DIY Dance Dance Revolution Mat -- Episode 471

Hey Dab, that was the same conclusion I had with my version. The issue is not that the floor is conductive, it is because the dancer is insulated from the floor.

Try an antistatic wristband or a long wire connected to the plumbing.

beacon_dave  Argh!  That is such a great idea!  Maybe next Halloween... bwah-ha-ha-ha-ha!

Thanks Mike kmikemoo ! ! I look forward to seeing what you build! Tag me when you post it

May work quite well with traditional playground type games like hopscotch. Add lights sound, and a scoreboard.

Should also be able to emulate keyboard controls for the retro up/down/left/right type arcade games.

The staircase could perhaps use it to detect feet on the steps and to interact with the LED lights. Add creaking stair sound effects at Halloween...

lorrainbow  I LOVE IT!  I really liked that you shared the struggles because that's how all of my projects go.  I'm always intrigued by how the problem was solved.  I would call your project a rousing success.  I also like it because it's something that I can realistically do.  It makes me wonder what else could be made that's similar.  Full scale Minesweeper?  A Raiders of the Lost Ark floor puzzle?  Again, LOVE IT! 

It would be really good if these dance mats could be used as practice mats to learn real dance moves, however this may not be easy to achieve.

There is also perhaps some scope on the music side to assist with learning to count the beat and to brush up on one's timing. I wonder if there any algorithms out there yet that can work out the beat count/phrase on the fly from any music as opposed to have to program it manually for each track ?

Instead of the capacitive touch sensors, perhaps the IR multi-touch found on large LCD touch screens (the ones with the IR sensors and the retroreflective strip around the sides) could be used to give more freedom of movement ?

Hardboard may be slightly more robust for the mat - I've been using the sheets that come off the top of the A4 printer paper pallets (34" x 27") and haven't worn it out yet (unlike the carpet !)

Like the outfit, it's slightly more colourful than mine !

Hi Lorraine,

I think you need to add a good ground plane to ensure you get a good capacitance reading.

Try using a metal screen under the cardboard attached to the ground wire of your CPU device.

That should get you a more consistent capacitive touch circuit.

DAB

Nice try, but failed dismally I was quite the player of these games in my 20’s even built my own arcade replica of the dance mat, with plywood and polycarbonate sheeting.  Ended up selling it a few years later but I still have the plans.

my original design utilised the controller from a PSX for the input, so yes I had DDR 5th mix on the PSX, and later modified it using a keyboard matrix so I could hook it up to my computer as well when playing the game Dance With Intensity https://www.ddrpcgamer.com/Dance-With-Intensity-en.htm

So no need to reinvent the wheel, the software is available albeit for PC but all the PC is expecting is the correctly associated keys.

Capacitive touch is good if implemented in a more sound manner,  beats having to use heavy duty micro switches in my original design.

I Would say think it through more and you will succeed but you may have been better off using ply and plastic sheeting.