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ChilliumBromide
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Joined: 16 Jun 2006
Location: Beaverton, OR |
5520.  Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2006 7:15 pm Post subject: |
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| Matrlx wrote: | | traydemark03 wrote: | | I'm very interested in Matrix's sensor design for my second pad. I'm thinking 6" strips instead of 4" strips. It seems very cost effective, durable, and easy to maintain. What kind of mouse pad did you use again? Also, since I'm using riptide's design, I don't think that extra 1/4" strip used to raise up the sensor is needed right? |
I don't really know what to call the kind of mousepad I used. It's basically just the thicker soft ones you can find at a Staples or something. Weatherstripping could possibly work just as well as long as it didn't break-in (change sensitivity) over time or anything.
Adjusting the height of the sensor is pretty much up to you. My completed sensors measure 1/4" high themselves, so depending on the height of yours (might be different because of mousepad, but it should be really close), you can probably do the math to see if you need to adjust the height you mount your sensors at.
DancingTofu: While the ideas are novel and everything, how practical are they? I'm just not seeing how you would construct these things without a lot of trouble and effort. |
Well, I'm an engineer, not a chemist. While the arcade sensors can work brilliantly (and expensively) using funky crystals, my designs are all about fulcrums, levers, weights and counterweights, magnets, the like. The design I posted isn't as simple as a sensor plate touching a ground plate, and all is well, but what it will do is work at a low price without worrying on unpredictable things like chemistry and decay. This particular design is designed to need nothing more than an oil change every 8-18 months and precise placement. Magenetism is a flawless constant, as is gravity, as is polarity. They are also simple concepts, so it's something that anyone can do (although I wouldn't recommend this particular design for building in the home, since the parts are very small and it's the most complex one I've made so far).
The reason I make designs is to take the brutally mundane and the chaotically complex sensors and have them meet in the middle.
@ Plautus: Looks nice!
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slvrshdw
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Joined: 05 Jan 2005
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| 5521. Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2006 7:20 pm Post subject: |
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well, you can always try the sensors, i just have never liked overly complex sensors ([sarcasm]and then you HAVE to watch out for when the magnetism stops...after what is it, 10000 years?  [/sarcasm])
and nice pad, just i dont like the ITG arrows...all DDR for me
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Honzo
Basic Member
Joined: 02 Nov 2006
Location: FLA, USA |
| 5522. Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2006 10:11 pm Post subject: |
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| hi, just looking for some answers i havent been able to find around the net. For 1, where do people print out their arrows? I tried piecing mine together but they never turned out good. Does staples or office max have a giant printer of some sort that will work good? Second, is there any way to make a good arrow design, because I remember a site called customddr.com where they had at least 12 different backgrounds for the arrows along with the solid colors, just thought it'd be nice to bring those back by making my own. And third, anyone know what ever happened to customddr.com? It was one of my favorite resources for home ddr pad help. |
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traydemark03
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Joined: 22 Oct 2006
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| 5523. Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2006 10:42 pm Post subject: |
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| DancingTofu wrote: | Well, I'm an engineer, not a chemist. While the arcade sensors can work brilliantly (and expensively) using funky crystals, my designs are all about fulcrums, levers, weights and counterweights, magnets, the like. The design I posted isn't as simple as a sensor plate touching a ground plate, and all is well, but what it will do is work at a low price without worrying on unpredictable things like chemistry and decay. This particular design is designed to need nothing more than an oil change every 8-18 months and precise placement. Magenetism is a flawless constant, as is gravity, as is polarity. They are also simple concepts, so it's something that anyone can do (although I wouldn't recommend this particular design for building in the home, since the parts are very small and it's the most complex one I've made so far).
The reason I make designs is to take the brutally mundane and the chaotically complex sensors and have them meet in the middle.
@ Plautus: Looks nice! |
Yeah I understand what you're saying. It takes thinking out of the box to come up with stuff like ddr.
| Honzo wrote: | | hi, just looking for some answers i havent been able to find around the net. For 1, where do people print out their arrows? I tried piecing mine together but they never turned out good. Does staples or office max have a giant printer of some sort that will work good? Second, is there any way to make a good arrow design, because I remember a site called customddr.com where they had at least 12 different backgrounds for the arrows along with the solid colors, just thought it'd be nice to bring those back by making my own. And third, anyone know what ever happened to customddr.com? It was one of my favorite resources for home ddr pad help. |
Office Depot or Kinkos can print them out but they'll be shorter than 11". They have 11"x something" but since there's a margin on both sides of the paper it turns out being short. Oh, and I suggest you laminate your arrows too. It looks nicer and they'll last longer.
