Years ago we got my daughter a bright pink RZR Per Perego. It seats two and she and her brother rode around for hours and hours. My daughter is a very good listener and a rule follower much like her father. She stopped at stop signs and curves in the road. She listened when youContinue reading “Power Wheels and Toddlers”
Author Archives: Kenyon Hensler
Jeep Locks
Another day another broken something. I got in the Jeep a couple of days ago and felt something hit my leg when I closed the door. I reached my hand down without looking thinking it was nothing and found the power lock buttons hanging out of the door. Ok. So now what? Looked at theContinue reading “Jeep Locks”
Sight Words
I hate sight words. Do you have young children? Have you been homeschooling during quarantine? Are you tired of flipping note cards and trying to keep track of what they know and don’t know? Well me too! So I wrote a python/JavaScript app to let me do sight words on my phone and keep trackContinue reading “Sight Words”
The Skee-Ball Machine: Part 5, Optical Switches
Analog vs Digital. Mechanical vs Optical. What’s better? Video game controllers went from digital to analog and back to digital that pretends to be analog. What does that mean? I don’t know. I do know that mechanical analog switches in Skee-Ball machines are not accurate. After de-bouncing the mechanical switches and still having double orContinue reading “The Skee-Ball Machine: Part 5, Optical Switches”
The Skee-Ball Machine: Part 4, The Ball Release
After about a week of working on the Skee-Ball Machine the scoring and ball counting parts of the machine are working. The code is stable and most balls count correctly. One of the major functional parts that is very important is the ball release. The balls are normally released by a solenoid underneath the ballContinue reading “The Skee-Ball Machine: Part 4, The Ball Release”
The Skee-Ball Machine: Part 3, The Code
The old control board for the Skee-Ball machine come in a metal case and fits in the top of the machine with the score board and lights. It comes form a time long ago before modern micro controllers and computers were available. It works fine for what it was for but uses a lot ofContinue reading “The Skee-Ball Machine: Part 3, The Code”
The Skee-Ball Machine: Part 2, The Switches
The Model H Skee-Ball machine uses Cherry micro switches for scoring and ball counting. These switches are E51/F51 switches: datasheet. You can still buy them from many places here for example. While they work they are horribly bouncy and prone to missing a score or ball and counting a score or ball twice. You canContinue reading “The Skee-Ball Machine: Part 2, The Switches”
The Skee-Ball Machine: Part 1, The Beginning
This all started sometime in the early 2000’s. I was either 19 or 20 and someone told me American Adventures was getting rid of their Skee-Ball machines for new ones. They were selling them for $100 a piece or $75 if you took more than one. Of course being young and stupid I convinced myContinue reading “The Skee-Ball Machine: Part 1, The Beginning”
Toddlers and Garage Doors
So this was supposed to be about technology and other projects I’m working on but life doesn’t always work the way you planned. I got a surprise project last night as we were about to go on a walk around the neighborhood. I was in the basement working on my Skee Ball machines (what thisContinue reading “Toddlers and Garage Doors”
Well I Did It
I finally did it and started this. But now I have a two year old with a poopie diaper on me. I’ll write a real post tomorrow…
vSkeeBall 