My home built metal DDR pad (Part IV)

slvrshdw · Trick Member Joined: 05 Jan 2005

ill just get a couple basic pix now..short on time, but ill get more later

and i just got sheet metal fo better contacts for the buttons ( i was just using aluminum foil, haha)

and i didnt get the brackets, i didnt wanna spend the money until i knew i got it working..

and which one was the design for $70 each, the 2legacy.com (chris?)
and how many is in bulk....thanks alot

slvrshdw · Trick Member Joined: 05 Jan 2005

ill just get a couple basic pix now..short on time, but ill get more later

and i just got sheet metal fo better contacts for the buttons ( i was just using aluminum foil, haha)

and i didnt get the brackets, i didnt wanna spend the money until i knew i got it working..

and which one was the design for $70 each, the 2legacy.com (chris?)
and how many is in bulk....thanks alot

sorry if i double posted..[/img]

grgisme · Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2005 4:22 pm Post subject:

Thanks. I'll look for leds at radioshack, there's one right next to my house. I'll buy some to experiment with this week. Heh, good warning about using a resistor. I know zip about leds, and so I'm going to look up some info on the internet and run myself through a crash course. My mentor is an electrical technician, and he's going to help me with all of the circuitry. I'll mention that to him though. We'll be getting together one night this week and breadboarding it up and plugging it into the playstation to see if we can get a simple circuit to run. I've got ideas, but they're probably way off.

grgisme · Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2005 4:26 pm Post subject:

Nice slvrshdw, it looks a lot better than I expected! Can you explain your contact system for me real quick? And why are you ugrading to sheet metal from the foil, has it been unreliable? Just wondering, makes sense that it wouldn't hold up long, but just checking. The sheet metal for the contacts is something I'm going to try and eliminate. I wouldn't use foil... I'll find something else.

slvrshdw · Trick Member Joined: 05 Jan 2005

cant believe theres been a response already..

but its just aluminum foil with one wire going out of the case
the arrow with aluminum foil on it with another wire going out of the case
on the arrown there is some weatherstripping..i also got better weatherstripping too

so basically its just a cheap version, and its really simple..

oh, 2 wires for each button...ill get better pix before i redo it...

and the foil isnt working that great, i havnt played really (2hrs?) but i want it better before i break something...hahaha

i think thats it..

grgisme · Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2005 4:38 pm Post subject: Gotchya

Figured that's how you did it, KISS keep it super simple. Nice way of going about it, though it'd be hard to adjust the sensitivity other than to manipulate the weatherstriping. Nice design though.

ch · Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2005 4:41 pm Post subject:

im thinking if you play on anything other than light that the foil would rip like nobody's business

did you use screws in the corners to hold down the arrows?

p.s. my pad is done, i have only a webcam, ill try to get some pix
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grgisme · Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2005 6:45 pm Post subject:

Cool, I'll be looking for them, I can host them if you need me to, just email them to me and I'll put them up and post a link as soon as I get it. Whose design did you use?

~Grgisme

slvrshdw · Trick Member Joined: 05 Jan 2005

if you were talking to me about my design....
i just used a variety of all of them...chose the good/bad points of them all

and i dont have anything holding down the arrows...wanted to get the sheet metal contacts on first...

hirme · Basic Member Joined: 17 Oct 2004

can you do

+

or

+

with your pad soldered to your xbox controller (seems to be a xbox's controller)
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slvrshdw · Trick Member Joined: 05 Jan 2005

of course i can..i made sure that the directional pad (+) worked on teh normal controller in the game to make sure i could use that place...

so is it pretty good overall??

oh and good conclusion..it is xbox

ch · Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2005 7:56 pm Post subject:

if it works, its good.

http://www.msu.edu/~walilkoa/pad-1.JPG
http://www.msu.edu/~walilkoa/pad-2.JPG
http://www.msu.edu/~walilkoa/pad-3.JPG
http://www.msu.edu/~walilkoa/pad-4.JPG

pad-3 shows you how i did my ground wire
pad-4 shows underneath the middle metal square
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CStarFlare wrote:

I approve of the direction this thread is going

http://www.xtranormal.com/watch?e=20090310025322668

thepadmaker · Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2005 6:50 am Post subject:

All of the sudden, I'm not getting notification when there are new posts on here. It's a conspiracy.

Anyway, I think that you could probably use low voltage, high output lighting in a pad and make it look pretty cool. There are special LED's that are made for model railroads. Very low voltage, but they are bright. You can get them at most hobby shops.

The MadCatz softpads, already have 4 constant LED's in the controller, I don't know what the voltage is, but I'm sure you could tap into them.

Just a thought...

Chris
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If it needs to be screwed, I'm licensed to do it!

latindude88wpg · Trick Member Joined: 12 Nov 2004 Location: winnipeg, mb

hi guys,

i've found a cheaper way to do the contacts and it's proven to be reliable and quite nice. instead of using metal sheet under the arrows, i used some metal tape, which you can find at home depot.

the main advantage is that it's self sticky, so you don't need any glue or anything else. and man, does that tape sticks to things.

also, you can stick it only where you want it to be, as opposed to having a big metal sheet under your arrow (for those of you planning on using lights). it's also very easy to cut and it doesn't rip apart when it contacts the screws (as opposed to aluminum foil.. i tried that and it was quite bad).

grgisme · Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2005 11:35 am Post subject:

slvrshdw: I agree, if it works, its good.

cartoonhero_604: Looks nice. Who's contact design did you use?

thepadmaker:

ch · Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2005 12:48 pm Post subject:

its kind of a thepadmaker ddrhomepad hybrid.

i put 12 scerws on the bottom (I had originally hooked them up like thepadmaker did) and a piece of sheet metal on top. the contacts werent working right, so i hooked up one of the wires to the piece of sheet metal on top, then hooked the two scew sets to each other, like thepadmaker's newer design. except with metal instead of screen.
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CStarFlare wrote:

I approve of the direction this thread is going

http://www.xtranormal.com/watch?e=20090310025322668

HitokiriX · Trick Member Joined: 27 Mar 2004 Location: Berwyn, PA

latindude88wpg · Trick Member Joined: 12 Nov 2004 Location: winnipeg, mb

HitokiriX:

yes, my pad has screws underneath. the metal tape is only for the bottom of the arrows, so that way i can adjust it easily.

i've found it better to screw the screws all the way in and then leave the arrows really tight. that way, you don't need to stomp on them and they're not as noisy.

my usb gamepad keeps dying on me though, and i haven't figure out why. i don't think it's static, as my pad has been grounded already and i had the same problem...

any ideas?

kave_ddr · Basic Member Joined: 11 Jan 2005

Hi guys!!!!

Excuse me for my english, is very bad

. I'm new in this forum and i'm making my own homemade metal dance pad. I have broken my controller

and i have ordered a new controller. You can see the new controller in the following link:

http://www.speed-link.com/print.php?lang=en&prod_id=721

Will i have problems with this controller?? Thank you for your answers and i hope to finish my metal dance pad soon and then i will show some photos.

Bye.

grgisme · Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2005 3:56 pm Post subject:

kave_ddr: First off, so far your english has been pretty good! I can't really know without seeing inside the controller, but I don't see why you should have any problems with it. Other people with more experience may be able to give you a more definite answer though.

As far as you people talking about contact revisions, etc. I just wanted to point out what I'm going to try, and I'll let you know how it works for me. I'm going to have the sensitivity adjustable from the bottom, so you just turn the pad over and tighten or loosen the desired screws to adjust how sensitive it is.