I can't get my damn sensors working perfectly. I'm using the mending bracket idea but the screws aren't flush with the bracket (can't find the right size screw for the 2" stanley mending brackets). Also, I connected all the strips on the arrow panel together and made them ground, and connected all the mending brackets and made them the arrow buttons so that the ground only needs contact with one bracket (which is really a screw). I took the card from a dance pad and while the soft pad registered two arrows at once, mine won't. Also the damn sensitivity. When I add a washer, the ground won't stop touching the sensor. And when I take out a washer, the sensitivity becomes super low. |
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Katalyst
Basic Member
Joined: 07 Sep 2003
Location: Buford, GA |
| 5524. Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2006 1:32 am Post subject: |
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| traydemark03 wrote: |
Office Depot or Kinkos can print them out but they'll be shorter than 11". They have 11"x something" but since there's a margin on both sides of the paper it turns out being short. Oh, and I suggest you laminate your arrows too. It looks nicer and they'll last longer.
I can't get my damn sensors working perfectly. I'm using the mending bracket idea but the screws aren't flush with the bracket (can't find the right size screw for the 2" stanley mending brackets). Also, I connected all the strips on the arrow panel together and made them ground, and connected all the mending brackets and made them the arrow buttons so that the ground only needs contact with one bracket (which is really a screw). I took the card from a dance pad and while the soft pad registered two arrows at once, mine won't. Also the damn sensitivity. When I add a washer, the ground won't stop touching the sensor. And when I take out a washer, the sensitivity becomes super low. |
I printed some out at Kinko's the other day. That explain's why it's not exactly 11" like I had it. Wonder if that fraction of an inch will make it look any different. Not that I've ever really cared about aesthetics, but I paid money to get them printed  . As far as the brackets go, you might wanna try a different mousepad/weatherstripping. I used a very thin mousepad and it wouldn't stop touching the sensor as well. Then I used another mousepad that was taller in height than the first, but "spongier" than it. Sensitivity became low when I used that one, so I just doubled up on the washers and put two instead of one per screw to decrease the space between each contact and bring them a bit closer. That seemed to get it to a satisfactory level of sensitivity. Guess I'll see how well it works once I start to finish the rest of the sensors up. |
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Matrlx
Trick Member
Joined: 22 Jan 2006
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| 5525. Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2006 5:59 am Post subject: |
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| traydemark03 wrote: | | I can't get my damn sensors working perfectly. I'm using the mending bracket idea but the screws aren't flush with the bracket (can't find the right size screw for the 2" stanley mending brackets). Also, I connected all the strips on the arrow panel together and made them ground, and connected all the mending brackets and made them the arrow buttons so that the ground only needs contact with one bracket (which is really a screw). I took the card from a dance pad and while the soft pad registered two arrows at once, mine won't. Also the damn sensitivity. When I add a washer, the ground won't stop touching the sensor. And when I take out a washer, the sensitivity becomes super low. |
Indeed, the height you adjust the screws to is dependent on the material you're using for the mousepad/weatherstripping. My sensors have about a 1-2mm gap between the screws and the top bracket, and they use the screws that came with the Stanley corner braces + a washer. If you can see that the screws are about that far away (1-2mm) from the top bracket and the sensitivity is just too high, you can add more mousepad/weatherstripping between the sensors to make it less sensitive.
You might actually want a single larger piece of mousepad to start with, then cut it down to adjust if you feel it's not sensitive enough.
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traydemark03
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Joined: 22 Oct 2006
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| 5526. Posted: Thu Nov 09, 2006 7:35 am Post subject: |
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| Matrlx wrote: | | traydemark03 wrote: | | I can't get my damn sensors working perfectly. I'm using the mending bracket idea but the screws aren't flush with the bracket (can't find the right size screw for the 2" stanley mending brackets). Also, I connected all the strips on the arrow panel together and made them ground, and connected all the mending brackets and made them the arrow buttons so that the ground only needs contact with one bracket (which is really a screw). I took the card from a dance pad and while the soft pad registered two arrows at once, mine won't. Also the damn sensitivity. When I add a washer, the ground won't stop touching the sensor. And when I take out a washer, the sensitivity becomes super low. |
Indeed, the height you adjust the screws to is dependent on the material you're using for the mousepad/weatherstripping. My sensors have about a 1-2mm gap between the screws and the top bracket, and they use the screws that came with the Stanley corner braces + a washer. If you can see that the screws are about that far away (1-2mm) from the top bracket and the sensitivity is just too high, you can add more mousepad/weatherstripping between the sensors to make it less sensitive.
