My home built metal DDR pad (Part IV)

daikenkai =[ · Posted: Sat Feb 17, 2007 5:14 pm Post subject:

Dancing Tofu: LOL, Great minds think alike! Actually, I used Pine.

I will update with pics of my ultraghetto current bar (which i dont use actually), the benjamin controller, and some actual pics, no movies.

daikenkai =[ · Posted: Sat Feb 17, 2007 5:28 pm Post subject:

DDR Dancedrum... Stupid, and crappy, but the controller is TINY! Like 3/4in by 1 inch by 3 inches

The sensors

The "benjamin" control box... it was made from a decongestents pill box and it has a buncha 100 dollar bill cards on there. I had an incomplete deck of cards, and thought it would look eccentric. The graphix i made on there.

The pad...

the pad again...

daikenkai =[ · Posted: Sat Feb 17, 2007 5:44 pm Post subject:

lol, i just noticed, the controller lol,

boomboomdollar!

devout · Trick Member Joined: 15 Dec 2006 Location: the atl

penguinxtreme · Trick Member Joined: 17 Feb 2007

devout · Trick Member Joined: 15 Dec 2006 Location: the atl

ChilliumBromide · Trick Member Joined: 16 Jun 2006 Location: Beaverton, OR

penguinxtreme · Trick Member Joined: 17 Feb 2007

The tabless ones just screw on top of the wood triangle thing, and hold the botton in place (just like the real ones). If you are using 22 gauge, then that would be a lot harder. Why not just make it out of a thinner metal? This is just a general question, but why does everyone seem to be using 22gauge sheetmetal? The metal is purely decorative, so I really don't see the point of having it be so thick. When wrapped around a chunk of plywood, 26 or even 28 gauge would hold up just fine.

shariyakugan · Basic Member Joined: 14 Feb 2007 Location: Netherlands

I have begun building my pad, it is at this have only finished the main board, stationary panels and some wiring. Now my question is about the ground wiring, I have connected the wires in a manner I'm not sure it will work, and I don't want to short anything and set fire to my house.
well I supplied a sketch of the situation, can I do it like this?

X and O are a some normal switches i got which will be set on the top left panel along with the controller (from softpad)

devout · Trick Member Joined: 15 Dec 2006 Location: the atl

Yeah thats pretty much all there is to it. If the ground wire will be close to the non-ground wires you might want to wrap electrical tape around the solder joints to make sure they dont accidentally touch.

ChilliumBromide · Trick Member Joined: 16 Jun 2006 Location: Beaverton, OR

Wait, devout, are you thinking the cutting would be done with wire clippers or something? 'cause I wouldn't call that a great move. I'd say use either a jigsaw (if you're cutting brackets, you want one of these) or one of those round-bladed saws for any real metal cutting (wear safety goggles!), although a hacksaw will work too if you don't have a power saw.

As for little metal shards, you could put a piece of newspaper down under the work area and just crumple that up and throw it away when you're done. 20-second clean-up.

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I used to be active here lol

penguinxtreme · Trick Member Joined: 17 Feb 2007

Today I went out to home depot and aubuchon hardware, and am starting my new pad design. I got the wood, metal, and a cheap "superman" controller from EB games, and am going to work on it. I still need to get plexi though, as I want to see if I can get it cheaper than in home depot (it would cost me $25-30 for just the plexi, and I'm trying to go cheap). I also need to find some plastic that is a bit thicker than stencil plastic for the switch design (something like the thickness of those thin CD jewel cases, any ideas where to get it?).

Because I want it to be compact (in thickness), and lightweight, the bottom piece of plywood is only about a 1/4 inch thick (more like 3/16 or 7/32 inch to be "precise"). On top of that I will have the five 3/8" plywood squares for the "non-buttons", which will be covered in sheet metal. The directionals will be 1/4" plexi (still need to get it) which will push down on a top layer of aluminum tape covered plastic, which will bend on the spacers and contact a bottom layer to close the circuit (still need to make the switches). In the front I will have a small housing for the controller board, with push-buttons for X, Triangle, and select and start at once (I need this incase I want to exit a song midway).

What do you guys think of the design? I'll post a price list and some pictures once I get along a bit. So far I have only spent $35 on materials and the controller (the wood was only $3 total), so if I can find a deal on plexi, then I expect it to be under $60 total.

daikenkai =[ · Posted: Sun Feb 18, 2007 2:59 pm Post subject:

AHA! Now I have FINALLY fixd the insensitivity problem...

I upgraded it from a 4 sensor corner sensor array to a six panel 2x3 array. Now I got a AA.

devout · Trick Member Joined: 15 Dec 2006 Location: the atl

Crimson7 · Basic Member Joined: 21 Jan 2007

Is there a guide somewhere on how to make the quick disconnect network cable? I think I'll use that on my pad...

Ghettobarney · Trick Member Joined: 21 Dec 2006 Location: Failing Pandy

1/4" thin? 2 stacked together or 1 by it's self? Get polycarbonate( Lexan is a brand, not it's name) If you're only doing 1. If you plan on playing on soft carpet then you should get thicker wood, but it'll be fine you're playing on a hard wood floor. ( I said hard wood

)

-O.J.A.
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OMG I BEETS MACKS 300!

devout · Trick Member Joined: 15 Dec 2006 Location: the atl

penguinxtreme · Trick Member Joined: 17 Feb 2007

Home depot has wood with (mostly) cosmetic imperfections for cheap, which accounts for the 1/4in piece. The 3/8" pieces were two 24"x24" pieces, which were supposed to by $3.18 each, but the cashier registered them as a dollar (I'm not arguing

).

slvrshdw · Trick Member Joined: 05 Jan 2005

@Crimson7: i'm making a guide for the CAT5 quick disconnect thing (actually the whole DDR pad AND a cabinet [when i have time])

the only reason i used the CAT5 cable was because i had quite a lot of extra bare wire (i routed most of the house) with the cable, and all i had to pick up was the female socket thing (not sure of the name either)

anyway, if you dont already have a crimper, and the plastic normal plugs, i would just use the d-sub idea. the tx style of pads usually have them as well. im not sure if i will, but i might make a simple guide for that later.

@penguinxtreme: uh just drill a hole in the 4 corners and screw them in place?

thats what i did for my brothers pad (which im going to make it standard arcade size later)
it works nicely..there is the occasional time that your shoe gets stuck on the screw, but its all right..

other idea is to just cut a small square shaped piece of metal for the middle area, and then triangle pieces for the outside parts.
im not sure if you get that, but look at the CFs (i think) they use the idea im talking about: ill check tomm for sure, but i have to go for now

by the way, im nearing the 50%+ marker in my DDR pad tut for anyone insterested.
i hope to finish in a week or 2
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penguinxtreme · Trick Member Joined: 17 Feb 2007

Wow, I can't believe I didn't think of the hole drilling thing. I am still looking for 1/4inch, as the two 1/8inch pieces aren't nearly as sturdy as just having one 1/4inch piece. I did get something for the sensors; four "No Hunting" signs. Those signs are actually made of metal, but they seem pretty flexible, and I think they won't get bent permanently. They are also even thinner than CD case plastic, which is good as I have to make my buttons no more than 3/8inch tall to fit in with the non-buttons.

By the way, when I want to print the arrow designs, what do I do? Do I just put the pictures on a CD, and go to the nearest copy place, and ask them to print it on an 11x11 piece of adhesive paper stuff?