alt Hacker NewsBack when I was in school I interned at a company installing bowling lanes / machines. Even back then it was fairly simple technology, no cameras or speed measurement yet, just some inputs from the machine as to what pin-cords had been pulled out (i.e. what pins fell down) translated to some simple animations. I remember the screens being just a simple VIA motherboard running DOS + their software from a compact flash card.
Sounds like a great project to work on given how cheap both hard- and software is becoming. Wishing you all the best!
N.b. The forces in the machines can easily break hardware so be sure to move it away from the machine if possible, and otherwise protect it appropriately.
In the US tethered pins with cords aren't really a thing, instead most bowling alleys use mechanical pinsetter machines. These machines are large, complex, and expensive (see here for a video on how they work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iod6uwUGM2E ) which is why he's talking about the equipment being 70+ years old- with the revenues most bowling alleys make, it's not economical to replace a pinsetter instead of maintaining the current one. This also means that the alley needs to have a mechanic on staff to keep the pinsetter running smoothly.
The way the machines detect the pins is still fairly simple. The assembly that puts the pins into place moves down after the ball is thrown, and has sense switches above each pin that detect which pins are still standing.