Product Information - Schools
Prior to purchasing, it is important that you are fully aware of and understand the project requirements and Terms and Conditions (T&Cs). For example, what's included and not included with the project kits; the tools, equipment and consumables needed; the time commitment to build the pinball machine; and the policy on returns and refunds. These requirements and T&Cs are set out below.
Included -16 Kits and Cabinet Flat-Pack
There are 16 subassembly kits and one pinball machine cabinet kit included with each project purchase. Each of the 16 subassembly kits has Parts Packs and printed documents to aid assembly, such as Parts Lists with parts images and Parts Diagrams for laser-cut plywood and acrylic pieces. There are five types of Parts Packs (with examples provided):
1. Electronics Parts - Resistors, capacitors, diodes, ICs, LEDs
2. Mechanical Parts - Nuts, bolts, springs, standoffs, rubber components
3. Wiring & Electro-Mech Parts - Power and data cables, connectors, switches
4. Wood & Plastics - Laser-cut plywood and acrylic pieces
5. Modules - Audio Amplifier, Arduino Uno, Accelerometer,
At least one subassembly part in each kit will need to be 3D Printed. Assembly instructions are primarily through the step-by-step construction videos, whereas the Lesson Plan documents only contain a high-level summary of steps. Therefore, it is not possible to build the pinball machine kits without watching the step-by-step videos. Although the 16 kits are for different subassemblies, they all require the same five making activities.
Not Included-Tools, Equipment & Consumables
Not included with Pinball Machine Project kits are tools, equipment and consumables, however these are needed for the build. Tools and equipment only need to be purchased once, and schools may already have many of these items, such as 3D printers. Consumables will need to be purchased for every pinball project built, for example, glues, 3D printer filament, waterslide decals and solder. Some consumables can be used over multiple project builds, such as PVA glue bottles. The lists provided below show quantities based on number of pinball machine builds and number of kits being built simultaneously in each class.
Tools and Equipment List (example of 5 kits per class, with supplier links)
Consumables List (per pinball project, some can be used multiple times)
Tools, Equipment and Consumables Cost Calculator
Included - Step-By-Step Construction Videos
There are 200+ hours of video tutorials covering: skills, knowledge, methods and step-by-step instructions. The Video Tutorials and Files folders on the EPK website are organised according to:
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Kit Number 1 - 16
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Kit Overview
- Kit Intro & File Downloads
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Activity Type (1 - 5), for example:
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Wood & Plastic
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Intro & File Downloads
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Preparation - Kit Packs, Tools & Equipment, Materials, Health Safety & Environment
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Planning - Sequence, Methods, Skills & Abilities, Knowledge, Experience, Online Resources
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Work Instructions - step-by-step building and know how
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Videos for each Activity are organised according to these Section Headings. Some Section Headings have only text and download files, while others have video recordings only, such as the Work Instructions. The Lesson Plan documents have Session Video numbers on the left. The first digit of the number is for the Activity Type: 1 - Wood & Plastic, 2 - Electronics, 3 - Electro-Mech, 4 - Coding, 5 - Artwork. The next two digits of the number relate to Section Headings, such as for Electronics: 2.1 - 2.3 (Intro), 2.4 - 2.8 (Preparation), 2.8 - 2.14 (Planning) and 2.15 - 2.18 (Work Instructions). About 30 mins of each Activity's video is dedicated to the Intro, Preparation and Planning sections of the Lesson Plan, and these sections are especially for teachers. Work Instructions are primarily for students to follow during construction.
Included - Teaching, Learning & Assessment
TEACHING - The Lesson Plans for each of the five Activities, across the 16 Kits provide a repeatable structure for teachers and students to become familiar with and more easily follow. The Preparation and Planning sections provide clear guidelines for activity setup. The Work Instruction section breaks down a sometimes elaborate and complex task into many small achievable tasks that can be shared by students in small kit building groups.
LEARNING - The five curriculum-mapped Workbooks and Digital Portfolio documents, based on the five Activity Types, provide questions for students to answer, probing their understandings gained from watching the videos tutorials, building the kits, and doing some additional research. The Digital Portfolio tasks require students to record the progress of their individual work via photos and collaborative work via project management spreadsheets.
ASSESSMENT - Every Workbook and Digital Portfolio task has an associated Marking Key, so that all entries can be graded on a 1 - 5 scale.
All five Workbooks and Digital Portfolio documents are downloadable from the EPK website.
Terms & Conditions
The Terms and Conditions document provides important information relating to the buyer's responsibilities and limitations of EPK regarding liability and when returns and refunds are accepted. A summary is provided below, and the full document can be downloaded here:
Product Warranty - once any kit is under construction all warranty is void, as we cannot guarantee assemblers' workmanship.
Warnings and Cautions - the power supply provided in one of the 16 kits has an AC mains voltage selection switch (115V or 230V AC). Use the correct voltage for your country. Failure to use correct voltage will result in damage to components and possibly a fire.
Product Returns - Once construction of pinball machine kits has commenced, return of the pinball project cannot be accepted. Return of the pinball project can only be accepted when all kits sent back to EPK in their original condition with a full inventory of unused parts, packaging and construction materials. Returning the full set of kits will be at the buyer's own expense.
Product Refund - If all conditions required according to the above Product Warranty, Warnings and Cautions, and Product Returns are met; a full refund of the purchase price of the project (minus the freight and tax costs spent to deliver to the buyer) will be provided; once all project kits (16 subassembly kits, and the cabinet kit provided) are received, inspected by EPK and deemed to be in resalable condition; with the return freight costs paid by the buyer; and if the full project is returned within 30 days of the product purchase date.
Replacement Parts - If the parts supplied within the kits are lost or damaged by the buyer/assembler, rather than buying another complete kit, the buyer can email EPK a request for either the Laser-Cut Files (to recreate the plywood or acrylic parts with locally sourced materials) or a Kit Parts List, detailing manufacturer part numbers and links to example suppliers. These parts can then be sourced locally at the buyer's own expense, with parts supply being quicker and less expensive.
Product Liability - Engineering Project Kits will not be held responsible or liable for any incident or loss (such as fire, and/or injury) associated with the construction or operation of the pinball machine, as EPK cannot guarantee the skills, abilities, workmanship or correct instruction following of the assembler.
Project Planner & N Project Kits to Purchase
The number of weeks/semesters the project needs to be run for, and the number of pinball machine kits to purchase depends on:
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Number of Students
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For the D&T subject, some schools have 25 students,
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While others have 50 or 100+ students
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Number of Classes (same students)
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Some schools break up a subject over two classes per week
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Hours per Week
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Classes are often 1.5 hours each (double period)
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Subjects like D&T are often spread over two classes a week totally 3 hours
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Number of Classes (different students)
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Schools with 100+ enrolments in D&T, Engineering or Systems subjects,
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Rotate 5 groups of 20-25 students through a repeat of the same class
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This class could happen twice a week to make up the 3 hours for the subject
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Example School Semester Planners have been and created to show the number of weeks required to complete the project build, based on the above variables. The number of pinball machine projects needed (keeping students per kit group size to 3-5 maximum) will also depend on the number of students. The recommended timeframes and pinball project purchases based on these dependencies are shown in the table below:
The example School Semester Planners are available for download by clicking here.