more fun, consider making your own Skee Ball machine. A stalwart of game arcades for many years, it's still a fun and popular entertainment device. And with some basic woodworking skills, you can make your own with the guidance of Instructables and Ed Lewis. Apart from the requirement to physical make the apparatus, the electronics are simple and involve an Arduino monitoring distance sensors aimed at each hole. The score data is then sent to a PC running processing which creates the graphical score display, which can be viewed with the large LCD monitor above the targets, for example:
This would also make a great tool for parties, fund-raising and getting in practice before "cleaning up" in arcades. So to get started, check out the project site. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.
When adding external circuitry such as the distance sensors used above to your Arduino project - consider our range of ProtoShields. From the tiny LeoStick to the Mega range, we offer a complete range for you to work with.
