Documented the claw machine

Notes/Claw Machine Reverse Engineer.md

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+---
+created: 2026-09-10T14:37:00
+Index: Glitch
+tags:
+source:
+---
+# Claw Machine Reverse Engineer
+---
+
+## Cables
+- Light 1
+	- small barrel jack, labeled {light icon} 1
+- Light 2
+	- small barrel jack, labeled {light icon} 2
+- A
+	- Audio connector jack (stereo small jack)
+	- connects into 1 cable with B
+- B
+	- even smaller barrel jack
+	- connects into 1 cable with A
+- Combined A/B
+	- This cable goes into the joystick box/controller area.
+- IR Sensors
+	- Cable going from joystick control box to a series of IR sensors to sense if something has interrupted them in the prize drop area.
+- Power adapter jack
+- Multi-wire cable
+	- goes from back controller to the claw mechanism
+	- 17 wires total, 2 are doubled up, one connector is empty
+
+## Claw Mechanism
+- Not stepper motors, just regular (I assume brushed) dc motors
+- limit switches
+- X motor
+- Y motor
+- "Z" Motor
+	- Controls a spool of string to lower claw
+- Claw Actuator
+	- I think this is a solenoid, though I am not sure.
+
+## Main Control Board
+- 24V 3A in
+- Unused 5-pin connector on the inside
+	- 5V
+	- DAT
+	- CLK
+	- RST
+	- GND
+	- not sure if this is usable, after a little research it might be for flashing the EEPROM, which is probably locked now.
+- Nothing else stands out.
+
+## Joystick Control Box
+- Joystick
+	- Surprisingly similar to the old ones, just smaller, and with cheaper looking/feeling components. Still uses the same type of mechanism with switches
+	- Same with the single button
+	- 2 different switches for volume/power
+	- surprisingly complex circuit board, with 2 dip switches. Not sure of their purpose
+	- There is a difficulty dial thing on the side of the box, not sure how it changes the game, but it is wired up.
+
+
+
+---