July 2004 Inside Slot Tech Magazineslot-tech.com/members/magazine/lores/july04.pdfJuly 2004 Inside Slot Tech Magazine Page 2 - Editorial Page 4 - Aristocrat - A Field Trip to Burlington,

Inside Slot Tech MagazineInside Slot Tech MagazineJuly 2004July 2004July 2004July 2004July 2004

Page 2 - Editorial

Page 4 - Aristocrat - A Field Trip to Burlington, Ontario

Page 12 - Bally Hopper Control Board

Page 13 - Monitor Repair and More!

Page 24 - The Best Laid Plans . . .

Page 30 - Slot Tech Magazine Visits RussiaPart 1 - Unicum and WMS join to release Bluebird in Russia

Page 32 - Gamesman Casino Range Push Button Products

Page 33 - Happ Controls Aquired by Pfingsten Partners

Page 34 - Revolutionary New Touch Technology from 3M

Page 36 - Subscriptions and Back Issues Order form

Slot Tech Magazine is anOfficial Publication of

I was fined 100 Rubles (around threebucks) for taking a photograph inside theMetro station. This is the receipt.

Cover photographs by Dmytri LizenkoMetro Jackpot, Kiev, Ukraine

Slot Tech Editorial

Randy Fromm's

Slot Tech Magazine

EditorRandy Fromm

Technical Writers

Martin DempseyKevin Noble

Herschel W. PeelerScott Reynolds

John Wilson

Advertising ManagerDennis Sable

Slot Tech Magazine ispublished monthly bySlot Tech Magazine1944 Falmouth Dr.El Cajon, CA 92020-2827tel.619.593.6131fax.619.593.6132e-mail

[email protected] the website at

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Copyright 2004 under the Uni-versal Copyright Convention. Allrights reserved.

Page 2 Slot Tech Magazine July 2004Randy Fromm - Publisher

Randy Fromm

Welcome to the special,somewhat sideways edi-

tion of Slot Tech Magazine.This month, Slot Tech Maga-zine whisks you off to Russiafor a visit with Russian Gam-ing Giant Unicum. First stop:The June 17th unveiling ofthe first WMS Gaming Blue-bird machines available inRussia and the CIS. The pre-sentation was made at a Mos-cow Yacht Club at a western-style barbecue. Being fromThe West, I felt right at home.From there, it was on to St.Petersburg for a tour of theUnicum factory and a (pre-

sumably) once-in-a-lifetimeopportunity to witness thecelebrated “White Nights” ofthe city on the longest days ofthe year. The travelogue be-gins on page 30.

Kevin Noble seems to be work-ing his way through the al-phabet, backward! He haswritten about Sigma andMikohn and IGT and Ballyand Atronic and AC Coin. Thismonth, he’s sticking to the Aswith a look at Aristocrat.Kevin’s article begins on pagefour.

Real-world applications are agreat way to learn about elec-tronics. This month, HerschelPeeler gives us a detailed lookat the Bally hopper controllersystem, complete with sche-matic diagrams. It’s neat tosee the simplicity and el-egance of Bally’s hopper con-trol system and nobody ex-plains things quite the wayHerschel can. This is actuallyjust the first part of a two-part series. Next month, you’llsee how to build a simple testfixture for the Bally hopper.Turn to page 12.

Will the fun never end? JohnWilson, Slot Tech Magazine’sresident slot math guru, putsus into the thick of thingswhen the pressure’s on tocreate a slot bonus game andintegrate it into an existingmachine. It’s a weekendchock-full of pencil chewing,beginning on page 24.

Finally, there is a brand newtouchscreen technology onthe horizon and Slot TechMagazine is proud to bring itto you first. It’s called Disper-sive Signal Technology and .. . Are you ready? Are yousitting down? Well, stand upand jump for joy because thisnew technology takes the

worry out of touchscreen sen-sor scratches. That’s right.Scratches in touchscreenswill no longer cause calibra-tion or operating problemsbecause DST works in a com-pletely different way than ex-isting touchscreens. Readabout what our friends at 3MTouch Systems have beenworking on in their secretlaboratories, beginning onpage 34.

For those of you that are in-terested in attending my two-week Casino School, I haveplanned a class at SycuanCasino in San Diego, Califor-nia (July 12 - 23) and one atChip In’s Island Resort andCasino in Harris, Michigan(September 13-24). Readmore on Page 13 or go to thewebsite at slot-tech.com formore details.

That’s all for this month(‘Whew . . . That’s enough!).See you at the casino

Slot Tech Magazine publisher RandyFromm (l) with WMS Gaming's Execu-tive V.P. and Managing Director of Inter-national Operations, Seamus McGill atthe Moscow introduction of Bluebird.

Page 4 Slot Tech Magazine July 2004

Slot Tech Feature Article

By Kevin Noble

AristocratA Field Trip to Burlington, Ontario

When I was asked if Iwanted to drive upto Burlington, prep

seven machines with Mikohn,and receive additional train-ing on new Aristocrat VideoSlot Machines, I said “yes.”How can I pass that up? Ac-companying me on my tripthis time will be a fellow tech-nician and good friend, GarySmith. Arriving at the ware-house some 31/2 hours laterby car, we bumped into oldfriends David Dalli (who isnow part of the new videoinstall crew) and JerryPastuovic. If you rememberfrom the March 2003 issue ofSlot Tech Magazine, Gary,Jerry and David made thetrip to Windsor to help withour “BIG PROJECT.” We remi-nisced for a few minutes butI was eager to dive into ourlittle project. I wanted to startsnooping around inside to seewhat the machine was madeof.

Jerry had already groupedour machines together on aworkbench in the back of thebuilding and to our surprise,Jerry and his crew of techni-cians had already installedand wired all the Mikohnhardware including the wir-ing for the Slot, Drop, andCashbox doors. Cool.

Aristocrat and Glen Styers

This was my first introduc-tion to Aristocrat and not asecond later, walking downthe aisle with his rolling suit-case, was Glen Styers. He isan energetic, upbeat, happy-go-lucky guy and we neverhad a dull moment while hewas around, including ac-companying us to lunch atJack Astor’s. I am sure Min-nesota was less lively whenGlen was here. Glen is anexcellent representative, ex-plaining in detail the stepsthat are required to perform aRAM clear and showing ushow to set the options at theselected values. We had ampletime to write everything down

while Glen was going throughthe machine from top to bot-tom. We had Glen for onlyone day, so we had to squeezeall the information out of hishead and, at the same time,perform all clears and setscomfortably so we can trainout own technicians backhome.

Bump In the Road

Jerry, Gary and I were at-tending this particular train-ing session with Glen whenwe stumbled onto a problem.We had to first solve why theGame and SMIB board werenot talking. Our soft metersand Mikohn meters were notthe same, Mikohn was not

All lined up and ready to go!


incrementing and it was stuckat 0. We established that thegame and SPC 2 board werecommunicating. To make along story short, after a fewphone calls, we re-pinned theSPC 2 board harness andpresto! We were in businessand ready for the training.

