To make this mod, you must disassemble your pinball machine to get access to the flipper buttons. First, open the coin door and release the lockdown bar latches. Then, pull out the lockdown bar, and carefully slide out the playfield glass. Lift the playfield up and rest it on the backbox. Just take your time. If something feels caught, slowly reverse your steps and start again.

Loosen the nut that holds the flipper button. I recommend that you use an adjustable monkey wrench to grip the edges of the nut. Twist out the old button and insert the new one. Replace the nut and enjoy your upgraded flipper buttons.

Pinball machines are indeed machines. They need regular maintenance, cleaning, and small adjustments. You are hurling a steel ball at metal, rubber, and plastic, and things are bound to happen. One day, I noticed that a ball kept getting stuck in my machine. I took the glass off and took a closer look. I noticed some chewed up rubber sticking out. One of the rings had split apart. The rubber rings help protect metal parts in the game, add some energy to the ball, and also protect the ball itself. If your ball gets scratched up, the ball will scratch up your playfield and cause other maintenance problems. So, it is a great idea to clean, change out rings, and replace the pinballs on a regular basis.

I first turned to the Iron Man Pinball manual and then watched some YouTube videos on replacing the rubber rings. I did some research to build up some confidence with removing the covers and taking out some screws. I came across Titan Pinball. They had everything that I needed including a new t-shirt.

Titan Pinball had every ring for every game in many colors and sizes. I choose yellow. They also have a cool feature where users can share their maintenance kits, other users can comment and make changes to build their own kit. By letting the pinball community help out, Titan Pinball has the most comprehensive ring sizing than any other place on the web. Check out the Titan Pinball Kits Database for options for your pinball machine.

I discovered that the original ring installed was not the right size which caused it to prematurely fail. There were small discrepancies in the manual and the forums, but the community helped me solve the mystery and over come my trepidation about opening up the machine and doing my first pinball maintenance. Game on!

Once you get into pinball, you start exploring the world of mods. Mods are modifications that you make to your pinball machine, small customizations that were not included in the original machine. There is a whole community dedicated to doing these mods and they range from simple to complex. I wanted to get into slowly, learn my machine, and experiment. My first mod is quick and it’s cheap. I found an Iron Man themed car start button cover. I wondered if the cover would fit on top of the start button on my pinball machine. Combing through Amazon to find the right cover was the most challenging part of the mod. For such a simple thing, I couldn’t believe the variability in quality and reviews. I finally found one that is metal and has the right sized opening. At the time of writing, the Iron Man Engine Start Button Cover on Amazon was $5.

The Iron Man Start Button Cover comes with the cover and two adhesive strips. Spend the time here and really get the adhesive lined up on the back side of the cover and avoid touching the adhesive. This will wear out the stickiness. Press the ring around your pinball start machine and hold it there for about a minute. It’s a simple mod and pretty effective. It covers over the start button of the pinball machine which is illuminated or flashing when it needs to be pressed. This creates a cool effect when covered.

I am not sure if this is an original mod or not, but it got me started with modding pinball machines. I am sure to have others and I will report my findings here. Do you mod pinball machines? What are your modifications? Do you like them? There are other start button covers for different super heroes and themes on Amazon, so maybe this one can find a home on your machine.

Radio Shack had the Erector Spykee Mini Vox robot on sale for $10. The Mini Vox takes voice commands and makes the robot move, talk, dance, and even fire a “laser.” The box says, “Ages 7+” – I fit that category. The box also says, “Some assembly required.” It should have said, “Some de-assembly required.”

While playing with the demo model at the store, I realized that I could reuse the voice commands to set inputs on a microcontroller.

The voice commands go something like this:

“Mini Vox”

Robot beeps

“Forward”

Robot moves forward

Here are all of the commands and their response:

1. 1. “Forward” – DC motors get positive voltage
   2. “Backup” – DC motors get negative voltage
   3. “Turn Left” – One DC motor gets positive voltage and the other negative
   4. “Turn Right” – One DC motor gets positive voltage and the other negative
   5. “Laser War” – LEDs flash and RGB LED flashes different colors
   6. “Yo Man” – Says “Yo Man” back at you and RGB LED flashes different colors
   7. “Electro Dance” – Makes sounds, LEDs flash, RGB LED flashes different colors, and DC motors pulse on and off
   8. “Destroy Target” – Says, “This is my favorite,” makes sounds, flashes LEDs, and RGB LED flashes colors

When I got Mini Vox home, I ripped it apart. I was quite surprised by how responsive the voice commands are and how many parts are inside this little robot. Most of the parts are reusable.

Here’s what you get for your $10 investment:

• • Orange LED (x2)
  • RGB LED
  • DC Motor (x2)
  • Motor Driver Circuit Boards (x2)
  • 8 ohm Speaker
  • Microphone
  • Slider Switch
  • Momentary Push Button
  • Lots of screws

The forward and the back voice commands are the easiest to tap into. You can disconnect the DC motors and connect them to a digital input of a microcontroller and now you can use voice commands to set the state of 2 digital inputs and act on them.

If I come up with something clever, I will let you know. But, the first piece of my Iron Man suit has fallen into place.