My home built metal DDR pad (Part IV)

The Cynical Rust · Basic Member Joined: 29 May 2005

Howdy all.

I built a pad mostly based off DDRhomepad's plans somewhere around a year ago, but I never really used it much until the past month or so when a certain irrelevant sting of events brought back the interest.

In that past month or so, my down arrow suffered from a lack of sensitivity and my right arrow kept responding randomly without being pressed. I was able to raise the contacts a little to help with the down arrow, and the right side was messed up because of a broken solder joint, but this latest problem has left me completely bewildered.

My left arrow is acting weird. It will work for a song or two, and then it will just stop. I know the contacts are contacting, because I can hear and feel them click, but I don't get any response. If I open the arrow up, everything looks normal (strong solder joints, no broken wires, etc), but then when I put it together again, it will only play another song or two until the same thing happens and I'm back to square one.

I plan on making another pad anyway, but I'd still like to be able to keep this one around for friends to play on too. I suppose I'd never have to worry about being beaten this way... But still, I'm rather certain the experience would be more enjoyable for all if it had a functioning left arrow. Not to mention the fact that I'll end up feeling guilty as all hell if I'm stuck with a hundred dollar paperweight to gather nine square feet's worth of dust in my corner.

So. Any tips? Advice? Things to look for?

Thanks,
~Rust

Synaesthesia · Posted: Mon May 30, 2005 6:24 am Post subject:

The problem you're having could be due a static build-up that many people have been complaining about. Since I'm not yet finished with my pad, I don't know if there's any way to tell you how to test for this. Many of the people more well-versed in this thread can likely answer that.

I have a question myself. Due to some loopy measurements of pegboard, I have 2 slabs of pegboard atop 3/4" thickness poplar as support for the arrows. The blank space between the Lexan and the pegboard is exactly 3/16"--perfect for the foam core. My main question is, is the 3/16" bend incurred by stepping on the arrow too much? Obviously, at the arcade, you feel little or no flexing under your feet. I've no doubt the Lexan can handle the strain, nor that it will take too long between steps (I made a mock arrow, and tested some Dead End-ish jackhammer steps, and I could hear each time the Lexan hit the pegboard.). I just wonder if such a bend would be more likely to mess me up (due to awkward feel). If you feel this bending effect is too much, I can probably just find some 1/8" material to use as a shim, and cut the gap to 1/16."

Justanothercliche · Basic Member Joined: 26 May 2005 Location: Yoo-muh

Hey, where are those links to the arrow designs? can someone tell me what page of this thread or better yet, the links themselves?

The Cynical Rust · Basic Member Joined: 29 May 2005

http://www.angelfire.com/theforce/jedijeff/arrows.html
http://www.angelfire.com/theforce/jedijeff/buttons.html
http://www.digitaltorque.com/mydancepad/?display=3%20-%20plexiglass%2FEast.jpg
http://www.digitaltorque.com/mydancepad/?display=3%20-%20plexiglass%2FNorth.jpg
http://www.digitaltorque.com/mydancepad/?display=3%20-%20plexiglass%2FSouth.jpg
http://www.digitaltorque.com/mydancepad/?display=3%20-%20plexiglass%2FWest.jpg
http://home.ripway.com/2004-8/154871/arrowgraphic.zip
http://home.ripway.com/2004-8/154871/arrowgraphic2.zip
http://home.ripway.com/2004-8/154871/arrow-preview-3.jpg
http://img73.exs.cx/img73/5666/arrow-preview.png
http://img73.exs.cx/img73/9266/arrow-preview-2.png
http://www.superimagehost.com/is.php?i=16034&img=parrow2.jpg
http://www.superimagehost.com/is.php?i=16035&img=tarrow2.jpg
http://www.gbazone.com/tweder/blue.png
http://www.gbazone.com/tweder/pink.png
http://www.fithlan.com/ddr/pads.html

^Arrows^

I was out buying parts for my new pad today, and I happened to check by Menards on a whim to see if they had those pesky corner brackets. Lo and behold they did, two different brands even. Stanley, and another sort, Project Pro.

I'm sure everyone knows that Stanley brackets are made in China. These other brackets are also made in China, but they don't seem to feel the need to make it seem so obvious. Smooth tops for $3.39 a pair.

I've got no idea if Project Pro is common knowledge here and I just hadn't heard of them, but it seemed to be worth a mention regardless.

Now then, back to me asking stupid questions. While I was looking for stuff, I walked by several stores' selections of Lucite. Everywhere seems to have .25", but I'm having a bit of trouble finding the .22" Riptide says to use. Is six hundredths of an inch difference really worth the trouble of finding a specialty acrylic distributor?

mikieson · Trick Member Joined: 14 Nov 2003

Dont be scared to make your own corner brackets. I went to my local heating &cooling business and they had lots of scrap metal laying around. They gave me a piece of what I needed. I came home. Did a quick little scetch and cut them out. Used clamps to hold and bend. They turned out great. Smooth tops and you can put the holes anywhere you choose.....Just some info for ya!!