Training

After completing a millionRAM clears on each differentmanufacturer at our site, itwas time to get these ma-chines ready for home. Afterclearing these machines andre-establishing the properoptions, we repeated the pro-cess (a number of times) untilboth Gary and I felt comfort-able with our option settings.We needed to verify that all ofthe machine information wascorrect on the Slot File, in-cluding the correct BVEPROM version, new SMIBversion, and now the new “T”version on the IDX. We com-pleted a six-point inspectionon each game that included acoin and bill test. We treatedeach game as if was sitting onour gaming floor, making surethat all systems were go. Theycan be dropped on bases,wired up and locks installedat home. We cut the preptime on the gaming floor al-most in half but the real train-ing starts when the machineshit the floor and are up for thepublic to use.

RAM Clear Procedure (version 6.01.07)

1. Power machine off2. Remove the MK6 SystemEPROM board3. Replace with MK6 systemEPROM board with RAM clear

chips using another MK6EPROM board.4. Power on5. “WARNING” MEMORYWILL BE CLEARED” messageappears6. Press “SERVICE” and “BET4” together to clear RAM7. Save any information thatwas changed before power-ing off you must start again.8. Power machine off9. Replace the original Sys-tem EPROM board back inmachine10. Power machine on, ma-chine will perform self check11. Turn Audit key when themachine has completed itsself-check.12. Scroll down to “OperatorSet-up/Selection menu andenter (enter button will be“play 7 lines” button)13. Scroll to “Game MachineOptions” menu and enter14. Highlight “save MachineOptions” and enter15. Exit the menu screens 3times16. Press the “Service” but-ton and “WIN” button togetherto clear static RAM17. Set SPC ID to 1 (5.9)

RAM CLEARING theSPC 2 Boards

1. Power off the SPC 2 boardby removing the connectorH82. Short pins #6 and pin #7on inside array of (or rightside) holes counting from thebottom going upwards.3. Power on SPC 2 board, thered LED will begin to flashsteady fast4. Power off the board andremove the short5. Power on6. The SPC LED should startto flash at a nice even pace

The SPC 2 Board

I have already mentionednumerous times, this thingcalled the SPC 2 boardmounted behind the awardglass in the top box. Welearned so much about thissmall board when trouble-shooting our Mikohn/Softmeter problem, that I wantedto pass on what notes I took.

* On the SPC 2 Board, theMikohn SMIB is connected

The SPC2 Board

Slot Tech Magazine July 2004Page 8

on the upper right side* GAM SAS2 Ver.02.05.01(U3) EPROM is used on theSPC 2 board* In the Gamma Diagnosticmenu (3.17.3) option thereshould be an asterisk and arotating bar constantly inmotion. This ensures thebackplane and the SPC 2board are talking.* On the SPC 2 board, a redLED is constantly flashing.This is indicating the SMIBand the SPC 2 board are alsotalking* The red LED would flash 3times consistently, pause fora bit, and restart its 3 flashesagain. This indicated that wehad no communication be-tween SMIB and SPC 2 board.* The SPC 2 board is con-nected into the Backplaneboard and SMIB.

My Notes:

* When ordering monitors,ask for the longneck moni-tors as a replacement. Thisallows for a little more roomin the cabinet.* There is a small toggle switchabove the monitor that al-lows you to turn the volumeon the game down.* The logic door must be opento save any changes to theoptions.* Do not close the logic doorwhile the machine is power-ing up. This will cause anerror code that you cannotclear.* You can swap CPU boardsbetween games without los-ing any information, options,or meters. The E squared ison the main board.* If you change the jurisdic-tion setting in the your op-tions, you must check all

other options because otherjurisdictions have preset op-tions.* Install the CPU lock on theleft side only. This will stopany possible problems fromoccurring on the SystemEPROM board.* When clearing STATIC RAM,you must set the SPC ID to 1.All the other option settingwill remain except for thisone.* The Validation number is anumber that a single numericvalue (example a 1 or 2) rep-resenting a certain percent-age. This can be found on thepar sheet or on the game.* The play bet button must beset to toggle. This allows youto push the button to startgame play. When set as “con-tinuous” you can just lay onthe button and it keeps play-ing.* On the PCBA board the leftside is U3 and the right side isU2. There are no markingson the board to determine U2and U3 for inserting the RAMchips.

* When doing a hopper test,any coins dispensed from thehopper must be returned tothe hopper through the IDX.The main door must be closedwhen you start to reinsert thecoins. The IDX recounts thecoins number of coins untilthe exact amount is returned.(Test/Diagnostics mode 4.4)* There is a diverter optic thatengages and blocks the optic,thus any coins being countedby the IDXs counted as dropwhen the diverter optic isblocked.* In soft tilt modes, the patronis allowed to play throughsmall errors until an atten-dant is available to clear theproblem.* A bill test will highlight thevalue of bill that was insertedand return it back to you.* The hopper does not slidestraight back but pivots in aclockwise direction.* On a coin lockout test, turnthe reset key, scroll to test/diagnostics menu, and select4.3 the coin entry test. Pressthe change button to turn the

The Coin Hopper


IDX on and press again toturn it off.* On the SPC 2 board, thecolor wiring pin outs fromright to left (looking at theSPC 2 board face up) are:black, empty, gray/black,gray/red, and empty. Thewhite wire is left off.

Helpful Hints

*** Top light on candle con-tinuously flashes - bad CPUfan on the main board, changethe fan and the error will clear.

*** Game is locked up in handpay - go into operator setupmenu, enter machine options,change printer option to none,scroll down to device driversand cage printer to none, saveoptions with logic door open,go back to game screen, in-sert reset key and reset thegame, the error will disap-pear, go back into setup andenable the printer again inboth locations, save optionsand close the game.

*** You keep getting a BACCMismatch error, open andclose the logic door and it willclear the fault. You can alsogo to the Miscellaneousscreen, go to BACC CRC Seedscreen, match the CRC Seed,save the option with the logicdoor open, go back to themain screen, wait for the BVto cycle and close the game.

*** Printer doesn’t print oraccept bills/vouchers and theprinter is good and no otherproblem can be found. Go tothe Miscellaneous screen, goto Printer CRC Seed, matchthe CRC Seed, save the op-tion, go back to the mainscreen and wait for the printer

to authenticate, then closethe game and do a testvoucher or bill.

*** You may run into a prob-lem with the monitors, par-ticularly the touch screen fall-ing off and the monitor black-ing out, hopefully those prob-lems were addressed beforethey were shipped to you.Wells Gardner recommendsthat 3 caps in the flybackarea be changed and theyshould have corrected thetaping procedure holding thetouch screen to the monitor.If you run into either of theseproblems, Wells Gardnerwarrantees them

***If you ever run into a prob-lem and can’t get hold of thetech that services you, call1.800.482.3723. That’s theNational Service SupportCenter, staffed 24/7. Theycan get hold of your servicetech or they can patch youthrough to one of them onduty

Field Trial

Aristocrat has been in theOntario market for some timenow but as far as using theMikohn Casinolink System isconcerned; we will be one ofthe first Tracks for OLGC tohave these on the gamingfloor. Under these conditions,the machines will becomefield trials machines for 30days. Any physical, auditing,software, or communicationproblems with the machinesmust be reported to AGCOfor further investigation. Ifafter the 30 days pass andthey are approved, other siteswill be in the position to addthis new manufacturer and

their approved themes on thegaming floor.

