I made this, I don't know, four years ago? Today I decided, that we outgrew it, so it time to build a new one. I started googleing for tutorials, and what comes up? The very same video, that helped me to build our old one :) Thanks again, my family loves this!

Three years ago I saw this video and thought: "man... This is way too complicated for me. First of all, who the heck even has a 3D printer?" Nowadays I'm coming back to this having 2 3d printers and having made projects at least 100x more electronically complex than this. This video still impresses me by the sheer attention to detail of Mr. Super Make Something.

Used material summary: *1/2" MDF:* 1x 35"x35" baseboard 4x 1"x35" borders 5x 11"x11" stationary panels *1/4" MDF:* 4x 11"x11" button pads *1/4" cardboard:* 4x 9"x9"x1/4" raiser panels *1/4"x5/8" foam insulation tape:* 16x 8" strips *2mm acrylic:* _(or polycarbonate)_ 9x 11"x11" panels Aluminum foil 1x Arduino Leonardo 36x #8 screws 13x (?) washers + electrical tape _(or screws)_ Wires Glue Spray glue _(Optional, but required for a cleaner result :)_ (3D printed) Arduino Enclosure (with screws for closing) Paint Graphics Braided tubing Zip ties

I’m excited to try this as a quarantine project! 😂 Super glad you have this tutorial up- thank you so much!

I was REALLY impressed with the manufacturing and assembly of the dance pad. I was also extremely impressed by your knowledge and expertise in this project. My hats off to you! 👍👍👍👍

Your channel is hands down the best DIY channel I have watched.

This was really awesome and interesting to watch, good work man.

I bought a cheap metal pad and modified it the same way. Came with a smaller sensor similar to the one you made, replicating the idea for the entire pad area. My first shody solders snapped, but after a couple o fiterations, it still works to this day and this was 10 years ago. Props on the info, will come in handy mang.

The attention to detail in your video is perfect. Instant sub from me keep up the good work.

Hi Alex! Yesterday I finished making a dancepad based primarily on this design, and wanted to say thanks for the instruction and inspiration. My daughter and friend are playing it right now and having a blast. Thanks so much!

Dude... your a wizard, I can't even begin to describe how cool this is.

The Quality of your Videos is great! I am always happy to see new Vids from u, because theey are so informative and entertaining. I wish you would get more attention, but hey keep it up, I appreciate your work^^ Greets from Germany :)

I've used your code and implemented in my PIU machine that i've built. It worked just fine for me. I used a completely different material, had to make some adjustments on your code, but it was really nice have a starting point that you gave me. Thank you.

Saw you at Maker faire today! Friend of mine are going to make a couple of these for his family picnics! Thanks for all the ideas.

Very nice prototype and further suggestions at the end. Not sure if I would use the Arduino when a USB to joystick board could function similarly to a raspberry pi, but all in all, very creative and hats off to you.

dude this project is amazing, this would be my first project with an arduino for sure

Howdy! I used your arduino base code and explanation to build a little control box for my two old PS1 dance pads to convert them to PC USB pads. It's been amazing to play again, now with my nephew. This is something I've tried many times, but hadn't ever looked into arduinos before, and I learned a ton.

I just finished building my own Pump It Up pad, and your video has given me some ways to improve it in a second version. Thanks!

This is why i instantly subscribed when i first saw a video from you. Great project, nice presentation of the process and cool results. Thanks for another great video! Keep em coming ;) Greetings from Germany

I definitely plan on attempting this project!

This video was incredible and inspired me to make my own! Super super thankyou to Super Make Something!

Bro, actually giving out the code was a hero move. Bless you man

Great video. I also suggest you place the conductive pannels closer to the center square, that way you don't require to press so far out with your feet, instead you can just touch the edge of the arrow to trigger it

Thanks so much for this video, I made my own DDR mat using this as a guide and it works brilliantly. It hasn't endured much use yet, one key difference is that I kept the 2mm acrylic as one big sheet, so I'll see how that compares over longer use. The only other major differences are that I used an old Arduino UNO (Revision 2), which does not have the keyboard module available, so instead flashed it to be recognised as a HID Gamepad, and mapped the buttons to the cross, circle, triangle and square, and it works a treat! Keep on making things! I love your work!