The Cynical Rust · Basic Member Joined: 29 May 2005

Did you make your brackets out of considerably thinner metal? These commercial brackets look like they're made out of something between 14 and 16 guage sheet steel, and stuff that heavy is a real pain to cut with hand snips.

mikieson · Trick Member Joined: 14 Nov 2003

Not sure about the gauge?...I have bought the stanley brackets for some pads I have sold and these are just as good. And you save lots of money too. And feel good that you did it all yourself. Good luck

slvrshdw · Trick Member Joined: 05 Jan 2005

SuRfReAk · Trick Member Joined: 19 Dec 2004

Hey everybody. I haven't posted in a reallllly long time. I just finished building a pentagonal table for my math teacher (don't ask). Hearing about how easy aluminum flashing was to score off of Chris's site, I decided to trim the edges in metal. Being the brightest bulb in the dark garage with insomnia setting in, I was scoring it upside down, holding the table with my other hand. Now I have a 6-inch gash on my left forearm. Watch what you're doing and don't get too confident with those tools guys. Just a few words of wisdom.
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Get up, get out, go surf!

slvrshdw · Trick Member Joined: 05 Jan 2005

stoli · Trick Member Joined: 27 Mar 2005 Location: Southern NH

Justanothercliche · Basic Member Joined: 26 May 2005 Location: Yoo-muh

geckoinc99 · Trick Member Joined: 11 Feb 2005 Location: Chattanooga, TN

Cynical Rust,
Nice thing about Riptide's model is that you can adjust the height of the contacts easily. Just add or remove a washer. Then you just have to adjust the amount of weather stripping till you get the feel that you want. As I recall, the stuff at Lowes is 0.22 inch if you still want that thickness. Check there. However, since he uses the corner brackets, I don't see why the thicker size (very tiny amount at that) would really change anything. I built a design similar to his and I can see why it would have changed anything. Just my two cents.

David
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Life is very different 3000 feet above the earth with only a wing to hold you up....
Can't wait to be there again. Wanna join me? Visit http://www.hanglide.com

The Cynical Rust · Basic Member Joined: 29 May 2005

Well, this is embarrassing...

I figured out what was wrong with my pad, and it wasn't static build up.

When I was looking the thing over to check for broken joints and wires, I never thought to look at the controller. Sure enough, the wire for the left contact had broken off. A quick little touch up with the soldering iron was all it took to get the pad back together.

Stoli, Synaesthesia, I'm sorry for wasting your time. Thanks for trying to help me. I promise that before I ask a stupid question again, I'll try to look at all the stupid answers I've got laying about first.

Slvrshdw, Geckoinc, thanks for the plexiglas advice. I'll post how things turn out when they turn out.

peepsluvr · Trick Member Joined: 09 Jan 2005

mikieson · Trick Member Joined: 14 Nov 2003

Yo Peep!....nice looking pad. Hope it works as nice as it looks....

peepsluvr · Trick Member Joined: 09 Jan 2005

shout · Basic Member Joined: 23 May 2005

Hello!

I am going to start building a pad, by my own design. I wanted to get some feedback before I started building.

Okay.

The wood frame will have two layers, with ~2 inches between each layer. This will be raised about 2 inches off the ground. All of the sensors will go in the top layer, and all the wiring and such will be placed in the bottom layer. The sensor itself will be a steel strip fastened to the bottom of the lukrite, and a bracket shaped like: (if anyone gets that...)
_F|_

Two screws will go through this, down into the middle layer of wood into another strip of steel, connected to either the positive or negitive. Thus, when the button is pressed down, the current flows via the button from one bracket to the other.

To prevent static buildup, I thought I could connect the ground to the frame of the pad itself, then have all the negitives attached to the frame as well. I must research this more as it may fry electronics.

As for what I am soldering to, I will be doing it for playstation and computer. But if I wanted to play two player on a computer, both pads could not be bound to the arrow keys, so I will implement a 3-way switch that toggeles the PS, keyboard arrows, and keyboard keypad arrows.

As far as lighting goes, what I have planned would surely overload the controller and the keyboard, so my pad has to be dependant on a diffrent power source, AKA the outlet. A spare transformer will be fine for this. Under each button will be the normal ultra-bright LEDs. But under the actual pad I will have clusters of 4 ultra-bright LEDs, 2 of one color and 2 of another. These will be on as long as the pad is plugged in and the light switch is on. But when you step on the pad, the light under that button will change colors. This can be done by breaking the circut to the two on lights and completing the circut for the off lights.

To break the circut, a strip of steel will be placed on the lower part of the pad, with the head of a screw coming into contact with the upper edge of it. When the pad is pressed down, the screw and strip will part, breaking the circut. The sensor for the lights inside the button will be similar to the pressure sensor but on a diffrent circut.

That is basically it, I wont go into the boring frame design.

SuRfReAk · Trick Member Joined: 19 Dec 2004

Sounds awesome

. But in my experience lights only affect the audience, since you aren't looking at the arrows when you play. But if you're up for it, go for it! Pics/drawings might help explain the contact system a little more, but good luck

.

P.S. This intrigues me. Pics during construction please!
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Get up, get out, go surf!

slvrshdw · Trick Member Joined: 05 Jan 2005