Overview

The whole trip was a greatlearning experience for me. Ihave met many great peoplethat work in the warehouse,which I rarely get to see maybecouple of times a year. It’snice to hook up once in awhile and talk about pastexperiences or what’s on thehorizon. The trip was impor-tant to me because I almosthad a position with Aristo-crat a few years back, it wasa chance to see the ware-house staff again and to learnabout another exciting newmanufacturer. But most ofall, I have the opportunity toshare my experiences withother technicians that will begetting these machine in thefuture.

I would like to thank Jerryand the other technicians in-volved in this project for theirhard work in pre-stagingthese machines. Also, thanksto all the contacts (Lucky Th-ompson) that I have bumpedinto that are associated withAristocrat Technologies fortheir assistance in writing thisarticle. They have been ex-tremely helpful. As for Glen,he was very informative andkept us alert and laughing. Idid learn a lot, and I will feelcomfortable when I have torely on the information that Ihave gathered to train ourtechnicians at our site.

- Kevin Noble- [email protected]



By Herschel Peeler

Bally HopperControl Board

The Bally XS-1200 Hop-per is the main Ballyhopper of choice. You

can recognize its origin wasAsahi-Seiko. Many of theparts are familiar if you havetaken other hoppers apart.One of the things that makethis hopper unique is theHopper Control Board. Whilethe design of the hopper con-trol board has been throughmany changes, the changeswere mostly in the motordriver circuits. In most cases,the design has beenmicrocontroller based. Thecontroller has been either theMotorola 68HC05 or the Mi-crochip PIC16F84. Both havesimilar functions and pinouts.The PIC16 is more common.The discussion will cover themore complicated version.Once you understand how itworks all the others will beeasier to understand.

In keeping with the format ofprevious articles we will coverhow the circuit works, whatwould be required to build a

test fixture to test the assem-bly, troubleshooting sugges-tions, and finally a list ofcommon failures.

AS-03356-0368Hopper Control Board

The one-page version of theschematic may seem a littlecomplicated at first but if youbreak it down into smallercircuits (by function) it iseasier to understand. In thisarticle, I have broken it downinto four circuits. The GameInterface Circuits include themajor part of the circuits be-tween the game and the PIC16and the manual control cir-cuits. After that, we will coverthe Coin Sensors and CoinOut Circuits. Then, we’ll lookat the Mixer Circuit and fi-nally, the Hopper Motor cir-cuits.

Game Interface Circuits

Referencing the Game Inter-face Circuits schematic: Mostfunctions of hopper opera-tion are controlled by thePIC16 microcontroller. Mostcontrol lines from the gameare only inputs to themicrocontroller. They tell thePIC16 what operation to per-form and the PIC16 smartlycarries out the operation.From the game, we have con-

trol lines Forward Enable(FWD ENA), Reverse Enable$REV ENA$, and the Forward/ Reverse signal (FWD / REV).The “\” at the end of the sig-nal names indicates that thesignal is “Active Low.” Whenthat signal is Low, that op-eration is enabled. Signalnames without the “\” at theend are Active High. In someschematics a “*” at the endmeans the same thing. Inschematics created with re-ally good software, the signalname has an overscore to in-dicate active low signals. Iuse OrCAD because it’s freebut I don’t have overscorecapability except on pinnames for ICs I can createbut I digress. Getting back tothe subject...

As the signal names imply,the hopper is capable of goingin a forward or reverse direc-tion. We will go into the whyand when of this later. Allthree of these inputs comeinto a protection circuit. If wefollow the Forward Enable linefrom the connector, it goesinto a 180 ohm resistor (R25).The Tranzorb (TSV5) keepsthe voltage coming into thispin from going above 5.6 Voltsgoing into the PIC16 (U1).Most of the inputs have thisprotection circuit on them.These protection circuits help

prevent damage to the hop-per when people pull the hop-per out or put it in with poweron. While the hopper is notintended to be hot swappable,they realize people are goingto do it anyway. The hopperwill survive it most of the timebut the Logic Board may not.It is still a good idea not topull the hopper out or installit with the power turned on.

The Forward and Reverse sig-nal lines coming from thegame go into U3B and U3C.The Bally schematic showsthese as AND gates. They areused as Low OR gates (follow-ing a scheme known as “nega-tive logic) and are drawn hereas they are used. The PIC16gets its commands to go for-ward or reverse from gamesignals or from the two pushbuttons on the Hopper Con-trol Board itself. These ANDgates do the Oring (again,negative logic). U3C will out-put a Low upon a commandfrom the game or thepushbutton SW2. A Low outgoes to an input of the PIC16telling it to run the hoppermotor in reverse. Likewise, aLow out of U3C tells the PIC16to run the hopper motor for-ward. If both U3B and U3Care low, the PIC16 runs theMixer motor (only forward).The PIC16 can tell if the com-mands are coming from thebuttons or the game by look-ing at the output of U3D.U3D will output a Low if ei-ther of the buttons is pressed.If U3D is outputting a High, itknows the commands comefrom the game.

It is worth noting that the

Monitor Repair and More!Slot Tech Magazine Announces Two-Week Technician School

Slot Tech Upcoming Event

(Cont. overleaf)

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a better term) the Casino School. It’s kind of a "SuperTechFest" where we have time to cover everything frombasic electronics and troubleshooting to component-levelmonitor repair. Throw in a good mix of detailed training oncoin validators, bill validators, ticket printers andtouchscreens and you sort of get the idea. Add the "hands-on" training that is impossible at a three-day TechFest andyou have a program can really boost the skills of abeginning to intermediate level slot tech.

Normally, a casino that wants this type of training willreserve a class exclusively for their own technicians. Webring the training right to the casino. The class size is smallfor the two-week class. In fact, it’s limited to just 16 people.But even that number of folks can be tough for a singlecasino to spare for a two full weeks.

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For more information and an enrollment form, please visitthe website at slot-tech.com or give us a call at Slot TechMagazine, 619.593.6131.

See you at the Casino School!

Randy Fromm


switches are only enabled ifthe main game door is open.Note the common side of thepushbutton switches. Itcomes from the connector andis labeled “Door Switch”(DOORSW). The door mustbe opened before these twopushbutton switches can beused.

The PIC16 is reset under twocircumstances. There is aSystem Reset\ (SYSRST\) linethat goes low while the gameMPU is going through Reset,as on Power Up. SYSRST\goes through another protec-tion circuit as we describedbefore and goes through an-other AND gate. Again thisAND gate is used to OR Lows.The other input comes fromU2A, which gets its input fromthe Door Switch input. Whenthe door is closed, DOORSW

goes high, making U2A pin 2go Low. The influence of R6and C21 gives a Low pulse onpin 3 of U3A of about 47 mSstarting from this low edge ofU2A pin 2. So U3A pin 1 willhave a low out duringSYSRST\ or for 47 mS follow-ing the door being closed. ThisLow goes to U12 pin 1. Thiscauses a Low out of pin 6,which is the Reset input tothe PIC16 (MCLR\, MasterClear).

