Having worked as an arcade technician and torn apart a REAL DDR pad… I can tell you that this “better then” project is no where near the quality of the real deal.

The real DDR pads are constructed of wood for a good natural overall springiness, then covered in sheet metal for durability. The buttons use pressure sensors as opposed to mechanical contacts, so there’s no actual movement to them (and they can go for years of abuse without wearing out because of it). Also each button has 2 sensors for redundancy, only one needs to be tripped to detect a push…

Not to mention the best part of the real machine is that there are no ABXY buttons to accidentally push

“looks better than anything you could… find in the arcade”? Oh, please, spare me. Totally agreed with twistedsymphony, the arcade platforms are a hell of a lot more well-made than people give them credit for, which one realizes if one’s ever seen the inside of the pad. The only point of failure for the arcade pad is one or more brackets between the acrylic pad itself and the pressure sensor falling off, which dramatically shortens the sensor’s life. However, decent weekly upkeep keeps such occurrences to a minimum.

Plus, this custom pad just plain looks ugly.

I’m not sure I’m convinced by their stress test…

“stacking a 55 pound anvil on top of a ballpin hammer and hitting it with a 20 Lb Sledge hammer.”

… 70lbs of total weight, the anvil acts to absorb energy, not increase force on the plexiglass.

I can imagine the plexiglas shattering, someone’s foot pushing through the razor (worse than glass!) sharp plastic edges. Since it’s plastic it could remain in place trapping their foot. A bouncing dancing player is going to put quite a bit of force on these pads, they’re not going to be gentle when their trying for a high score.

I’m not normally much of a spelnig nazi, but jesus, that article is awful. There’s like 4 glaring errors in the first two paragraphs. If you can’t spell, you should at least use a spelling/grammar checker.

“Prototype”

Just wait for v.2

Neat project, though nothing I would ever seriously consider doing myself. It’s too expensive, and doesn’t seem like it can last. Unless there are some drastic improvements in these areas for v2, looks like just bying a cobalt flux pad is still the best choice.

I agree with everyone else here, this is a pretty lame “hack”.

The point of a hack is to achieve a goal in a unique manner, hopefully in a manner that is more efficient than the norm.

To tear apart a dance pad, only to make a more expensive dance pad out of it, is clearly not meeting that goal.

Like the others said, this could have been made out of an old controller rather than a real dance pad, without buying the USB adapter, etc.

Also, PlayAsia sells heavy duty metal dance pads, so you could just buy one.

On topic: That looks cool. I also would be a tad concerned about the shattering too, although plexi can take a lot of abuse. Does anyone have a source to explain how the arcade pads work with the pressure sensors (diagrams, pictures, etc)?

Off topic to “josh” there:
Yeah, and you know what really sucks? When people who can’t spell and don’t have good grammar complain about the same. Oops, I mean “spelnig,” sorry. Also, your missing some capitalization there (actually, you don’t have anything capitalized). I’m sure your shift buttons were just broken though.

I like the look of it, couldn’t he just use force sensors and calibrate that to output the correct signals? From what I remember the circuits shouldn’t be all that difficult to build. I mean the stuff you guys build on here is awesome. I used to do simple hacks on stuff but wow.

I’ve got agree with andrew on this. So what if he used a few premade parts or there is a better pad out there for the same price… The point is he made it, it works and its somewhat inspirational. Sure pressure switches would have been better, but there are always improvements to be made.

Besides that I for one really like the way it looks, minimal but with some flash. I actually like it better than the flashier pads I’ve seen in some arcades.

That said, if they’re better implementation write ups out there… Lets see some links… I’d honestly find them an interesting read.

liam said: “I just wish these guys knew how to phrase their constructive criticisms with some tact… this, unfortunately, is what happens when a whole bunch of geeks get together on the ‘net and all decide to act like the alpha males they surely are not.”

I think this is a problem with the geek community in general… I made a rant about it on my xanga, but I think geeky sites like slashdot have way too many people with an inferiority complex, and somehow saying snappy things at others helps make them feel more superior. Can we help make budding geeks feel good about just being geeks? Or do we have to constantly criticize?

I loved the dance pad; simply because I’m easily impressed with colored LEDs. But that’s just me. ;P

Since an earlier poster was talking about it. Is there any site that sells a kit or a completed pad that’s built in the same fashion as the arcade pads? Using pressure sensors instead of switches, that is.

Its pretty smart to buy a pad becuse the sensors can cost quite a bit. Oh and btw I know someone who did dot that danadamkof.

thank you this is really good one…..