2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

This paper presents an approach to embedded systems education through a constraint-driven pinball
course project. We introduce a method that leverages physical constraints to foster creativity
and problem-solving skills in undergraduate engineering students. The project centers around
building an embedded automatic pinball machine with a Pinbox 3000, a cardboard pinball kit, presenting
unique challenges that diverge significantly from typical embedded system projects based
on previous ideas that others have explored.
Our approach addresses one concern in embedded systems education: the ubiquity of off-the-shelf
solutions and well-documented projects on the web, which can limit students’ opportunities for
original problem-solving and system design. By imposing the constraint of working with a smallscale
cardboard pinball machine, we force students to design unique solutions rather than relying
on existing designs or off-the-shelf components. This paper details the implementation of this
project in a 2024 embedded systems course at Miami University. We discuss how students tackle
key challenges, particularly in developing launchers and flippers within the cardboard structure’s
physical constraints. The project is divided into four main subsystems: launcher mechanism,
flipper system, playfield elements, and overarching control system, each presenting its own set of
design challenges.
We argue that such constraint-based projects offer a compelling alternative to traditional embedded
systems projects. This approach promotes student engagement and practical skill development and
better prepares students for real-world engineering challenges where constraints are often immovable.
The paper concludes by suggesting future directions for constraint-driven embedded systems
projects, emphasizing the potential of this method to continually create novel, challenging learning
experiences in the face of rapidly evolving technology.