There is an allowance madefor a pushbutton (SW3) thatcould be a manual Reset butthis component is not addedto the assembly when it isbuilt. This point comes inhandy while troubleshooting.

The LTC1232 (U12) is theReset Controller for themicrocontroller. It gives the

PIC16 a reset pulse on PowerUp, U3A pin 1, or from aWatchdog Counter built intothe LTC1232 itself.

Let’s take a minute and re-view what a WatchdogCounter is supposed to ac-complish. This circuit is ba-sically an oscillator and acounter. On Reset, thecounter is cleared and startscounting up. When thecounter reaches max count,it pulls on the Reset line ofthe microcontroller. Ideallythis should never happen. Asignal should come back fromthe microcontroller, in thiscase U1 pin 12, WatchdogReset. Every so often, thePIC16 should pull this out-put low, resetting the Watch-dog counter, preventing itfrom reaching full count. Aslong as the firmware is run-


ning properly, this WatchdogReset line should happen of-ten enough to keep the Watch-dog Counter from doing itsthing. If software should everbecome corrupt, WatchdogTimer Reset doesn’t happenand the Watchdog timer timesout, putting the PIC16 in Re-set. The objective here is toprevent a malfunction in thePIC16 from ever causing coinsto be dispensed from the hop-per.

The PIC16 itself we will coveronly quickly. We could spenda hundred pages on it alone.The PIC16 has twelve pro-grammable lines. These areorganized as two ports: one8-bit port and one 4-bit port.Any pin may be configured asan Input or an Output. In our

drawings, the PIC16 will beduplicated to show what linesare used for the various cir-cuits.

Crystal Y1 and capacitors C14and C15 connect to the oscil-lator built into the PIC16. Thiscircuit forms the oscillator tocontrol speed of the opera-tion of the PIC16.

Worthy of particular note isthat the Forward Enable linechanges names on the Hop-per Control Board. It becomes“Game Pulse.” This signal isnot an active High, as thename would imply but is astring of 100 Hz pulses. Themicrocontroller needs to seethe rising edge of the GamePulse signal every 10 ms or sobefore keeping the hopper

going forward.

Going forward under gamecontrol runs the mixer also, ifthere is a mixer. Going inreverse under game controlturns the hopper motor inreverse in about one-seventhof a rotation steps with a slightpause between steps.

Coin Sensors andCoin Out Circuits

Referencing the picture en-titled Coin Sensor Circuits:We have the possibility ofusing one or two Coin-OutOptics. Jumper J3 is set toconfigure us for one or twooptics in use. If only one opticis used, use Sensor A andposition the jumper acrosspins 1 and 2. Each optic has

Slot Tech Magazine

a circuit associated with itmade of two Schmitt Trigger(also known as Schmidt Trig-ger) Inverters. There is anoption to add a capacitor (C6and C7) between these in-verters in order to make it afilter but this capacitor is notstuffed. The Coin Out Sen-sors are not enabled all thetime. Before we can count acoin leaving the hopper, itmust first be enabled by asignal from the PIC16 named“Sensor Drive.” This signaldrives U2D. A High into pin 9of U2D makes pin 8 Low,enabling the Sensor A optic.This High into pin 9 also goesto Q3, turning it on, whichturns on Q2 which also en-ables the two Sensors as longas +24 V is present. Note: If+24 is dead we can not regis-ter coins leaving the hopper.

- Cont. pg. 20


These “Sensor A” and “Sen-sor B” signals feed to thePIC16. It is the PIC16 thatevaluates these two inputs,and if satisfied all is correct,sends a Coin-Out signal backto the game through Q1.

Mixer Motor Circuits

Referencing the picture en-titled Mixer Motor Circuits:An option to the XS-1200 isto add a Mixer section be-tween the Hopper Bowl andthe Pinwheel. In this configu-ration the bottom of the bowlis actually lower than thebottom of the pinwheel.

There are a couple of advan-tages here: The pressure

against the pinwheel is less-ened. In a regular hopper wemay have the weight of all thecoins pressing against thepinwheel. In the Mixer con-figuration we only have a fewcoins in the pinwheel area.The second advantage is thatthe bowl may be larger andhold more coins.

In normal operation, the areanext to the pinwheel holdscoins to be immediately fedfrom the hopper. When thisarea becomes empty, thePIC16 senses that no morecoins are coming out andturns on the Mixer motor,bringing coins up from thebowl and into the pinwheelarea.

When the PIC16 wants to turnthe Mixer motor on, it out-puts a Low out of pin 9,“MIXER\.” This goes to U4B,making the output not-Low.An explanation of the 7406 isworth a minute here. The7406 is an Inverter with anOpen Collector Output. Theoutput is pulled Low, or it isnot. The output does not goactively High. It is either Lowor it allows external circuitryto pull it High. The 7406 cantolerate an output voltage of30 Volts. In this case R31 andR32 connect to the +24 Voltline. The point where R31and R32 connect will eitherbe Low (if the 7406 is output-ting a Low) or it will be +12


Volts (limited by D10). The+12 V out turns on Q8, whichthen drives the Mixer motor.

The circuitry between R10and U5A is a Motor CurrentMonitor. As Q8 conductsmotor current, this motorcurrent passes through R10.The voltage across R10 willincrease with motor current.This voltage level is filteredby C10 and R13 (to avoidshort glitches) and is appliedto one side of U5A, a VoltageComparator (See Slot TechMagazine, June 2004 for moreon voltage comparators).When we get a coin jam in theMixer, the motor stalls andmotor current increases.

The other side of U5A comesfrom a voltage reference setup by R11 and R12. R11 andR12 form a voltage dividerwhose midpoint is about 0.20Volts.

Voltage Comparators aresimple creatures. When thevoltage on the Inverting (“-”)

input is lower than the volt-age on the Non-Inverting (“+”)input the output will be High.When the voltage on “-” ishigher than “+” the outputgoes Low. In our case, whenthe voltage across R10 ex-ceeds 0.20 Volts the output ofU5A goes Low, informing thePIC16 that the Mixer motorhas stalled. The PIC16 thenturns off the Mixer motor.

Hopper Motor Circuits

Referencing the two schemat-ics, Direction Control Out-puts and Drivers, and Hop-per Motor Drive Circuits: TheHopper Motor Drive circuitfunctions similar to the MixerMotor Circuit with the excep-tion of being able to drive theHopper Motor in either direc-tion. To turn the hopper mo-tor off, Q4 and Q6 are turnedoff. To run forward and dis-pense coins, Q7 and Q4 areturned on, running currentthrough motor from the nega-tive lead to the positive lead.To run the motor in reverse,

Q5 and Q6 are turned ondrawing current through themotor from the positive sideto the negative side.

