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Overview
So how did I get roped into this project? **Burry's head into hands** Well I
suppose you could say it was all about timing. Late last year I saw an article
about a school on the east coast starting a program to help address childhood
obesity via increased physical activity. They were installing several dance
dance setups using the cheap pad and consoles. The total price tag, 26,000.
When I saw this I was about sickened. Some one was really banking on that
project and it wasn't the school or students. So about the same time I had a
good friend of mine who was really into the whole dance phenomenon bring me
some of his expensive pads he had for the Xbox to see if I could find out what
was wrong with them. I was disgusted with the shoddy construction. After
looking over the system I realized that I could put together a system that
trumped even the most expensive home system and even the arcade systems. So
Danny and I got to work on a new dance pad system. Little did I know that this
would become the longest most expensive project in inventgeek history due to
scope issues. Now Danny really didn't help much with the actual inventing. But
he both gave me the idea and secondly was a good set of helping hands and a
good sounding wall for ideas when needed.
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The Dance Pad:
Sometimes the right method for invention is reinvention. Reinventing the wheel
is not always the best course of action (unless your talking about government
work or selling dance pads to schools). When it came to the console interface
we decided to do the easiest thing possible to accomplish our goal. A quick
trip down to our local Gamestop, some funny looks when danny told them what we
were doing with them, and 40.00 for a set of there self branded dance pads and
were off to a running start. These pads are for the Xbox. There are of course
the PS2 verities as well. But the reason we chose the Xbox version was for the
super easy ability to plug into a USB port on a PC. Just a simple converter is
required and allows for pc play for free via step mania. Step mania is a free
dance gaming suite and most dance games are based on its engine, both console
and arcade. Just as a note there are Xbox to PS2 adapters for about 16.00 each.
Giving the maximum flexibility possible out of the system
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Steel:
With this project we decided to use 1" square tubing for ease of construction.
We also went to great efforts to create a design that would be both easy to
construct as well as well as very durable. Using 14GA(.083) square tube we got
from our local steel supplier and cutting it to length our self's to save a
buck or 2. We strongly recommend using .083 or thicker material. Thinner
materials may not have the strength to prevent warping and bending over time as
well as being a little trickier to weld for the rookie welder. The cut list for
one deck is 19 - 36 1/8" cuts and 4 - 6" cuts. Total cost for materials was
some where around 80.00 + welding materials per deck. Just a fair warning on
costs, if you cant cut and weld your materials your self you can usually have
the supplier of the material cut it to size for you at a cost usually 1-2 times
the cost of the materials them self. These cuts are important to be accurate
and I do not recommend using something like a hand hack saw for accuracy sakes.
Additionally if you can't weld the deck you can usually get it welded together
for 100.00 or so. Everything other than the deck fabrication can be done in the
comfort of your personal geek studio surrounded with your friends like Old Ben
Kenobi and Mr. rubix. .
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Wire:
We picked up a couple spools of this 24 gauge speaker wire at our local super
store for about 9.00 each. We chose to use the speaker wire in the prototype
due to the ease of access to it, the flexibility of the wire as we will be
fishing it threw the decks as well as the redundancy provided by the dual
wires.
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End Caps:
Our local home improvement store had these 1" square tube end caps for about
2.00 each. Well 2.00 each would be a barging if it didn't take 20 minutes and 3
drones to find them. These help reduce the risk of personal injury one could
sustain from the top surface of the deck. Additionally they address the
cosmetics by covering up the hole cleanly. One thing to watch for with these is
on the install. Use a rubber mallet wrapped with a wash cloth or something
similar to pound them into the tubes. As we are using a slightly heavier square
tube the inner walls are narrower than what these are meant for. So they will
need a little persuasion to seat all the way.
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Project Box:
Our local Radio Shaq (yes I know this is misspelled. It's intentional you
spelling Nazis!) we found some simple project boxes. Basically a 6" X 9"
plastic box with a screw on metal lid. This is where were going to hide the
controller wiring from the dance pad to the deck. Being this was the prototype
we have hence decided this was a bit on the big side..... cost was about 8.00
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Large Terminating Block:
We used 1 of these terminating blocks to provide a modular interface between
the dance controller and the deck in case of tile or sensor replacement.