A couple of weeks ago I was searching for a clear explanation of how pull up and down resistors work. I wish so badly that I had seen this video then. ~min mark 2:30 is such a good explanation of pull up resistors. Fantastic.

Great video, very clear steps. Thanks for sharing your project!

this is so cool, im excited to build one for myself.Great video

Hey, love the video, I'm about to attempt doing this for jumprope fitness mat lol let's go. Thank you so much Alex for the great video!

Def trying this on my Mega 2560, once I manage to emulate a HID on it.

Thanks for the guide on how to make the dancepad! That is where I was caught up on, trying to make my own Pump It Up pad. I plan to use the Texas Instruments MSP430 Launchpad (F5529) as the controller instead of the Arduino, due to it's ability to call an interrupt from a pin input, as well as having built in pull-up resistors if needed for output. It also can be made to act as a HID-compliant game controller, so I think it will be perfect for the job.

this is a good starting point for me, though id probably change a few things, first off I will likely use a larger baseboard to incorporate handles to make it easier to move for storage etc., secondly ill likely include an "A" and "B" button in both top right and top left panels, lastly id probably use a serial cable connection to bridge between the pad and control box as I would likely not want the control box screwed down as I would be trying to make a DIY DDR Arcade Cabinet which means being able to have a detachable control box from the pad would be handy

you rock! thanks for the tutorial, doing it right now but for a pump it up machine your video was of great help

you are awesome. keep it up, i know you;ll get huge one day.

I'm about 90% done with a dance pad and have been testing it. It seems to be working decently with 7-8 step songs currently but the buttons are sitting a little higher than the stationary boards and I'm not sure if I want to trim more foam or maybe stick some magnets on the foam pads to lock the pads in place. I'm also not sure if my board can handle gallop steps or if I just still can't do them (I haven't played in 10 years and can't seem to do afronova anymore). I made a few mistakes along the way. I let the boarder boards' glue dry before putting down the stationary panels so I didn't create prefect 90 degree angles and no way were those coming up. The buttons I cut from 12X12 pre-cut boards and for some reason they kept coming out at a weird angle from the saw we used so I had to sand or trim those a lot. The foam pads you listed in the video just didn't seem to exist so the bigger ones I used are probably a lot of the reason my buttons are slightly too high but I'm a little hesitant to trim off more foam than I did. I also haven't figured out a case for the Arduino as I don't have a 3D printer so I'm probably going to have to keep it in the box it came in and just drill little holes in that for the wires. Sometimes, things just go wrong and I have to problem solve why that button isn't working anymore. For example the copper wiring into the Arduino was getting loose and touching other wires so when I'd hit a step it'd be like I hit three steps. Overall I learned a lot about how these controllers work but oh boy, is lumber expensive right now. If I can get this board to a point that I can do 14 step+ songs again I'll probably build a second board.

This was awesome I might try this with FSR sensors

hey i got that issue resolved with my pad i ended up going with open cell weatherstripping stacked muiltiple times works good so far though keep DDRing baby

You just gained a subscriber : D

Was about to comment on the electrical tape right as you gave your comments on the design lol, I would say maybe use a spring to hold them down, as frequent movement will wear out a solid connect like a screw. Definitely also agree that acrylic is too brittle. I will likely be using Lexan, which is very durable. I also would recommend putting in connectors at each button to make swapping parts easier.

Amazing tutorial, thank you!!

I've been wanting to do this for years but with a metal frame since I work in metal fabrication now and have a huge supply of scrap steel and aluminum plate and channel, and also do a lot of DIY electronics wiring and soldering

Starting this project today. I´ll let you know the advance! This video rocks.

THATS GENIUS i want to make this sooo bad

This project is so much fun. Thank you so much for sharing your project on here. I'm in the middle of making one. I have been following your video. The detail is great. The video is really useful!

This is a great design and thanks for sharing it with us. My one big objection to this design is the method used for connecting the wires to the dance pad combs. My suggestion would be to extend the ends of the foil contacts over the edges of the riser panels, such that the wires can be connected out of the way of the pad movement. By having them on top of the risers as they are installed in this video, that could impede pad movement and thus connection. If soldering/welding to the foil is not an option, I would also suggest something like hot glue or even duct tape to complete it. Electrical tape does not stay adhered to wood very well in high-vibration applications.

dude you make a pro job,well done.