Q4 and Q6 are P-type En-hanced MOSFETs. A 0 V levelturns them on and a +12 Vlevel in turns them off. Q5and Q7 are N-Type EnhancedMOSFETs. A +12 V in turnsthem on and 0 V in turnsthem off. The zener diodeskeep the voltage on the gatesfrom going higher than +12V.

The signals to the gates ofthese transistors come fromfour of the inverter sectionsof a 7406 and two AND gates.These in turn are driven fromthree outputs of the PIC16,“Run,” “MR1” and “MR2.” TwoLEDs are on the MR1 andMR2 lines. When MR1 is Low,the Red LED is on indicatingthat we are going in Reverse.When MR2 is Low, the GreenLED is on indicating that weare going Forward. When“Run” is Low, the AND gates

Page 23

both put out a Low turningoff Q4 and Q6.

The circuitry between R9 andU5B monitors the currentthrough the hopper motor inthe same way as describedfor the Mixer motor.

Overall Operation

When the game decides tofeed out coins it tells the PIC16to feed coins. The PIC16 en-ables the Coin In Optics andstarts the Hopper going For-ward. As coins pass throughthe Sensors, the pulses go tothe PIC16. If all is correct, thePIC16 tells the game that acoin has left the hopper bysending it a pulse on the Coin-Out line. When the game hascounted the correct numberof coins leaving the hopper, ittells the PIC16 to turn off thehopper motor.

If we are in the middle of apayout and the area of thepinwheel becomes empty, thePIC16 notes that no coinshave left the hopper after acertain number of secondsand turns on the Mixer, bring-ing coins up into the pin-wheel area. If the hopper is inthe middle of a payout andcan’t find coins in the bowl tobring up, it finally resolves

that it has an empty hopper.

If we are in the middle of apayout and the hopper jamsup, motor current increases.U5 senses the increase inmotor current and the PIC16stops the hopper motor, sendsit into reverse for a few sec-onds in an attempt to unjamitself, then returns in the for-ward direction. It will make afew attempts to unjam itselfbefore deciding that it actu-ally has a real hopper jam.The hopper can tell the differ-ence between an empty hop-per and a hopper jam. If itbecomes jammed, it can clearitself most of the time.

Not otherwise mentioned isthe fact that most of the logiccircuits run off of +5 Voltsand the only voltage appliedto the hopper is +24 V. Thereis a 7805 voltage regulatorthat drops the +24 V down to+5 V for powering logic cir-cuits. All Inputs and Outputsto the hopper run at +5 V andground levels.

- Herschel Peeler [email protected]

Next month: Part 2 - Build-ing a hopper test fixture.

Slot Tech Magazine July 2004



The Best Laid Plans . . .By John Wilson

It's late one Friday afternoon when we find yousitting in your office at

ABC Gaming. The gamingcommission has approved thePAR sheets for the Blazin' 7sgames and the game is beingwell received by casinos. Thefirst numbers from the fieldtrial came in yesterday andit's quite clear that the play-ers like the game, too! Aftera long project, you're plan-ning to ride the wave fromthis game for some time. Kick-ing back and resting your feetup on the desk, it's a perfectchance to catch up on yourreading with some back is-sues of Slot Tech Magazine.Next week promises to be awalk in the park!

Just as you settle in to yourquiet reading, the silence isbroken by a telephone callfrom the V.P. of Bonus GameDevelopment. There's aproject underway to come upwith a new bonus game. XYZ

Gaming's Million-Dollar-Bo-nus is starting to get someserious play and there's someconcern that our numbersmay take a slide. Unless acomparable bonus game canbe launched within this quar-ter, the summer sharehold-ers' meeting could be bleak.

Larry, your counterpart in theBonus Game Division is incharge of developing the bo-nus game and has decidedthat it would make a nice fitwith your new Blazin' 7s.Management has decided thatit's going to be placed on the25-cent platform and has for-mulated a range of bonuspayouts. The top award isgoing to be 1,000,000 coinsfor a $250,000 jackpot. Thelowest award will be 10 coinsand every bonus game willaward at least that amount.

Black Friday?

You have developed a nicegame with the Blazin' 7s mixof high hit frequency and gen-erous payout percentage.While it's an obvious choicefor expansion with a bonusgame, integrating a bonusgame with a 1,000,000 topaward is going be a challenge.Projects like this are whatmakes or breaks a career. Tomake matters worse, there'sa senior management meet-

ing scheduled on Mondaymorning to introduce the bo-nus game and to determinehow it is going to interfacewith the base game. It's goingto be a long, long weekend!

While Larry starts workingon the graphical display forthe new bonus game and de-veloping the electronic inter-face to the base game hard-ware, you sit and ponder thedilemma that you're now in.While you are certain thatyou can come up with themath to make the bonus gamework, you're not so sure thatyou can maintain a reason-able hit frequency. Calculat-ing some rough figures, itappears that the hit frequencyis going to drop to 1% or less!The payout percentageshouldn't be much of a prob-lem but keeping both figuresat a reasonable level could bejust about impossible.

The first thing that you try dois to decide how you are goingto trigger the bonus game. Itcould be a mystery trigger,starting randomly after every1,000 games. On the otherhand, maybe certain combi-nations like a red seven,double bar and blank willstart the bonus game? Thatwould certainly make thebonus game appear to hap-pen at random, even though

Slot Tech Magazine July 2004 Page 25

there was a definite combina-tion that had to come up tostart the game. The averageplayer wouldn't catch on tothis trick and it wouldn'tmatter even if they did. Asequential trigger would alsowork. Perhaps if the playergets five winning combina-tions in a row then the bonusround will start. What aboutadding another symbol to thegame that triggers the bonusround? It would mean creat-ing new reel strips, but thepayout glass will have to bechanged to reflect the bonusgame anyway, and the PARsheets will have to be redoneto show the bonus game pay-out too. "The bonus gamepayout!" you ponder. Start-ing the bonus game won't betoo much of a problem. Thereal problem appears to behow the bonus game payoutcan be shown on the PARsheet.

After a few minutes of carefulthought, you determine thatsince there is a definite waythat you will trigger the bo-nus game, the bonus gamecan be shown on the PARsheet. You start thinkingabout the lowest paying com-bination of 10 coins, and pic-ture a part of the PAR sheet:

Hmm, it seems that every

answer you come up withraises even more questions.How many coins will be re-quired to trigger the bonusgame? The Blazin'7s is amultiplier game, meaningthat all possible winning com-binations are paid for one,two or three coins. Will thebonus game be a buy-a-pay?That will mean that the entiregame goes back to the draw-ing board. There are only twodays in the weekend and justwhen you were planning tospend some time watchingthe tapes you bought on videomonitor repair....

It would be possible to makea combination pay for thebonus game. You remember

the Fireball game by Bally afew years ago that did some-thing like this. Two fireballspaid 15 credits on the 1stcoin, 30 credits on the 2nd,and the 3rd coin would payout either 50, 100 or 150coins. The Fireball game is a3-coin multiplier, yet the bo-nus payment worked almostlike a buy-a-pay. There wasa definite reward for playingthe 3rd coin and you didn'tknow how much until thebonus hit. Yes, that conceptwould work here! It wouldactually be very similar to theproposed bonus game, buton a much smaller scale. Thepayouts would start at 10and go to 1,000,000. Theonly difference is the amountthat is paid. However, to geta 1,000,000 coin payout, thebonus game will be triggeredonly every 100,000 games orso. Nobody is going to go forthat.

