M-1 Ultragrade Pad

Mr. A · Trick Member Joined: 20 Oct 2003 Location: INTERNET

Well, I've been thinking for awhile after using strain gauges in my measurement systems class to build a DDR pad that senses the player's steps by using strain gauges.

There would be six aluminium panels, arcade/regulation sized, with one (possibly more) strain gauges attached on each. These gauges would change resistance slightly when a person steps on them. The change in voltage would be amplified exponentiall by standard op-amps, and the signal could be sent to the recieving unit from a gutted Konami pad.

The key idea is the pad would have zero moving parts per-se, have a very long lifespan, and if properly build might be pretty indestructable.

So, has anyone ever seen a pad design that used strain gauges?

xXRammsteinXx · Basic Member Joined: 07 Dec 2004

never heard of that but sounds pretty RAD!! find ill buy it lol

mtwieg · Posted: Sat Dec 18, 2004 10:00 pm Post subject:

that would be the first time i found a practical use for strain gauges. very interesting tho. got schematics?
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goodtimesddr · Posted: Mon Dec 20, 2004 7:09 pm Post subject:

Build it, Build it, Build it!!!!!!!!
Also send us pictures during the process.
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I took the path least taken. Now where the hell am I?

Mr. A · Trick Member Joined: 20 Oct 2003 Location: INTERNET

No schematics yet. I gotta check Digikey and some other companies for their prices on strain gauges. The electronics involved might not be terribly cheap.

Well, it'll need to be built in several stages:

Phase 1: Theory Proving
Get two strain gauges and a single aluminum panel and the mounting brackets for it. Attach the gauges, make the circuitry, and test it out. Connect the output to the connectors on the konami pad circuitry and see if it works on the PS2 and how it needs to be adjusted.

Phase 2: Construction and Testing
Take the proven design from phase 1 and complete the four panels (eventually six- I like solo) and begin building and the actual pad prototype. What would really be great would be if someone would let me put it in a public-place to let people bang the hell out of it and see if it still worked just as well after a thousand people stomped on it.

Phase 3: Production
I'm not sure if I will make more then two pads or not, but I might.

Because of a lack of time and resources, this might take awhile.

I've had a few ideas for "indestructable" pads, almost completely sealed, incredibly durable and even vandal-proofed. The other idea involved using an optical sensor; stepping causes the platform to drop enough to break the beam of light, however I'm going for ultra-durable, not sure how well that would work.

Another thing is having an external control box that has all the inputs from the sensors. The problem is that the strain gauge resistance delta is tiny. You might go from 120 ohms with zero weight to 120.1 ohms with full weight, so even the resistance of the wires could make a difference. Strain gauges can be kinda complex.

mtwieg · Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2004 5:23 pm Post subject:

if this works, you would be my hero.
let us know how it goes.
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