You might actually want a single larger piece of mousepad to start with, then cut it down to adjust if you feel it's not sensitive enough. |
Do you stack your mouse padding? I can only find the super thin soft mouse pad now-a-days. |
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Matrlx
Trick Member
Joined: 22 Jan 2006
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| 5527. Posted: Thu Nov 09, 2006 2:49 pm Post subject: |
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| traydemark03 wrote: | | Do you stack your mouse padding? I can only find the super thin soft mouse pad now-a-days. |
Nope, my mousepad is about 1/8 of an inch thick, if you can't find one that's thick enough, you could probably use weatherstripping instead.
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ChilliumBromide
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Joined: 16 Jun 2006
Location: Beaverton, OR |
| 5528. Posted: Fri Nov 10, 2006 4:07 am Post subject: |
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| traydemark03 wrote: | | DancingTofu wrote: | Well, I'm an engineer, not a chemist. While the arcade sensors can work brilliantly (and expensively) using funky crystals, my designs are all about fulcrums, levers, weights and counterweights, magnets, the like. The design I posted isn't as simple as a sensor plate touching a ground plate, and all is well, but what it will do is work at a low price without worrying on unpredictable things like chemistry and decay. This particular design is designed to need nothing more than an oil change every 8-18 months and precise placement. Magenetism is a flawless constant, as is gravity, as is polarity. They are also simple concepts, so it's something that anyone can do (although I wouldn't recommend this particular design for building in the home, since the parts are very small and it's the most complex one I've made so far).
The reason I make designs is to take the brutally mundane and the chaotically complex sensors and have them meet in the middle.
@ Plautus: Looks nice! |
Yeah I understand what you're saying. It takes thinking out of the box to come up with stuff like ddr. |
I can pretty much guarantee you Konami would never have started DDR if some Korean company hadn't come up with PIU.
Konami just had the resources to release DDR long before PIU, so it got all the publicity in Europe, Japan, US, and Canada, while PIU got the attention in Mexico and Korea and stuff.
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geckoinc99
Trick Member
Joined: 11 Feb 2005
Location: Chattanooga, TN |
| 5529. Posted: Sat Nov 11, 2006 2:52 pm Post subject: |
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traydemark03,
If it's the standard 2" brackets from Lowes or Home Depot, the screw size should be Wood Screws #6. They will fit flush in the bracket (just make sure you get the side with the curved holes on top for the screw to fit into). That should get you what you need.
David
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traydemark03
Trick Member
Joined: 22 Oct 2006
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| 5530. Posted: Sat Nov 11, 2006 6:00 pm Post subject: |
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I'm finally done with my first pad... Not too satisfied with it though. But at least now I know how to streamline everything and what to watch out for.
Hey geckoinc99, thanks for the screw size.
I ended up just using a modified version of Matrlx's sensor design. Instead of using one 2 4" bracket, I used a 6" strip of sheet metal on the bottom and placed 2 of the 2" brackets on each side. I super glued mouse pad pieces to the insides and used electrical tape to hold the wires on top of the bracket. I'm going to have to find something other than electrical tape though. I tested the pad out for about 30 min and found that the cables cut right through the tape causing an open connection for some of the sensors. Still, Matrlx I have to hand it to you, the sensor design is brilliant because even though some of the sensors weren't triggering, enough were and I could play perfectly fine. |
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Muncher17
Basic Member
Joined: 19 Sep 2006
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| 5531. Posted: Sun Nov 12, 2006 2:02 pm Post subject: arrow graphics |
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| Does anybody know of other good sources for arrow graphics to use for homemade DDR pads? I know there is a good amount linked from the first post in this thread, but I was just wondering if there are other places that people get their graphics from. |
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traydemark03
Trick Member
Joined: 22 Oct 2006
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| 5532. Posted: Sun Nov 12, 2006 2:54 pm Post subject: Re: arrow graphics |
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| Muncher17 wrote: | | Does anybody know of other good sources for arrow graphics to use for homemade DDR pads? I know there is a good amount linked from the first post in this thread, but I was just wondering if there are other places that people get their graphics from. |
You can make them yourself. Also, I suggest starting on the pad and then worrying about the graphics later. You can add/replace them anytime |
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traydemark03
Trick Member
Joined: 22 Oct 2006
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| 5533. Posted: Sun Nov 12, 2006 8:13 pm Post subject: |
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wiring problem:
I don't know what the problem is but I can't press two arrows together. I sort of bypassed this on stepmania by using using triangle and square instead of the up and left buttons. I can also use it on the ps2 but it's annoying because it doesn't work on the menus.