As you try to come up with away to increase the hit fre-quency of both the bonus


game and the overall gameitself, you receive an emailfrom Larry. He has just re-ceived a fax from the V.P. ofBonus Game Developmentwith a rough layout of thebonus game. The range ofpayouts has been suggestedas shown in the fax below:

This makes the project a littlebit more complicated. Sure,Larry is the one that has todetermine how the awardsare going to be displayed andhow the graphics will appearbut you have to come up withall of the math and make itwork. You start to think thatLarry is going to have a pretty

light weekend andwonder if it's too lateto transfer to theBonus Game divi-sion. However . . .

The Grass Is Always Greener

Larry sits at his desk,envious of you. Afterall, you just have toadd the bonus gameinto the Blazin' 7s.Larry has to comeup with the bonusgame itself. He pic-tures a large topperfor the slot machinecomplete withlights, brightgraphics and greatsounds, terminat-ing in a small wirethat simply plugsinto the Blazin' 7sbase game. Hewonders if it's toolate to transfer to the BaseGame Development division . . .

Larry tries to organize histhoughts and see what hehas to come up with forMonday's meeting.

He already knows what thevarious payouts will be, with14 separate payments pos-sible. The player has to winsomething each time. Larrydoesn't care how the bonusgame is triggered or how fre-quently but he does have anagging feeling that he prob-ably should.

The final look of the bonusgame isn't a real concern forMonday's meeting, either. Itcould be done on a videomonitor or LCD display, or it

could be a separate topperwith each of the 14 awardsshown, illuminated by a back-light or circled with LEDs.For the development, he couldsimply have 14 white lightbulbs with hand-writtensticky notes below each one,

showing the award amount.The details can be developedlater. What, then, does heneed to do for Monday?

His job appears fairly simple.There's the physical electronicinterface that takes a signalfrom the base game and startsthe bonus game. He decideswhat the award is, and sig-nals the base game what topay. That really couldn't besimpler. He's sure that hecan even access the random-number generator from thebase game to determine theoutcome of the bonus game."The output of the bonusgame," he thinks, "is the realhurdle. How do you deter-mine what the player willwin?"


The easiest method is to havethe slot machine pick a ran-dom number from 1 to 14. Ifit picks the number one, theplayer is awarded 10 credits.The number two would award20 credits, etc. If 14 is picked,then 1,000,000 credits arepaid. He picks up the tele-phone and calls you, certainthat you're also going to beworking late tonight.

There Is No "I" in "Team"

You and Larry trade ideasand it becomes clear that youare both working in oppositedirections.

In order for you to interfaceyour Blazin 7s game, you needLarry to give you all of thedetails of how his game playsand pays. In order for Larryto interface his bonus gamewith your base game, youhave to tell him how the bo-nus game will play and pay inyour base game. The solu-tion seems so simple. It's theother guy's responsibility.

You and Larry try to deter-mine what each of your spe-cialities is and what you eachneed to do to make a seam-less integration of the twogames. You soon determinethat a bonus game really is aseparate game from the basegame. To the player it lookslike one big game but thebonus game really doesn'tdepend upon the base gameat all. It is told when to startand later tells the base gamehow much the player won.The base game just tells thebonus game when to startand waits to hear how much

the player has won. It be-comes increasingly clear thatthe hardware interface isn'tthe problem. It's the softwareand the math that is going tobe difficult. (Isn't it always?)

Pretty soon, you have bothrealized that although the twogames are distinct, they re-ally need to be designed thesame way. Larry's idea ofpicking one of the payoutpossibilities at random won'twork. You explain that a 1 in14 chance of winning a mil-lion coins means that thebonus game can only happenevery gazillion games or so,and that's just not frequentlyenough.

"How do you determine thepayouts in your Blazin' 7sgame, then?" asks Larry.

"Simple. I determine the prob-abilities and create a PARsheet to show how frequentlyeach one comes up. Theremay be only 10 different pay-ing combinations in the basegame, but the jackpot occursmuch less frequently thanmixed bars." you explain.

"What we need to do, is comeup with a sort of PAR sheet foryour bonus game, Larry.Determine how frequently wecan award the million, andhow frequently we'll pay 10.The bonus game develops itsown cycle, so to speak and ...and ... and that removes all ofthe bonus game math frommy end!"

"Exactly!" replies Larry. "Imake the bonus game with a10,000 game cycle. One of

these is the million creditsand 7,500 of these are 10credits. I mix the intermedi-ate payouts around, deter-mine the probabilities andcome up with a reasonable . . ."

"Hit frequency and payout!"you exclaim.

Life Give You Lemons?Make Lemonade

It now becomes clear whathas to happen. Larry comesup with his bonus game. Hecan make as many combina-tions as required in order tocome up with a reasonablepayout. The top award of1,000,000 will be infrequent,perhaps only 1 in 20,000games. The 100,000 mightbe the same. Toss in a coupleof 1,000 credit pays, maybe 3for 750, a dozen or so at 100,

The MAX MILLIONS* bonusglass, showing the proposedpayout for a $1 base game.

* Max Millions is a trademark of ICS.


a whole bunch of 200, more100, tons of 50, and a lot of10. Add up each of the pos-sibilities and you come upwith an average payout. Youmake a bonus game with10,000 different outcomes.

That's just like the base gameand the cycle. Out of 262,144possible combinations, twoof these are the jackpot, eightare Blazin' 7s, maybe 20 arered 7s, 200 are mixed 7s, etc.Out of all of the combina-tions, you get an average pay-out that you can work with.The bonus game will do thesame. Perhaps after 10,000games, the average payoutwill be 200. Sure, the topaward of 1,000,000 credits isway above the average. We'llneed a bunch below averageto bring the average down to200. The payouts of 150,100, 75, 50, 40, 30, 20 and10 will all lower the average.Make more of these, fewer of

the larger ones. The result isthat after a cycle of 10,000games, the average paid outfrom each bonus game is 200.

You like this idea. However,you decide to initiate the bo-nus game, all that you haveto do is put the average pay-out into the PAR sheet and itwill all work out. You canpicture the new PAR sheet:

Monday's going to be a goodday after all!

Same Bat-TimeSame Bat-Channel

Next month, we'll meet youand Larry in the boardroom.We'll listen to your explana-tion of how you came up withthe payout schedule, how thetwo games fit together andhow you can have a bonusgame pay out $250,000 on aquarter slot machine whilemaintaining both a generouspayout percentage and a rea-sonable hit frequency.

However, there's bound to bea twist from the meeting,sending you scrambling tointegrate the changes wantedby management. Sounds alot like your job, doesn't it?

- John [email protected]

The year was 1964 and BallyGaming, the world's foremost

manufacturer of reel-spinning slotmachines, catapulted slot-machinetechnology into the modern agewith the introduction of the "MoneyHoney," the world's first electro-mechanical slot machine.