Basically a 10 screw terminal it provides the functionality we needed at a good
price, some where around 9.00 each.
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Small terminating Block:
We used 19 of these terminating blocks to provide a modular interface between
the dance controller and the sensors in the tiles as well as providing some
modularity in case of replacement of a sensor. Basically a 2 screw terminal it
provides the functionality we needed at a good price, some where around 3.00
each. |
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Spring:
Another great part picked up at the local home center. We even found it our
selfs! About 3/16 across and an inch tall. These springs are used in the actual
sensors in the deck. They will need to be cut down to about 3/4 tall and then
bent for safe handling. They cost us about 3.50 each and each pack hold 4
springs. So one tile per package.
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Rubber Grommets:
We picked these rubber grommets up at our local home center for about 1.50
each. 6 in a pack and you will need about 4 packs. These are used in the holes
we drilled in the deck to fish the wires through to prevent chaffing of the
wire over time as the deck is constantly stomped on. I wonder if they would
help other repeditive dance repetitive chaffing...... |
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Foamies:
Foamies are a high density rubberized foam type material (closed cell) that is
very dense and has an adhesive pill-away backing to it. We will be using this
material to dampen the tiles contact with the deck. We picked these up at our
local super colossus mega mart for about 2.00 each. We used over 100 in
prototyping sensor design; you will just need 4 sheets.
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Aluminum Tape:
We will be using aluminum tape in this project as part of the sensor design.
Usually used in home heating installation and insulation. We will be using this
as part of the switch in the sensor its self. Unfortunately this stuff can be
expensive... some where around 12.00 a roll and we will only use a couple feet
of it. So I would ask around and see if you can scrounge some up. |
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Super Joy Box 10:
Yah, this product is branded about as I expected.... for about 14.00 we picked
up this Xbox controller adapter from the ole WWW. This unit has 2 ports instead
of the usual single of its competitors. Used in conjunction with stepmania and
XBCD you can really have some fun and have access to thousands of songs from
popular artists. This is not a required item for this rig, but man it adds to
its capabilities.
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The Dance Deck Surface:
This turned into quite the chore. In hind site maybe not the brightest time in
my life. Danny and I did some rather intense testing of materials. We needed to
determine if we were going to be using acrylic or polycarbonate for the actual
surface of the deck. The polycarbonate is stronger than the acrylic but cost
almost exactly twice as much. After some rather risky but moderately comical
stress testing with some creative** rigs. We found that the acrylic was not
only good enough, but was easier to "heal" if it became damaged. As well as
having superior interaction with our lighting system.
** Creative is defined as....
stacking a 55 pound anvil on top of a ballpin hammer and hitting it with a 20
Lb Sledge hammer.
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Assorted Sprays:
We used several assorted sprays in this project. Spray-paint for the deck its
self. Degreaser and rust removers and a window frosting spray for the details
in the tiles. With the amount of spraying in this project if your not
experienced with it... you will be by the end of it. We spent about 40.00 total
on assorted sprays when it was all said and done. |
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The Lighting System Heart:
Once again we find another excellent example of a "don't reinvent the wheel"
opportunity. This has to be one of the coolest lighting systems for pc's I have
seen in a while. Basically providing 4 pods and each pod has a RGB LED in it.
You can mix the color with the control panel to any color you want! And to top
it off its super super bright. We got these at Newegg for about 20.00 each and
2 per deck so we can cross fade 2 different colors. And with 2 decks side by
side you can go blend them to go from green to aqua to blue to purple. The last
page has some pics of basic fading that they can do. |
Tools
that we used ( I.E. you may want to use as well )
One note on power tools: use them at your own risk. Be sure to read and
understand any and all documentation on the tools you use. No amount of
documentation can make up for experience, but there are many people with
serious eye injuries at the school of hard knocks. If you don't know what you
are doing, don't do it and find some one that can help.
Welder
Drill
Screwdrivers
Wire Cutters
Pliers
Knifes
Soldering Iron
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