Ben Heck Rings in the New Year With a Custom Pinball Machine Build in the Latest Episode of element14's 'The Ben Heck Show'

CHICAGO, Jan. 10, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- element14, a collaborative social community and electronics store for design engineers and electronics enthusiasts, and modding guru Benjamin J. Heckendorn, a.k.a. Ben Heck, ring in the New Year with an all-new, custom pinball machine build in "The Ben Heck Show" episode airing today. Ben kicks things off by installing a new CNC router in his workshop to gear up for another year of modding mayhem, and takes a closer look at programming embedded processors with the popular Arduino open-source development platform.  

(Photo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110110/CG27003)

"This is an exciting episode for me," said Ben Heck. "Not only is it the start of a whole new year of episodes for 'The Ben Heck Show,' but I also begin an ongoing project that I really enjoy building – a custom pinball machine. Since completing the Bill Paxton pinball machine about a year ago, I've been thinking ahead to my next pinball project. I'm looking forward to viewer feedback on the build as it progresses over the next few shows."  

Ben rolls out his new pinball cabinet design featuring "Heck-like" portability enhancements for easy transport and gives viewers unique insight for their own CAD/CAM designs (computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing). In addition, Ben creates a custom rolling computer cart to accompany the CNC router in his workshop.  

"The latest episode covers a range of topics for engineers, DIY-ers and the tech geek at heart – from CAD/CAM design to embedded processing," said Alisha Mowbray, senior vice president of marketing, element14. "Whether it's a mod for enhanced performance, ease-of-use or entertainment, Ben's zeal for sharing knowledge is relentless. The ongoing exchange of ideas on the show parallels the collaborative environment and resources of the element14 community."

Detailed instructions and parts for the projects featured on the latest episode, including a range of Arduino boards and components for purchase, are available at www.element14.com/TBHS. element14 also hosts Arduino and open source hardware discussion groups.

About "The Ben Heck Show"

"The Ben Heck Show" is a bi-weekly online television series dedicated to the science, art and mindset of system and hardware modders with a global audience of design engineers, students and electronic enthusiasts (e.g., tech geeks). Each episode spotlights Ben's mods of popular electronic devices while educating viewers on the underlying technology powering each of Ben's featured projects, and offering his unique insight regarding hardware modification techniques, tools and design tips.  Sponsored exclusively by element14 and produced by leading Internet TV network Revision3, the show continues to gain support from loyal fans with over 600,000 views since its debut in September.

About element14

element14 is the first collaborative community, research portal and store for design engineers and electronics enthusiasts. The website provides product data, design tools, technology information and top brand components to seamlessly facilitate the design process; users can consult industry experts and collaborate with peers around the globe. element14 is sponsored by Premier Farnell plc (LSE: pfl), a leader in multi-channel distribution and specialty services for electronic design engineers, trading throughout the Americas (Newark), Europe (Farnell) and Asia-Pacific (element14). The company has group sales of 795.3m pounds Sterling and over 4,100 employees globally.

SOURCE element14