Alternative to using a controller for a PC pad

deathfromabove1990 · Basic Member Joined: 14 Jul 2006 Location: Walla Walla

Alright, so, I've come upon a huge dilemma. I have absolutely no way of playing DDR and I need to. I was using a 360 controller from a Universe pad with my DJ3 design. Something happened to that controller, and, it appears to have shorted out. So I got out my backup controller, which was a board from a generic Gamecube/Xbox/PS2 pad. This failed to work either. I have absolutely no idea why. Perhaps it was broken out of the box is my best guess, because I never tried it out, just plucked the board. I can confirm that it's nothing wrong with the pad. It works fine. It's just a controller dilemma. It works with my Dreamcast. But I need it to be working on my PC/Mac because I need it for a psychology project. Also, I'm pretty low on cash right now because I recently purchased an iPhone and am paying for that and the bill myself. Reading on the internet, it seems as some people have used those little USB number pads, and I've read a few reports of using keyboards. I scrapped an old keyboard I had, and there was no circuit board. It was merely a thin sheet of plastic that's apparently conductive. I went and bought a new keyboard and found the same thing. Right now, number pads are out of the question, because the only ones I've seen have been at the least $30. Does anyone know of a keyboard that FOR SURE has some kind of an actual circuit board in it that I could purchase and use? Or, does anyone know of a USB gamepad that is fairly common that could be used for DDR pad purposes? Or am I stupid and can I actually somehow make connections to that odd piece of plastic inside the keyboard. All help appreciated!

If there are no alternatives, then just link me to a good, cheap pad that will work on a PC. I'm not worried about it being Mac compatible, because, for the most part, if it works on the PC, the Mac can make it work somehow if it's USB. It is preferred if it works on Mac, however, because I found out that our PC runs Stepmania at about 3/4 speed.
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I play DDR on Dreamcast.

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

I just took my S key off and took a quick look at what it was doing that made the connection. It's basically the same as a PS2 controller: the button pushes down a little plunger-type thing which makes a connection between the ground and active.

So you should be able to just take the button off, remove the plunger and the parts that hold the button on, and wire one wire to each of the little metal plates. I wouldn't swear by that method, but it seems like it should work with just about any keyboard. I'd use a cheap USB Num pad rather than a full-on keyboard though.
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I used to be active here lol

schneeflocke · Basic Member Joined: 03 Jul 2007 Location: Germany

If your are a bit into electronics and solder and stuff you can build your own controller.

http://www.obdev.at/products/avrusb/hidkeys.html

This is a project where you use a cheap microcontroller with a firmware USB protocol. I built it myself an it works great, no lag and you can customize it, just 8 buttons or more. Also no driver is requires because HID is used.

If you got questions about this, PM me.

(I'm from germany, maybe my english sucks a bit

)

deathfromabove1990 · Basic Member Joined: 14 Jul 2006 Location: Walla Walla

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

The system you're looking at is effectively the same as what's under my keys. The key's arm goes down and presses down a piece of rubber with a contact on the end, which connects the active and ground. If you were to take the screws out of the bottom of the keyboard, you'd have access to a large circuitboard of actives and grounds, although you really don't want to have an entire keyboard chip in your control box.
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I used to be active here lol

deathfromabove1990 · Basic Member Joined: 14 Jul 2006 Location: Walla Walla

I've bought a USB keypad, a full keyboard, opened a keyboard I already had and this is all that is ever there. Can I use that? Because that is not what you guys have been describing. I'm out about $50 now. I'm going to try to return the stuff but I dunno. Is there any way I can solder to that little circuit board? I'm getting real frustrated.
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I play DDR on Dreamcast.

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

Why'd you spend $50? You can get a USB keypad for $5. :/

Anyway, yeah, you should be able to use that. It looks like the light lines are the active and the dark ones are the ground. You should be able to solder to it fine. I can't really see it that clearly though, so I don't know how accessable the ground wires are.
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I used to be active here lol

deathfromabove1990 · Basic Member Joined: 14 Jul 2006 Location: Walla Walla

deathfromabove1990 · Basic Member Joined: 14 Jul 2006 Location: Walla Walla

Like I expected, the solder was so hot that as soon as it touched the plastic it just dropped through to the other side. So that idea is out the window. Unless someone can show me a keyboard brand that is guaranteed to have some sort of actual solid full size circuit board in it, I'm open to anything that's USB right now.
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I play DDR on Dreamcast.

Lawrencesss · Basic Member Joined: 07 Oct 2007

Get a logitech precision gamepad for PC.

It is a little pricey at ~15 but you do not need to clean any points. And you can solder wire-to-wire if you only need 4 buttons.

seiya256 · Trick Member Joined: 16 Apr 2006

http://www.mameworld.net/emuadvice/keyhack2.html
Big tutorial on hacking keyboards for use with MAME. The same concept should apply for home pads.