Has anyone else experienced this problem?
Oh yeah, I also use a super dual box pro for my ps2->pc convertor. |
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fade212
Basic Member
Joined: 21 Oct 2004
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| 5534. Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2006 2:22 am Post subject: |
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its the converters problem (axis) you need to find a converter that works with buttons as the arrows instead of axis.
Trio Linker is your best bet. |
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traydemark03
Trick Member
Joined: 22 Oct 2006
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| 5535. Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2006 9:46 pm Post subject: |
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| fade212 wrote: | its the converters problem (axis) you need to find a converter that works with buttons as the arrows instead of axis.
Trio Linker is your best bet. |
I figured it out... The reason it didn't work is because I'm an idiot. I was supposed to change the controller mode (part of the driver) and put it on DDR Mode.
It works perfectly now...yay... |
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retsmah
Basic Member
Joined: 13 Nov 2006
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| 5536. Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2006 10:05 pm Post subject: |
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Hey guys and gals, just thought I'd drop in and say hello. I've been playing ddr for about a year now on and off, and as a mechanical engineering student I was thinking about making my own pad since the beginning, and lurking on here 
Now I've graduated and have some free time while looking for a job, and also just had the original ddr pad die on me and the replacement I got is terrible. So I've finally started making my own, giving the circuit board from the original pad a second chance at life.
The posts and pictures on here have been really interesting. There are some really nice pads around here. My design is a little different from the ones I've seen here, although I have to admit I havent gone though all 277 pages of posts! Right now I've made a prototype step, it's just two sheets of plywood, with steel coil springs separating them, and then the spacing between the contacts is adjustable. So far I've been really happy with how it's working, ive made a song consisting only of up arrows and the thing is noticably more sensitive than any of the soft pads I've got sitting around, and hopefully it'll be more reliable.
Anyway, great thread, I'll contribute pictures and such once I've got something to show All I need to do is some stomp-testing on this step to make sure it's going to hold up before I commit to building a pad with this step design.
And finally, a question, most of you guys are having your arrow buttons recessed a bit, correct? How much are the recessed, or how much are the arcade pads recessed? I know I've seen the number somewhere on here, but now I can't find it. |
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ChilliumBromide
Trick Member
Joined: 16 Jun 2006
Location: Beaverton, OR |
| 5537. Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 8:55 pm Post subject: |
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Hey guys.
I've been pondering sensors again, trying to find a simple design that requires little or no panel movement, and hydraulics have been running through my mind.
What I'm thinking is a design using a funnel sort of design. With it, the panel would only have to move less than 1/10 of a millimetre to make the sensors touch. Designs coming soon.
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Plautus
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Joined: 17 Oct 2002
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| 5538. Posted: Wed Nov 15, 2006 9:56 am Post subject: |
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| slvrshdw wrote: | | and nice pad, just i dont like the ITG arrows...all DDR for me |
I'm not skilled or adventurous enough to prefer ITG, since harder difficulty and extra mods seem to be the only areas where ITG has it over DDR (I play 7-8 footers on 1x myself). I just think the Afterburner arrows look hot on a pad.
The DDR arrows look dated to me. Maybe that's not quite right, I'm looking for a word between dated and mundane. I'm hoping my pads won't look weird when ITG is a distant memory. |
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ChilliumBromide
Trick Member
Joined: 16 Jun 2006
Location: Beaverton, OR |
| 5539. Posted: Wed Nov 15, 2006 5:12 pm Post subject: |
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| Plautus wrote: | | slvrshdw wrote: | | and nice pad, just i dont like the ITG arrows...all DDR for me |
I'm not skilled or adventurous enough to prefer ITG, since harder difficulty and extra mods seem to be the only areas where ITG has it over DDR (I play 7-8 footers on 1x myself). I just think the Afterburner arrows look hot on a pad.
The DDR arrows look dated to me. Maybe that's not quite right, I'm looking for a word between dated and mundane. I'm hoping my pads won't look weird when ITG is a distant memory. |
DDR arrows are pudgy and blobular; Apocalypse 2's teh shiz.
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