I actually built a similar pad using an Xbox controller for the connectivity to the PC and used copper tape for the contacts as it conducts 65% better. Also you can solder the wires to the copper tape making contact from the wires awesome and a lot stronger. For the wiring i used and old Lan cable since the wires are solid but thin.

Great video, really inspirational and to date the reference to get started on the subject! woot woot!

I'll try this. It's hard to get DDr panels in my country, and the ones made and sold by individuals here are a matter of luck: Some people just suck at making them (or simply make them to look good at first and last for a few days), and some other make a great job. But since we lack a way to review them I have no idea who would sell a good one. I got a couple weeks of vacations in November. I guess I'll buy an arduino now and start with it. Once I know it works I'll start getting the rest of materials to build the body of the pad.

I played a bunch as a teenager and now that I'm an adult and have money, most of the good pads have since gone out of business. I will be starting this project asap, thanks for the video, it answered some of the questions I had in my head while I was planning this out.

Really awesome project. :D

Great video. This is exactly what I'm looking for. Too bad I don't have the resources to make this.

great tutorial, How would I implement 2 more buttons in the provided code?

Great video. Personally, I think for expert players piezoelectric or piezoresistive sensors are a must! Just like the arcade pads.

I'm thinking of modding a PS2 DDR Game Metal Pad using Arduino and some of the tips in this video

this makes me think about modifying this to make a Frets On Fire guitar!

excellent projects!

Man, this looks awesome. If only I knew what it all meant XD

So for the wiring, I was a little confused about how the ground wires are set up. Do you need 4 wire to connect to each panel and then another longer wire to connect to the Arduino? I think a print visual would help with the wire setup. Thanks for the great video, I'm considering trying the build myself.

Thanks for doing and uploading this! I'm planning on building a full double pad. I also couldn't help but notice it sliding around a bit during the video- What would you do to give it some more stability?

Thank you

Show!!! muito bom!!!!!

in college my friend and I just attached a usb filmsy pad to a giant piece of wood from home depo with duck tape. Probably not as good quality as this but got the job done just as well. Saved us a lot of time compared to this, but this is a cool idea too. We just wanted a hard surface and that seemed to do the job.

Reminds me of the Cobalt Flux pad I bought about 10 years ago.

If you made multiples of this, I'll definitely buy one of them from you no matter how expensive it is!

Justo estaba haciendo mi propia placa de baile, te agradezco por compartir tu experiencia, me ayudará mucho

Just discovered this channel! I am a Software Engineer but I like Computer Engineering (hardware) stuff as a hobby. This is awesome!

your channel is awesome.

Hey Alex! Thanks for making this amazing tutorial. I was wondering, what length were the screws that you used to go through the acrylic and the wood panels? Are the lengths of the screws different between the button pads vs the non-button pads? Did you drill into the baseboard below and have the screws go through the panels and into the baseboard?

Increible video.

skills over 9000

you have great videos please post more I always wait for your new video . good job man

If you don't want to get an Arduino and code, I'd recommend getting a cheap soft pad and utilizing the board and enclosure that comes with it. I'm trying a build this weekend with a soft pad I recently purchased. Most of the time with soft pads, the part that goes out in them or causes them not to work are the contacts and not the board. In the one that I purchased from Amazon for example, the contacts for everything are just two layers of crinkly plastic with conductive material printed on them with some very low quality and thin foam in between them. I bought two of these pads and neither made it past day 1 of use without pads not firing. I can't speak to all PCB boards on these soft pads, but with multiple companies selling these 10 button pads with a pink/blue theme and the "Stay Cool!" In the middle pads, I imagine most of them are the same product. The board in these pads is very simple with one ground contact in the middle that all the pads connect to. There are then 5 smaller contacts on either side of the ground contact that correspond to the 10 buttons: (The pads I bought have 4 arrows (up, down, left, right), a triangle, square, circle, and 'X' button in the corners, and a start and select button at the top of the pad)

非常强大的diy能力，可以说是我看过最好的diy视频了。 已订阅，期待能有更好的作品！

Little confused on some of the wiring Would have liked to see some more images/footage once it's all wired together.

Very nice. Im going to use the same build concepts for a Pump it Up pad this week. Any tips for that.

Love your video. Very in-depth. Was curious if there was a reason for the design of the foil. Also wondering could the foil be replaced with copper tape?

