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

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

#351

Post by dajt » Mon, Jul 20, 2026, 11:40 PM UTC

red369 wrote: post #211

ryukoposting wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I once expected an aftermarket industry to pop-up to hybridize old cars. Old rear-wheel drive manual cars sound easiest. Generator attached to the flywheel instead of the starter motor, and then find some way to squeeze a drive motor by the rear diff (probably more complicated, but surely not impossible). I thought something might pop up once companies like Bosch started making generic e-axles for manufacturers to us…

We had a guy give a talk at our local nerd meet-up about doing this to an old landrover with the hopes of commercialising it. Did a good job, but it was only for someone with money to burn.

Looks like he did commercialise it: https://www.jauntmotors.com/series

I recognise some of the photos from back then.

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

#352

Post by section33 » Tue, Jul 21, 2026, 3:43 AM UTC

lowbloodsugar wrote: post #149

I am compelled to ask: Can this equipment take someone’s arm off? Do you have insurance for that? Does you insurance know you wrote this yourself?

It can, yeah. For that reason, I only allow myself or Brunswick-certified mechanics to touch our pinsetters. We run old Brunswick A2s that were built in an era where 'safety' was practically a bad word, y'know? These machines are extremely hazardous if you aren't careful, for sure.

The good news is that electrically speaking, it's an incredibly dumb beast. You've got power on/off and the 'cycle' action. There are five safety interlocks through the power on/off path - one on the back of the machine, one on the front, deck jam, turret jam, and front desk. I'm not touching that path -at all-. If the machine's on, consider it dangerous.

The safety procedure for working on these is - Switch off mechanic interlock switch, switch off the machine main circuit breaker, disconnect main power, begin work.

Most insurance companies hear 'bowling alley' and immediately reject you... had to scramble to find a local insurance company that would carry us.

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

#353

Post by section33 » Tue, Jul 21, 2026, 3:47 AM UTC

dreadsword wrote: post #310

Does running a proprietary system rule out competition and restrict you to recreation? I have no idea what the FIFA-equivalents is for bowling, but I imagine there is one, and I imagine that it has a list of rules for lanes to qualify as competition venues, including scoring systems from approved vendors, etc. Not sure if any of that's relevant to you!

Yep, USBC. You're exactly right, they do have pretty precise requirements for sanctioned league play. But casual 'open' bowlers don't care about that stuff for the most part. So if we're not running a league, we can flip back and forth and run the two systems in parallel (less maintenance on my very-expensive-sanctioned gear at the very least)

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

#354

Post by section33 » Tue, Jul 21, 2026, 3:57 AM UTC

nativeit wrote: post #298

tonyedgecombe wrote: post #253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's just lack of competitive pressure. I bet if you investigate you will find there are only a couple of suppliers that have the bowling alley market sewn up between them.

You’d die on the back of unreliable operation and relatively high maintenance. A DIY system built off of cheap ESP32s is never going to be reliable enough. The system as described above is the sort of thing I would happily operate for myself, but would never attempt to sell as a product. Anyone who’s tried to hold together a few dozen ESP32-powered IoT devices will likely attest—they’re very impressive for their cost…

Oh totally. I actually thought about exactly that. I'm basically thinking "this -will- fail at some point, so when it does, I want to be able to replace a failed unit very rapidly."

I'm tinkering with an auto-provisioning function that tells a given ESP what node type it's connected to and configures itself from there.

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

#355

Post by bashkiddie » Tue, Jul 21, 2026, 7:36 AM UTC

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…

> but they tend to be one-offs that aren't worth the time

Friend of mine used to retrofit CNC machines. He's left the business, because the machines that can be serviced moved to poor countries - where customers tend not to pay him at all. The modern influx of CNC have some "intellectual property" protection and cannot be serviced.

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

#356

Post by berkes » Tue, Jul 21, 2026, 12:53 PM UTC

kfse wrote: post #256

berkes wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There are many opportunities to retrofit old systems of all types with modern low-cost embedded technologies. I'd leave out the "old" there. An example: Friends work(ed) as engineers in theaters and music-venues. The costs for (DMX) equipment is insane. Some lamps, rigs or controllers are so expensive that shows only rent them. While there's lots of cases where you don't want to cut costs¹, quite often a cheap vari…

With respect to bowling alleys, for things like professional shows or food safety it's a bit more than "nobody got fired for buying IBM". The stuff's gotta be able to survive field conditions and not cost millions of dollars in refunded show tickets or spoiled foods. Manufacturers test and make themselves accountable for this. Cheap, customized modules work until they don't, and by then the engineer who put the custo…

> be able to survive field conditions

you are right. But my point was that not all of needs to survive the same conditions.