No longer relying solely on springs,gears and levers, the Money Honeywas the first gaming device to usesmall electric motors to spin thereels, a breakthrough that signaledthe birth of the modern slot ma-chine. The development of this newtechnology forever changed thelandscape of casino operations, her-alding a new era of slot-machinedominance on the casino floor.

Forty years later, Bally Gaming andSystems is celebrating the birth ofthe modern slot machine by nam-ing its top 20 reel-spinning slots ofall time. From its flagship Blazing7s(r) to the latest in seductive Play-boy slots, these games run thegamut of styles and themes, thusappealing to a wide range of slotplayers; from budget-minded tohigh rollers.

Bally Gaming therefore proudlypresents its top 10 current hits andtop 10 all-time classics. It's a list ofgames vitally important to a casino'sbottom line because reel-spinnersproduce more revenue than anyother segment of casino operations.

Other benefits of reel-spinning slotsinclude lower capital costs, longershelf life and easier maintenance.Indeed, as more and more slot play-ers from coast to coast vote withtheir gaming dollars, the casinoindustry is watching intently asthe current video-gaming crazegives way to a resurgence of reel-spinning popularity.

As part of this landmark event,Bally Gaming is giving qualifiedgaming industry professionals achance to win a luxury trip for twoto the gaming capital of Europe:Monte Carlo, Monaco. To enter,casino professionals should log onto www.ballgaming.com and votefor their favorite all-time Bally clas-sic reel-spinning slot and all-timecurrent Bally slot product. In doingso, they will automatically be en-tered into the contest. The resultsof the voting will be announcedduring the upcoming Global Gam-ing Expo (G2E) in Las Vegas inOctober.

Bally Gaming and Systems can befound at www.ballygaming.com.

Slot Tech Press ReleaseBALLY GAMING AND SYSTEMS ANNOUNCES TOP 20 REEL-SPINNING SLOTSCelebrates 40th Anniversary of the Modern Slot Machine

Top 10 Bally Classics• 24-Karat Wild™• Black Gold Magnificent

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Slot Tech Event - Slot Tech Magazine Visits Russia - Part 1

Under threatening skies thatfailed to deliver their promise

of a late Spring rain, UnicumGroup of Companies, the leadingdistributor of slot machines andequipment for the gaming industryin Russia, announced the debut ofthe new Bluebird slot machinefrom WMS Gaming in Russia andthe CIS countries. The official salesof Bluebird started on June 17thwith the presentation of theBluebird machines to Russianoperators. Slot Tech Magazineattended the event, which wascoordinated by Unicum, theexclusive distributor of WMSproducts in Russia and Ukraine,and US-based WMS Gaming.

“We started the internationalmarket just four years ago,” saidSabastián Salat, ManagingDirector for Barcelona-based WMSGaming International, S.L. “Weprefer to work with distributors. Ithink this market, being so big,really needs a distributor here.” hecontinued, referring to Unicum.“For us, it’s an ideal solution.”

Five new games were shown for theplatform. “Robin Hood’s Treasure”and “Wild Wilderness” havealready been translated intoRussian with more titles scheduledfor “localization” in 2004-2005. Aspart of the festive occasion, aselection of carnival-like activitiesand games was held, eachcoordinated with the theme of thegames. For example, targetshooting with an authenticcrossbow was tied - naturally - to“Robin Hood’s Treasure.” Winnerswere awarded numbered plasticchits and at the end of the event,drawings were held for prizes,including 16 installations ofUnicum’s new “Systems inProgress” casino management andreal-time monitoring system forslot machines. Slot Tech Magazinesubscribers will read more aboutthis new system in next month’sissue, along with a visit to theUnicum factory in SaintPetersburg.

The new Bluebird games wereintroduced to slot operators, alongwith the WMS’s classics, WMS 550platform and games. Forty-threeslots were used in the presentationto show the advantages of the newgames and machines. More thanthree hundred guests attended theparty, held at a Moscow yacht clubin an American picnic style with

barbecue and country music.Entertainment was non-stop andincluded a Dixieland jazz band andeven a visit from Elvis.

“WMS Gaming designs uniquegames; their advantage is a varietyof merry bonuses and attractivegaming mathematics," explainedYury Larichev, Unicum’s vice-

Bluebird Takes Wing in RussiaGaming Giant Unicum to Distribute in Russia and CIS

(left) Sabastián Salat, Managing Director for WMS Gaming International,S.L. (based in Barcelona) and Yury Larichev, Vice President and ChiefOperating Officer for Unicum Group were all smiles at the well-receivedpresentation of WMS Gaming's Bluebird system to the Russian andCIS market.


president. "WMS brand is wellknown in Russia by its 550 slots.The new Bluebird platform is themost modern gaming solution inthe industry today. I am sureplayers and our customers will betouched by its eye-catchinggraphics, stylish and ergonomiccabinet design and [well-conceivedslot] math.”

The first Bluebird machines arealready installed in a number ofMoscow casinos including themost popular Golden Palace,Europa and Cristall.

About Unicum

Unicum Group of Companiesdistributes and develops slotmachines, equipment andtechnological solutions for thegaming and entertainmentmarkets. Headquartered inMoscow, Russia, offices in SaintPetersburg, Riga and Kiev. Unicumcan be found on the Internet atwww.unicum.ru/english

For further information, contact:Anastassia KojemiakinaPR ManagerUnicum Group of Companiestel. +7 (095) 933-7770/1cell. +7 (903) 225-2474fax. +7 (095) 247-9852e-mail. [email protected]. www.unicum.ru

Russian operators take theirfirst peek inside the Bluebird

Over 300 Russian operators attended the Moscow event,sponsored by WMS Gaming and Unicum

A selection of carnival-like activities and games was held, eachcoordinated with the theme of the games. For example, target shootingwith an authentic crossbow was tied to “Robin Hood’s Treasure.”


Slot Tech New Product

Coin Mechanisms Inc. announces the release ofthe Gamesman Brand of Casino Range Push

Button products. The Casino Range of Push Buttonsis comprised of the GPB 350, the GPB 510, 520, 540and the GPB 560 & 570. All of the Casino RangePush Buttons feature:

· Unique “snap-fit” of the button intothe panel, eliminating the need for alocking nut.· Patented “twist-on” switch and lightsource assembly allows orientation of theswitch through 360º, plus makesservicing fast and easy.· Connection to the switch and lampis made via a single connector - a

standard 7-way 0.1” pitch IDC or crimpconnector can be used.

· The switch unit comes pre-assembled to thebutton, reducing assembly time on theproduction line.

· Illumination comes from a 5mm wedge basedlamp or the unique Gamesman LED solution.

· Also available with 0.110” terminals and singlemating connector.

For more information, visit www.coinmech.com.

Gamesman Brand Productsby Coin Mechanisms Inc.

Gamesman Casino Range Push Button Products


Breaking News

Happ Controls has an-nounced that it has been

acquired by Deerfield, IL basedPfingsten Partners, L.L.C. Thecompany will retain the HappControls name and Frank Happ,founder, will remain with thecompany as Vice Chairman andsignificant minority share-holder.