I'am currently doing this project for a school project! This video has proven to be very helpful. Would you please share the 3D-model for de Arduino case with us? This would be amazing and save me some time :).

Awesome!! I've been wondering why I just didn't make a dancing pad for my wife - isn't it simple? Thanks, now I KNOW why I should not.

Being locked at home during COVID first wave I made my own Dance controller, but I replace "Step" - style with "Twist" style. So game mechanic will be also different.

hola esta genial tu proyecto, me gustaría hacer el mio siguiendo tus instrucciones, me gustaría saber donde sacaste las imágenes para el decorado de tu pad porfavor

How much did all the materials cost in total? I've been thinking of making one of these.

I realize this is an old video, but you might get away with using extruded acrylic instead of cast acrylic. Extruded acrylic is a fair bit more flexible, albeit slightly less clear than the glass-like cast acrylic. Polycarbonate is still a good option, of course.

Hello! Thanks for the great video! I have a question though. When I try to use the dance pad the button presses are really slow to activate, sometimes I have to hit the arrow multiple times for it to register any thoughts?

Hey Alex - Kudos for making this mate! The design was simplistic yet looks really solid in terms of sensitivity as well as ability to stand up to long hours of play. With your pad - Did you find that it slipped a fair bit? How about those 12+ footer songs that start to get rediculous without the use of a bar? DO you have a simple idea or method to integrate with this? I've basically duct taped softpads onto MDF, and placed carpet cutouts underneath each 'arrow' and though sensitive, it still doesn't feel great. Will be following you idea - amazing stuff :D

I been looking at metal dance pads the last few days. I wanna get back into DDR. I had a fabric/mat kinda one and didn't really like it (and thus didn't really use it). Then I found this video. This looks awesome! I wanna make this. Besides the upgrades at the end of the video, are there any other things that you would've done differently knowing what you know now? I noticed the video was uploaded 5 years ago.

I am so serious too. I love DDR and it was the only thing that helped me feel confident in my own body. It's nearly impossible to find a pad nowadays... this USB option would be amazing. If you are willing to sale, please please please let me know.

Thanks for doing this, I'm currently making my own pad using your video. One question however: The ground wire is one continual connection to each square of foil? Does it matter if it's connected to the same section as each of the red wires you used?

I would love to do this project, but with the washers and screws matter, would that interfere with the foil contacts touching at all or no?

Just got the ddr fever again, time to get my m16 and go get materials to build this

Nice job! I'm working on building a dance pad myself. I'm trying to make it as faithful of an arcade pad replica as I reasonably can, with authentic Pump It Up sensors, recessed half inch thick acrylic arrows, and metal wrapping the non-arrow panels. It's a big expensive project, but I'm hoping it'll be worth it in the end. Out of curiosity, how much did the components of this pad cost all together?

wow cooles video gute arbeit 👍

Great video, really

try making a version for a video game with 6 other buttons for a through c and x through z plus an escape key

Silly question, when you was using the wood screws to secure the upper parts of the pads was you screwing them into the base board below to?

Hi, thank you for your useful guide! Just wondering the value of the ohm of the resistance... Thanks 🙏

Amazing guide. i wont probably making my own dance pad any time soon :D

How would you recommend increasing the sensitivity specifically around the edges and corners of the steps without having to replace the aluminum foil sensors system? I glued a sheet of craft foam(2mm thickness) of the same size as the whole pad below the base under it to prevent it from sliding, it works really great. I used a whole sheet instead of individual strips to have consistency across the whole base area and for extra grip, also it was really cheap so why not. Now on the sensitivity, I've been thinking of covering a few craft foam strips with aluminum foil tape and and placing them in the corners of the steps to increase the thickness of that contact area which is used more in harder songs(since you don't have time to step right on the center) thus increasing sensibility to give it a more arcade feel. What do you think?

I wanted to say, you really should consider making these for sale. There is a good market out there for manufactured pads for those of us not comfortable dealing with electrical stuff. Not everybody can afford to buy and restore an old arcade cab and your pad design is great

I used a xin-mo to make mine. Pads are more reliable and uniformly sensitive (can't have pad misses for flat-footing) if you only need one contact (ie. detection of 0 or inf resistance). A xin-mo just detects the closed circuit upon contact and it's cheap; shabam. Good job regardless.

Could you explain the wiring a bit better? I was having trouble understanding where you connecte the black and red wires. Cheers