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Show HN: I replaced a $120k bowling center system with $1,600 in ESP32s

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Re: Show HN: I replaced a $120k bowling center system with $1,600 in ESP32s

#281

Post by section33 »

KennyBlanken wrote: post #76
section33 wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Totally - we've got notifications wired in though, so our counter instantly knows "lane so and so needs such and such shoe sizes"

You're removing human interaction, though. Nerds seem to forget that entertainment venues and sports are social spaces, interaction with staff matters, and is one of the more distinguishing features of a venue. Unless you've got someone walking up and down the lanes introducing themselves as the manager/owner/whatever...

You're not wrong, though I will say that I haven't forgotten it's a social space. The social aspect is why I bought it in the first place. In my mind, the kiosk terminal is there for convenience. We get a lot of people who A) don't want to interact with us more than necessary or B) sometimes people buy one game or one hour, then decide to stay -much- longer.

My thinking on that is, don't make the customer get up if they don't need / want to.

Long story short, the intent of the kiosk isn't to delete human interaction. Honestly, I implemented it as a way to summon servers or bowling mechanics, and any self-service options I could think of as-needed. One doesn't have to use the kiosk, they're just there as a convenience thing.

Re: Show HN: I replaced a $120k bowling center system with $1,600 in ESP32s

#282

Post by xorcist »

fragmede wrote: post #180
eru wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suspect this is where our AI agents will really come to shine: helping people who might have a technical bend but are not programmers do cool things.

Yeah. Anyone who hated writing code but had to, like biologists and chemists, now don't have to.

Not really though. There's a whole product segment like LabView, which has existed for over three decades now, for people like biologists and chemists who do not like to code.

Those tools are built for quick iteration. Compared to that, using an LLM surely feels a lot like programming. Also a lot less deterministic.

Re: Show HN: I replaced a $120k bowling center system with $1,600 in ESP32s

#283

Post by section33 »

turkeyboi wrote: post #111
jmpavlec wrote: post #110

Amazing post. I'm a enthusiastic bowler myself and in tech so this scratches both of those itches. These are the types of posts that keep me coming back to HN. Best of luck and please post some images/videos of the prototypes in action.

Ai generated wall of text is awesome!!!

My original, handwritten post was 5600 characters. I used claude to truncate it down to the 4k limit. I assure you though, I had initially gone off on an extremely detailed diatribe about it.

Re: Show HN: I replaced a $120k bowling center system with $1,600 in ESP32s

#284

Post by section33 »

codazoda wrote: post #82

I’m curious what sensors you’re using? My first thought was a camera up above the pins pointing down that can detect them. There are probably more reliable methods. If it were me, I’d seek to simplify as much as possible so things keep running smoothly.

Believe it or not, cameras are exactly how the existing system works. I can do it now with OpenCV, but I've thought about looking into doing the same thing with mmwave radar instead. I think the radar route is more data-rich, but obviously more complicated and expensive. In the meantime, openCV + a webcam pointed at the pins, then we do some really basic object detection to detect pinfall.

Re: Show HN: I replaced a $120k bowling center system with $1,600 in ESP32s

#286

Post by section33 »

Copenjin wrote: post #213

[dead]

Sorry, I'll have a blog up soon. Wasn't sure there'd be any interest!

That link is so weird... it's definitely referencing this HN post, but those codeblocks in there... That's an interesting piece. Looks like their blog generator vibe-coded what it thought my firmware would look like.

Re: Show HN: I replaced a $120k bowling center system with $1,600 in ESP32s

#287

Post by goldlemontea »

Bowling centers (and restaurant PoS) as predecessors to modern infra is interesting in general.

I bet if you did a deep dive into Micros or Aloha POS at restaurants you could find similar opportunities for the rpi (and piss off an Oracle rep).

I love how this write-up started with acronyms I don't know, and ended with React and websockets, bringing it back home!

Sometimes I wish I inherited a farm, or auto shop, or something (bowling alley) so I could tinker on large scale, useful solutions using modern tech like this. Keep messing around you might land on a major, major innovation that the whole world uses.

Re: Show HN: I replaced a $120k bowling center system with $1,600 in ESP32s

#288

Post by pwillia7 »

ryukoposting wrote: post #200
HeyLaughingBoy wrote: post #53

Thank you for posting this, it reaffirms what I've been thinking for so long. There are many opportunities to retrofit old systems of all types with modern low-cost embedded technologies. Around 2019 or so I was approached by an engineer who had a small business retrofitting very old machine tools with modern motion controls. Think very large lathes and planers. The problem they had was that in order to get these sys…

I think I see some parallels with the aftermarket for old cars. Holley's entire catalog is "here's a thing that'll modernize your 1960s engine without replacing the whole damn engine" This kind of thing is a low-volume, low-margin business by nature. It's those kinds of businesses that the megalomaniacs of our field tend to ignore. There are people with needs, and money they are willing to exchange for a solution to…

yeah feels like you can only target end consumers or hobby business people as any real business would just reinvest capital in equipment that is modern and can compete or get rid of the business if it's not worth the $$$

Re: Show HN: I replaced a $120k bowling center system with $1,600 in ESP32s

#289

Post by abanana »

somenameforme wrote: post #196
semi-extrinsic wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Appreciate the good answer. Out of curiosity, ofder of magnitude how much would a person need to be bowling to get good enough that choice of shoe matters?

If you mean bowling shoe vs non-bowling shoe (as opposed to exact brand/type of bowling shoe), then they matter a lot even for a complete beginner. In a normal throw you're going to have a bit of momentum moving up to the lane and then release. You need to slide on your feet when you do this. In this [1] video go frame by frame at 12 seconds (or any time he bowls), you'll see his left foot in particular slide several…

> closer to something like ice skates for ice skating

That's a good way to put it.

Bowling is very rare for me these days, but because they used to require you to wear bowling shoes, I've become used to the slide and can't bowl without them. I have tried a few times in my normal shoes, and found it almost impossible not to go arse-over-tit when letting go of the ball.

Re: Show HN: I replaced a $120k bowling center system with $1,600 in ESP32s

#290

Post by abanana »

KennyBlanken wrote: post #76
section33 wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Totally - we've got notifications wired in though, so our counter instantly knows "lane so and so needs such and such shoe sizes"

You're removing human interaction, though. Nerds seem to forget that entertainment venues and sports are social spaces, interaction with staff matters, and is one of the more distinguishing features of a venue. Unless you've got someone walking up and down the lanes introducing themselves as the manager/owner/whatever...

> one of the more distinguishing features of a venue

It depends a lot on whether your customer base is made up mainly of one-off walk-in casuals, or regulars. Getting to know the regulars, and having a chat with them, can improve the feel of being in work for the staff themselves, as well as providing a more friendly and welcoming atmosphere.

The OP described this particular case as being in a small town, with not many other options for entertainment, i.e. a small captive audience. You could say the customers don't have much else to do so it doesn't matter if you're a miserable git, they'll still come. But just being friendly and chatty makes all the difference to a lot of people, and can help you build a loyal audience of core customers who'll choose your place over the few alternatives, will keep coming, keep bringing more friends and family, and sometimes even support your business in unexpected ways.

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