“I am proud of our past accom-plishments of transforming thebusiness from a startup com-pany to a regional wholesaler toa leading international manu-facturer and distributor,” saidFrank Happ. “The continuedgrowth of the business requiresadditional capital to support fu-ture expansion, both internallyand through additional acquisi-tions. I am excited about ourfuture. It has never beenbrighter.”

Tom Happ, Vice President ofSales and Marketing, will be-come the company president,effective immediately.

“Happ Controls has a consis-tently strong growth record ineach of its markets. Thecompany’s growth has beendriven by product developmentand customer service. We in-tend to capitalize on thesestrengths to continue thecompany’s history of success,”said Jim Norton, Managing Di-rector of Pfingsten Partners. “Wewill support the company’sgrowth in domestic markets andexpand into international mar-kets.”

For further information, contact:Tom HappPresidentHapp Controlstel.847-593-6161 ext. [email protected]

Happ Controls Aquiredby Pfingsten Partners


Slot Tech New Technology

Dispersive SignalTechnology pro-vides a new, innova-

tive technology choice forgaming applications. Settingnew standards for the touchindustry, this patented tech-nology delivers exceptionaloptics, extreme durability,and stylus support com-bined with great accuracyand fast touch response.

Dispersive Signal Technol-ogy works on the premise ofmeasuring the mechanicalenergy (vibrations) within aglass substrate that is cre-ated when someone touchesthe surface of the glass. Sen-sors, generally placed on thebackside of the glass, con-vert the vibrational energyinto electrical signals. Usingadvanced proprietary signalprocessing algorithms, theDispersive Signal Technol-ogy system determines thelocation of the touch, takinginto account the profile ofthe vibration, glass disper-sion effects, and other char-acteristics of the substrate.Although never before ap-plied to touch applications,a related methodology hasbeen used for over ten yearsas an evaluation techniquein structural analysiscircles.

The Difference is"Through" the Substrate

Where other touch technolo-gies distribute a field acrossthe front surface of the touchscreen and rely on a touchto interrupt the field, Disper-sive Signal Technology waitspassively for a signal createdby a touch. This fundamen-tally different approachmeans that contaminants,such as dirt, grease, and sol-ids, can accumulate on thesurface and around the edgeof the screen without a sig-nificant effect on the perfor-mance of the touch screen.It also scales readily, usingsimilar electronics for allsizes of glass. Furthermore,surface damage such asscratches or gouges generallywill not affect performance,making Dispersive SignalTechnology ideal for gamingapplications.

Exceptional Optics, Con-taminant Resistance, andMuch More

Since the substrate is pureglass with no metallic coat-ings, ridge reflectors, or opto-electronic components, Dis-persive Signal Technologyprovides exceptional opticalclarity and light transmis-

sion, and can be sealed toprevent contaminants fromentering the touch screenenclosure, protecting the dis-play and other internal com-ponents. Vikuiti™Light Con-trol or Solar

Reflecting Films can be ap-plied to the glass to keep sen-sitive on-screen data privatefrom prying eyes, or to blockexternal light in high sunlightapplications.

Stylus Support

Since Dispersive Signal Tech-nology measures the vibra-tion created by a touch,nearly any object - finger,prosthetic device, pen, creditcard, most gloves - can beused to activate the touchscreen. This is particularlyuseful in retail and restau-rant applications where theuser may use different typesof objects to operate thetouch screen. Dispersive Sig-nal Technology also providesenhanced palm rejection - auser can rest their hand or

Dispersive Signal Technology

A Revolutionary NewTouch Technology from 3M

other objects on the touchscreen during use withoutactivating the touch screenunless they tap the surface.This unique capability is uni-versally beneficial, but par-ticularly useful for bartopgaming where users tend torest the edge their palmagainst the surface of thetouch screen. Enhancedpalm rejection is one of manybreak-though capabilities 3Mplans to deliver with Disper-sive Signal Technology toinnovatively change thetouch screen industry.

Sophisticated, Yet Fast

Although Dispersive SignalTechnology uses intricate,proprietary software algo-rithms, its touch responsetime rivals the fastest in theindustry. In retail, POS, andentertainment applications,where users are particularlyadept and quick, the fasterthe response of the touchscreen, the more transac-tions occur per hour increas-ing productivity or profitabil-ity, and customer satisfac-tion.

The Innovation Continues

The fundamentally different

approach of Dispersive Sig-nal Technology promises tofurther expand the opportu-nities to use touch screentechnology. It brings togetherthe unique combination ofexceptional optics with stylussupport and contaminant re-sistance, never before seen inthe touch industry. Adoptersof Dispersive Signal Technol-ogy will not only benefit fromall the capabilities they'vecome to expect with othertouch technologies, they willrealize new benefits from ad-vanced features such as en-hanced palm rejection - thefirst of what will be a streamof innovative break-throughsthat 3M provides with Dis-persive Signal Technology.

Dispersion Explained

Dispersion is the phenom-enon that the velocity of abending wave propagatingthrough solid material is de-pendent upon that wave's fre-quency. A vibration causedby a touch generates a num-ber of bending waves withinthe substrate, all at differentfrequencies. Because of dis-persion, these bending wavespropagate out to the edges ofthe glass at different speedsrather than in a unified wave

front. The sensors at theedges sense the high fre-quency waves first - the lowerfrequency waves arrive later,with the sensors receiving aformation of waves that re-semble nothing like the origi-nal pulse. This smearing ef-fect is compounded by the re-flections off the internal sur-faces of the glass substrate.The net result is a seeminglychaotic mass of waves all in-terfering with one anotherthroughout the substrate.

3M has successfully har-nessed this technology bydeveloping a set of propri-etary algorithms that ac-counts for the dispersion ef-fect, gleaning from the massof chaos a clear, precisetouch location. These algo-rithms are the result of ex-tensive R&D effort providinga highly accurate and sensi-tive solution. No other touchtechnology works quite thisway.

For more information on 3Mtouch products, contact:3M Touch Systems3M Optical Systems Division300 Griffin Brook Park DriveMethuen, MA 01844 USAtel.866.407.6666www.3Mtouch.com


Subscriptions & Back IssuesWhy back issues of Slot Tech Magazine areimportant to own . . .

Slot Tech Magazine is strictly technical. As such,the magazine's contents are not time critical. Therepair information and technical data containedin past issues is just as valid today as it was the day it was published.

Additionally, current and future articles more-or-less assume that readers are alreadyfamiliar with what has been covered in past issues. This editorial policy assures that SlotTech Magazine's contributing writers are not limited to "writing down" to the level of anovice technician but are free tocontinue to produce the most com-prehensive technical articles inthe gaming industry.

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2004c 1 c 2 c 3 c 4 c 5 c 6c 7 c 8 c 9 c 10 c 11 c 12

Documents

July 2004 Inside Slot Tech Magazineslot-tech.com/members/magazine/lores/july04.pdfJuly 2004 Inside Slot Tech Magazine Page 2 - Editorial Page 4 - Aristocrat - A Field Trip to Burlington,