Non-mechanical USB dance pad

[Technoid]

I've been playing Stepmania with one of those cheap soft dance pads, but I don't like how unstable it feels.

Now, I don't have much technical knowledge, but with a good guide I can do pretty much anything. Money is tight, which also doesn't help.

This: https://www.applied-sciences.net/library/data/laserpad.pdf looks pretty cool, but I think that's a little to complex, unless the parts are cheap and assembling the circuit really isn't hard, which I don't know. I was thinking if I could find some simple motion sensors that would connect to a PC through USB, I could throw something together, but I can't find any.

Then I found this: **broken link removed** and I think it's a little more doable. I want two pads though, with 8 arrows each, plus the center button. I'm not sure what to change in the circuit, or if I should just make multiple circuits of the same thing (one for each pad or something). And then I'll need different software. If I can just add more buttons to his that would be great, if not I have no clue what to do for that.

EDIT: This looks really helpful: https://www.instructables.com/id/Capacitive-Dance-Pad/

Will I be able to just add more arrows to it, or will that not work with the Arduino Leonardo?

 

[4pyros]

Do you have a part number or a link to your original pad?
It mite be possible to modify it, or at least use the interface, that's the hard part, sensors are easy.

 

[Technoid]

There's a sticker with Chinese letters that has two sets of numbers, one is 8007088315, and the other is 4007088315. It's like this: **broken link removed** the 8 arrow one, mine didn't say it was super sensitive.

 

[ClydeCrashKop]

I like the laser one but any will work with this.
If you want lots of inputs on USB, strip the key switches off a keyboard and wire your inputs to the board where the switches were. Your dance program may even like the cursor keys.
If you are writing your own program, you can read all 100+ keys like this.

if (msg.message == WM_KEYDOWN)
{
if (msg.wParam == 27)goto Done; // Esc
if (msg.wParam == 35)goto Done; // End
if (msg.wParam == 81)goto Done; // Q for Quit
// vs.Format("Key pressed is # %i Use Esc to Quit ",msg.wParam);
// AfxMessageBox(vs, MB_ICONINFORMATION | MB_OK);
if (msg.wParam == 39) // Left cursor
{
Do Left stuff here
}
if (msg.wParam == 37) //Right cursor
{
Do right stuff here
}
if (msg.wParam == 40) Up cursor
{
Do up stuff here
}
if (msg.wParam == 38) Down cursor

 

[4pyros]

Do you have a Harbor Freight near you?

 

[Technoid]

I was thinking about using a keyboard, but that would require switches, and I don't want switches. Unless there's a way to connect capacitive sensors to the keyboard's chip so it just reads it as key presses.

No I don't, 4pyros.

 

[4pyros]

You can use IR sensors and hook them up as keys. Can you map a keyboard in your game?

 

[4pyros]

Here is a laser pad, is this what you are looking for?
https://www.applied-sciences.net/library/data/laserpad.pdf

 

[Technoid]

Yeah, like that. Isn't that what I linked to in my original post?

How would you go about hooking IR sensors up as keys?