homebrew ddr pad, build photos
So after using through our old hard pads and being constantly frustrated at nothing being available, we decided to build our own from this guide: https://youtu.be/y6wGYLE0YI4
Turns out this thing is way easier than expected once we got the materials assembled. Each sensor converts physical force into electrical resistance, and each analog channel reads that in and converts it to button presses at a given threshold.
And it works! Next is finish wiring and close it up.
homebrew ddr pad, build photos
Pad is closed up for now. There are changes we'll make in revision 2 to make this wire together better, but it works!
homebrew ddr pad, build photos
Revision 2 of the pad, which supports doubles, is coming along well.
It's smaller than a regulation pad on the edges, but should be super comfy for exercise once we connect it up.
homebrew ddr pad, build photos
The pad now works, and it's been super comfy to use (even compared to rev 1).
Some build observations:
1. The keeyees pro micro we used only has 9 analog pins, and 8 of them were purposed for the build. My wiring shorted two together somehow, but the build continues to work happily despite it.
2. The build guide doesn't tell you this, but each circuit is very simple. Each analog pin is connected to two circuits. (more)
homebrew ddr pad, build photos
4. Everything in this is user-replaceable and buildable from first principles (including, technically, the sensors and IC, but sourcing those is waaaay easier), meaning if a component fails or a manufacturer closes shop, the thing will continue to be serviceable with small repairs.
Wish I could say the same about most of my other hardware, tbh.
homebrew ddr pad, build photos
When the sensor is activated (and its resistance is lowered), electricity follows down that path. Otherwise, it terminates to ground.
It works pretty well on a breadboard, but a PCB that parallelizes these better would make for a tidier build.
3. The code provided by teejusb/fsr supports an arbitrary number of sensors. You can scale this up as far as your controller has analog pins and build some absolutely complex sensing kit with this.