element14 Presents

Would you like to be able to buy Ben Heck's Hex Game? The team are joined by James Ray from AVID, a design company for Avnet, to discuss whether the Hex Game could be brought to the mass market and if there are any changes which need to happen first. One idea is that it could plug into a BBC micro:bit to add wireless functionality or pairing with a mobile phone, but does that affect mass production? What would you change to the design? Or what would you add? Let us know on the element14 Community!

Bob and Ben are back to automate your workbench, with the help of Raspberry Pi and Amazon's Alexa to help you to work hands free using only your voice. From taking readings from a multimeter to controlling and taking screenshots from an Oscilloscope. Thanks to the Python programming language, Ben and Bob will also be able to control the Raspberry Pi GPIO to turn bits on and and off, or even experiment with controlling power outlets! Watch now to learn how to automate your workbench! What would you automate? Or do differently? Let us know on the element14 Community!

Bob Baddeley visits The Ben Heck Show team to bring voice control to the Raspberry Pi and electronics hardware. Bob and Ben take us through creating an Amazon Recipe to setup communication between an Amazon Echo Dot and the Raspberry Pi and Amazon on the cloud. This uses code to help them communicate with one another ranging from the JSON markup language and Python programming! What interesting projects could this lead us to? Making hardware accessible or something just for fun? What've you made with Amazon's Alexa? Let us know on the element14 Community

With the electronics, mechanisms and simulations done, the Miniature Pinball game is starting to come together! What better way to combine it all than with a super case? Remember, not every element of design needs to be done on the computer first, sometimes it is better to get hands on with foam board and start prototyping. When the design's set, then Ben can take the measurements and make the fine adjustments in Computer Aided Design tools and get laser cutting! What do you think? Would you design it differently? What should the graphics look like? Let us know on the element14 Community!

The team's laser cutting, CNC routing and designing another PCB this week as Ben uses Autodesk Eagle to design an infra-red ball detector for the Mini Pinball build instead of relying on the mechanical detectors which should save cost in the design! Not all PCB design has gone well though as Felix finds he has to bodge fixes onto the main control board after Ben had them created. What PCBs have you designed or made? Any difficulties you've encountered? Let us know on the element14 Community!

Can you drive an LCD screen directly from the general purpose input/output pins (GPIO) on the Raspberry Pi? Find out with the team on the show as we build a portable MAME arcade machine using the Model A+ of the Raspberry Pi. There's no HDMI use here! Ben takes us through setting up RetroPie on the A+ and its configuration. Would you do this build differently? Or has it turned out how you expected? Let us know on the element14 Community:

Can the Ben Heck Show team recreate the fabled 5.51 world record with microcontroller hardware? The team invite Todd Rogers, the world record holder into the workshop to help train the simulation to find out! Are there too many factors to sort out? Can the hardware beat the time? Find out, and let us know what you think on the element14 Community:

How does the SNES Mini Classic compare to the NES Mini Classic? Find out in this episode where Ben has picked up the SNES Mini Classic and performs a teardown! Discover what components are in the box, and how different the design is different from an electronics and mechanical perspective, also nostalgia! Join Ben for a trip down memory lane with a discussion about Nintendo games. What hardware would you like to be seen tore down and unboxed on the show? Let us know on the element14 Community!

Karen and Ben break out the pencils and go back to the drawing board with a redesign of the super glue gun, after changing the auto stand due to feedback from you on the element14 Community, the team are looking at how to best fit together the extruder, electronics and what's the best plastic to use for the casing. After buying a few off-shelf glue guns for inspiration, Ben picks up Autodesk Fusion 360 and starts designing a 3D model to print. Is the team heading in the right direction? Let them know on the element14 Community!

The team has heard your pleas for change, and decided it's time to talk about the super glue gun's auto stand. After mocking up the design, the team has realised that Autodesk Fusion 360 has to be fired back up, the mechanism changed, and design a new 3D model, so it's back to the drawing board! What do you think of the changes? Do you have any ideas for the super glue gun? Let the team know on the element14 Community!

Even computer games have their own world records, and one of the oldest, uncontested records is the fastest time for Atari Dragster at 5.51 seconds! But how legitimate is this speed?

There's a problem, everything is too big! Ben realizes that it's time to decide on the design for the playing field of the pinball game, adding space for the various lanes, the larger bumpers and free travel for the ball.

Ben tears down the XBox One X, comparing it to the previous iterations while giving his usual quips and quirks over its design and changes, do you prefer Microsoft's mechanical and electrical design? or Sony's design decisions?

In tackling another prototype to production design, Ben recreates the printed circuit board layout (made by Felix) for the Mini Pinball build in Autodesk Eagle.

It’s time to solder! After working out the kinks with the layout of the Hex Boardgame, Ben and Felix have received the PCBs from OSHPark and they're all ready for soldering.