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We’ve chosen one of the more ambitous projects we’ve received to kick-off our coverage of old school (pre-NXT) Mindstorms creations: an RCX-powered, full-size pinball machine!

Designed and built by Gerrit Bronsveld and Martijn Boogaarts, this fully functional pinball machine boasts a number of novel features, including a working coin slot (50 cent Euro coins only, please!), a functional tilt switch (to detect table movement), rotation bumpers (to generate extra ball speed) and an automatic ball-kickback mechanism. Thirteen RCX units were used to control all of the board functions, driven by custom programs written using the alternate NQC (Not Quite C) programming language.

Gerrit and Martijn used more than 20,000 LEGO bricks in their creation, along with an equally impressive number of other elements:

• 50 lamps (34 used for “Pinball” display alone)
• 24 motors
• 8 light sensors
• 13 rotation sensors
• 18 touch sensors

The pinball machine is not only functional, but has endured the hands-on attention of thousands of fans at a recent LEGO event held in Zwolle, Netherlands, that attracted more than 48000 visitors in 6 days. Impressive stuff indeed.

Check out more photos of the device at either Gerrit’s or Martijn’s Brickshelf sites, peruse an in-depth feature over at Pinball News, or download a fact sheet (Microsoft Word Format) here.

Have a cool RCX-powered old school creation you’d like to tell us about? Drop me a note at jeff [@] nxtbot.com! – [Jeff James]

As we inch closer to the launch of the new Mindstorms NXT later this fall, we’d like to take a nostalgic look back at some of the best creations from the last generation of Mindstorms. Many of us have seen some incredible Mindstorms constructs over the years, ranging from Rubik’s cube solvers and copiers to ATMs and Segway clones.

Here’s the deal: Beginning Monday, May 15th we’ll begin spotlighting one amazing, old school Mindstorms creation per week, based solely on the existing RCX. If you have an impressive, wacky or just plain cool Mindstorms creation — or know someone who does — please comment on this post with the info, or drop me an email at jeff [@] nxtbot.com.

We’d ideally need a few paragraphs describing the creation, as well as 2-3 high-quality digital photos. -  [ Jeff James]