E.g. in a theater, you want the high class industry grade rigs for the main lightning when you are running the shows. But during rehearsals, or during the development of the stage (which is somewhat iterative by nature), custom made stuff suffices.

And this is where currently, custom made stuff is deployed. Stage technicians use a remarkable lot of intermediate, custom made hard and software. Some 3d printed valve to find out if the idea of the valve works at all, before ordering a CNC aluminium version. Some arduino before ordering that €2k/month controller to find out if the separate controller is needed at all.

This allows a show to prototype and experiment before they order the €20k water-spraying system. Or allows them to rehearse for months without paying €5k a month for the high class lightning rigs and only rent those for the actual setup.

Its the same with my other examples. They fill a niche. They don't replace the entire existing market.

> the average farmer or show operator doesn't have the skill

Exactly! That's why there's an opportunity here. "We" software engineers tend to build a rediculous amount of SAAS that are aimed at other software-engineers, because that's were we notice the problems and opportunities. My advice always, is to look beyond your bubble. The examples above are real-life examples where currently "farmers", "show operators" and "fitter" already are cludging together solutions to solve their problems. IMO there's no better proof that this is a problem to research as potential tech startup, than non-techies cludging together tech to solve their problems.

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

#357

Post by berkes » Tue, Jul 21, 2026, 12:58 PM UTC

torginus wrote: post #303

kfse wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With respect to bowling alleys, for things like professional shows or food safety it's a bit more than "nobody got fired for buying IBM". The stuff's gotta be able to survive field conditions and not cost millions of dollars in refunded show tickets or spoiled foods. Manufacturers test and make themselves accountable for this. Cheap, customized modules work until they don't, and by then the engineer who put the custo…

Just because a guy wears a fitted suit doesn't mean he'll be good at handling your money. Likewise if you buy tens of thousands of euros worth of incredibly overbuilt teutonic industrial equipment in matching colors and snap-in cabinets doesn't mean the guy who builds the PLC program in ladder logic will be any good at it - or that the next guy will have an easier time troubleshooting it than if the whole thing ran o…

And also, there's certainly places and situations where you do want to spend tens of thousands on PLCs, buttons and wiring.

But not all of it needs this level, quality or insurance. A factory, farm, supermarket, stage, etc, is filled with tech. Many of it critical for operation, but just as many is non-critical. And either this "non critical" must then be acquired with the same level of quality, insurance and costs as the critical. Or it's simply not available - likely because there's no demand for it at this price point.

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

#358

Post by dchristyjr » Tue, Jul 21, 2026, 1:53 PM UTC

Thanks for this post. I'm an avid bowler and I've considered installing a home 2-lane setup. Used equipment cost for lanes/pinspotters is pretty inexpensive, but the scoring and lane telemetry (Specto) is really expensive. This give me hope that there is potential for budget friendly option that might make the dream a reality. I'll be watching for a Github link or follow-up on your progress.

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

#359

Post by foxyv » Tue, Jul 21, 2026, 3:19 PM UTC

red369 wrote: post #211

ryukoposting wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I once expected an aftermarket industry to pop-up to hybridize old cars. Old rear-wheel drive manual cars sound easiest. Generator attached to the flywheel instead of the starter motor, and then find some way to squeeze a drive motor by the rear diff (probably more complicated, but surely not impossible). I thought something might pop up once companies like Bosch started making generic e-axles for manufacturers to us…

The problem is that environmental regulations kind of act like a double edge sword with regards to hybrid conversions. They prevent Jim Bob from selling his environmental disaster kit, but they also prevent Bob Jim from selling his Hybrid drivetrain conversion without expensive approvals. This is why most people do BEV conversions. The kits are available because they are zero emissions and don't fall afoul of the environmental regulations.

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

#360

Post by RichardHesketh » Tue, Jul 21, 2026, 3:24 PM UTC

TylerE wrote: post #217

robocat wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hopefully you can synch the light flashes to the ball rotation: 1: maybe make the ball look like it isn't rolling - or even backspinning 2: perhaps it could you make the amount of side-spin or other spin more obvious to help learning Maybe hard to read the ball rotation accurately: even if the ball was marked with dots or bands that help?

That sounds quite hazardous to anyone who happens to be epileptic.

Dunno where you live, but according to this (https://www.epilepsy.com/stories/shedding-light-photosensiti...) from a US charity: About 3 to 5 percent of the 2.7 million Americans with epilepsy (approximately 100,000 individuals) are photosensitive. That's a lot, but the chances of one walking in to that bowling alley are likely negligible. Photosensitive epileptics are highly likely to be aware of their condition and avoid risky environments in any case.