{"id":2680,"date":"2017-01-12T17:10:12","date_gmt":"2017-01-12T17:10:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pinballnews.com\/site\/?p=2680"},"modified":"2019-12-29T19:26:35","modified_gmt":"2019-12-29T19:26:35","slug":"pin-uino","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pinballnews.com\/site\/2017\/01\/12\/pin-uino\/","title":{"rendered":"PIN-‘UINO"},"content":{"rendered":"

What is a pin-\u2018Uino<\/em>? The term is a portmanteau of the words pinball<\/em> and Arduino<\/em>. As you are probably reading this article in Pinball News’s Learn How<\/a> section, you may be familiar with pinball machines. However, you may not be familiar with the Arduino<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Arduino<\/em> is an open-source platform for ATmega 168 and 328 microcontrollers. You can use the microcontroller as part of your own custom pinball add-ons, modifications and toppers.<\/p>\n

Arduino<\/em> is the American-branded version. Genuino<\/em> is the version branded for the rest of the world. Save labeling differences, both boards are very similar<\/a>. An Arduino UNO<\/em><\/a> board and Genuino UNO<\/em><\/a> board are juxtaposed, below.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Arduino and the Genuino<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For more information about using an Arduino<\/em> microcontroller, see the instructions put together for middle schoolers, Intro to Arduino<\/a><\/strong>. Be sure to read this instruction article before continuing with this project article (pin-\u2018Uino<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t be fooled by the simplicity of the instructional article or this project article. Some very complex programs (sketches) can be run on most Arduino<\/em> microcontrollers and their clones. In fact, entire pinball machines<\/a> have been built using the surprisingly powerful Arduino<\/em> and clever programming.<\/p>\n

Old vs. New<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

In a set of previous Pinball News<\/a> articles, we shared with you relay controllers you could use to make your own custom pinball add-ons, modifications, and toppers.<\/p>\n