MISUMI partnered with the University of Dayton’s engineering department to support senior design projects during Fall 2025. One student team was tasked with designing a working pinball machine that would be engaging to trade show attendees.
Here is an overview of the project.
Student Team Members
- Allan Murray
- Matthew Garrelts
- Max Weitx
- Soren Kingston
Project Summary
The design was required to use as many MISUMI parts as possible. It also needed to be portable, allowing it to be disassembled and easily set up for trade shows, with a size no greater than 600 x 350 x 300 mm.
When disassembled, the machine was required to fit into a travel case. Other requirements included the ability to be powered by either a 120V AC outlet or by a battery with a power supply lasting at least eight hours between charges.
The total budget of the final assembly was $2,000.
The Team’s Unique Approach
At the start of the project, the team allowed their creativity to take the lead. They freely sketched ideas for the overall playfield, drawing inspiration from pinball machines they had played before.
From these initial concepts, they identified and combined common components into a single design, then evaluated each idea for feasibility. Elements that were too complex, difficult to test, or unrealistic given the project timeline were removed.
Once a refined list of parts was established, the team used MISUMI’s online catalog to identify components that could replicate those functions. The final design remained ambitious while still achievable within the given constraints.
Crucial Parts Overview
One of the most important elements of the pinball machine’s design was the aluminum extrusion frame. This was the first component constructed, and it provided the structural foundation for the entire build. It supported key elements such as the flippers and wooden barriers that guided ball movement and enabled user interaction.
Beyond forming the machine’s structure, the aluminum extrusions were highly user-friendly, allowing for rapid adjustments and efficient testing during development. Their modularity made it easy to attach components and design custom parts (such as the 6.5° angle brackets and ramp mounts), making the overall assembly process intuitive and flexible.
Project Reflection
The team succeeded in designing a full-workable University of Dayton Flyer-themed pinball machine that will be used as a demo during trade shows.
We spoke with team members Matthew Garrelts and Allan Murray about their experience working on the senior project.
Q: What makes your team’s pinball machine different than the standard pinball machine?
(Matthew): As opposed to a typical pinball machine, where the playfield is a thick piece of wood and components can be directly screwed into it, ours used clear acrylic to show off our internal electronics and components. This required a creative solution for securing each of our components without attaching them directly to the underside of the playfield. We decided to use a multi-layer setup, allowing each component to rest on a support board directly beneath the playfield. It took a lot of careful planning to assure everything was in just the right spot, especially with components that required high precision like the slingshot, but we’re really proud of how the final result looks.
(Allan): Our pinball machine is a lot smaller than a standard pinball machine. This made it a little challenging to design some of the components of the machine, but it was great practice in CAD modeling and searching for existing parts to fulfill our design’s needs. Another difference is that traditional pinball machines have a thick wooden playfield, while ours is a thinner sheet of acrylic. This allows traditional pinball machines to have things screwed into the playfield from underneath without breaking through the top surface. This was not possible for our project, so we had to screw parts all the way through the playfield where we could, while making sure that the ball travel would not be unnaturally impeded by screws. We also used adhesive to attach the wooden barriers to the playfield.
Q: What was the biggest challenge during the project and what did your team do to overcome it?
(Matthew): Our biggest challenge to overcome was the timeframe. I learned this semester that successful first attempts are a rare phenomenon, as everything we designed took at least 3 or 4 iterations. Since there were so many aspects of this project, we found ourselves working long days up until the very end of the project.
(Allan): I think our biggest challenge to the project was building the final assembly. We encountered obstacles such as the playfield not lining up exactly, not being able to attach the flippers straight to the playfield, etc. We overcame many of these obstacles by 3D printing parts, as well as through design changes, and iterative testing to make sure we found an optimal solution.
Q: What was your favorite part of the project and why?
(Matthew): My favorite part of the project was seeing the final result and getting to play pinball. It feels incredible to have a physical, working product that just a few months ago hadn’t even been conceived of.
(Allan): My favorite part of the project was getting to play the final machine. We spent so much time designing, testing, and building the machine to ensure that it would work, so it was really fun to get to see the results by playing it.
Q: What MISUMI engineering tools/solutions did you use? (such as meviy (now known as Fictiv), FRAMES, or product calculators)
(Matthew & Allan): We used meviy (now known as Fictiv) to create custom metal parts for components that needed precision and had to be stronger than anything 3D-printed, specifically in the spinner and slingshots. We used FRAMES briefly in the beginning of the design process, but since the school has been working with MISUMI for a long time, we were able to use aluminum frame pieces and brackets that had been ordered previously.
Q: Was it easy or challenging to find the parts you needed?
(Matthew): Using MISUMI’s catalog was incredibly easy as we were able to find everything we needed. The only issue was that there were almost too many options and we had to make some decisions on which would be best, when multiple options would have worked for our application.
(Allan): This was far easier than I thought it would be. Everything on the parts catalog was divided out into easy-to-understand categories, which made it simple to find the parts that we were looking for.
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