Optical DDR Mat

[CNLohr]

I figured everyone should know that the mat was released to public domain last october.

All proof my be found at the following URL.

http://cnlohr.net/pics/padrelease/

I, Charles Lohr, hereby release all of the designs, schematics, circuitry, ideas and directly related topics that I have developed and created in regards to this project to PUBLIC DOMAIN.

PUBLIC DOMAIN 2003-2005 CHARLES N. LOHR




Edit (Cutriss) - Toned down the title a bit

[Sato-chan]

Wow O_O

Those are PRETTY.
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[ddrf654]

Very, very nice. You probably want to put a pullup resistor on the outputs of the LM339 though, since it's open collector. Otherwise you won't always get a clean logic high signal.

[CNLohr]

The devices that it's intended to be used with (the original laser mat) always have pullup resistors inside of them (ie a PSx, keyboard, etc.)

Remember, that's the laser mat, not the new better optical mat.

[latindude88wpg]

i'm just wondering.

what if you leave your foot on the arrow and then just slightly move it up and bring it back down to 'hit' the arrow. would the lasers still detect that slight movement?

did you find it hard to get used to this new pad?

[wathomas777]

You would have to move your foot sufficiently to allow all of the led's to shine directly into their appropriate sensors. I would think this would cause some issues on heavies and other songs that require very quick gallops. I am also interested in how simultaneous jumps or freeze steps are affected.

Another interesting aspect is the fact that the target zones are significantly recessed. This could potentialy cause injury if the entire foot is not in the recessed area

My suggestion to the design would be that the recesses are canted at a shallow angle. This would still allow the sensors to be housed close to the pad, but if canted enough could allow for a very gradual indentation thus minimized the possibility of injury to a toe, or heel due to an non centered step. Careful calculations would have to be made to ensure that the LED's are properly housed to avoid being impacted by the foot but spaced as such that the actual target area is not made larger than it should be.

I am also interested in which design works better. It seems the first design with the center panel being raised and then the led's working from the extreme edges would be more natural feeling as that way most of the pad would be of uniform height with only the center being raised with a raised rail around the outside of the pad. The second design with the center being flat and the LED's forming a cruciform pattern with the 4 corners being raised would look like it might possibly cause a greater chance of injury (stubbed toes, tripping, etc.) Also, which design would best cater double pads?

The design is definitely intriguing. The only issue is that public domain is a pretty sharp dual edged sword. In one way, it frees all of us to make a home built optical pad, and modify it in any manner to increase it's performance. On the other end tho, should a practical design be discovered, the public domain aspect would prevent an enterprising company from perfecting the design and offering it for sale. While this is great for do it yourselfers, it does prevent a company such as CF or RO from perfecting and marketing a near bulletproof dance pad.

[Foxy Grandpa]

Anything that looks that good is bound to get broken via stomping.

[latindude88wpg]

what if the leds were on the border of the pad? and the sensors on the other side of the border. that way, you could have a completely flat pad, and you wouldn't be exposed to possible injuries, as well as keeping your sensors and leds protected from someone stepping on them.

[Cutriss]

Since you didn't even really post this in a thread to begin with, I'm gonna change the title of the topic to something a bit more sensible than "an announcement".
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[wathomas777]

[Ghettoman-DDR]

The idea is cool but how about slanting the inside corners inward somewhat like a sand dune.
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[latindude88wpg]

or you could have a grid like this:


(the colours are there just to make it a little bit easier to understand)

it would still use sixteen leds, and sixteen receptors, but i don't know if the receptors would be able to work over such a distance (33'')
ps: go ms paint!

edit: the drawing is obviously not to scale

[cranium]

This is a good idea but still it's one with issues of interference, safety and costs.

I don't understand why no-one has designed a dance pad using load cells as the sensors. They are EXTREMELY accurate and durable.

It could allow a dial on the pad to adjust sensitivity so each person can adjust how sensitive they like the pad to be.

Durability would be extremely high with load cells because of their construction and they would provide support for the middle of the impact zones (arrows) which would reduce breakage. They been in the market for many years for industrial applications. Sub-Miniature load cells have load ranges 50 grams to 10,000 lbs and accuracies of 0.1%



I guess I may have to just build one myself and see how well it works. If it works good then I may be able to sell the idea or market it.

With that said.....shhhh....don't tell anyone else this idea. It's between just you & I.

Thanks!

[CNLohr]

I investigated them as well as many other different types of pressure-based sensors when I originally wanted to make my mat 1 1/2 years ago. The problem still remains that there have to be moving parts and that will always create inconsistancy ( JSB's complaint with most DDR machines is their inconsistancy).

I will strongly discourage anyone from attempting to build a mat that would have optical sensors for the corners, because I think you will put in a VAST amount of effort and get little out. That's all I will say on the subject.

Do not expect me to give too much technical help in making these, and do not expect me to produce extremely detailed plans in the IMMEDIATE future. Just give it a bit of time.

[wathomas777]

[me so horny]

weird pad
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[Tomo_kun]

Thats really awesome! My one concern is that it wont feel as bouncy as other pads.
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Cutriss wrote:

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[CNLohr]

Many of the people who played on it prefer it because of that reason. It feels much more like a dance floor. It feels more professional, you really get to focus on and feel your footwork.

[me so horny]

too weird!
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tell your mom i'll be coming late tonight.

[latindude88wpg]