A Problem in Need of a Solution
Rocky and Bullwinkle pinball machines have a really cool mechanism that makes a little plastic Nell strapped to a log move on that log towards a spinning "saw blade". Unfortunately Data East used an inexpensive motor that lead to stripping out of the brass gear boxes on most all of these machines. I bought a replacement motor from Marco in hopes of fixing my machine but unfortunately the motor was not strong enough to drive against the return spring so Nell randomly moved, sometimes towards the saw blade, sometimes away!
I designed a drop in replacement unit that uses a stepper motor and Arduino controller to accurately reproduce both the speed and the direction of Nell and the log. The latest revision has an additional lighting feature that lights up the plastic saw mill when Nell is in peril.
There are over 160 of these in machines all around the world and they are available from PinballLife.com.
