Our controller consists of three components: a DDR Dancing Mat, a hanging medal, and a controller.
DDR Dancing Mat: The primary function of the DDR mat is for controlling the steering, acceleration and deceleration of our hovercraft by stepping on different buttons. We started from hacking the DDR mat of PS2. We did some research online and tried to figure out how DDR mat works. Fortunately, the working mechanism of DDR Mat is similar to debounce buttons with 2K resistors connected in series. We only used four arrows (up, down, left and right) on the DDR mat for this project. Up and Down arrow controlled thrust of the hovercraft, and left and right arrow controlled steering of the hovercraft. We ran wires through 3 feet plastic tubing from DDR mat to the controller. |
Medal:
The primary function of the hanging medal is for activating the DDR mat. Only when the medal is dancing that the DDR mat has functions. The shell of medal is 3D printed. We embedded accelerometer and microcontroller inside the medal. The accelerometer gives the information about dancing in three direction, x, y, and z, to microcontroller, PIC12F752. Microcontroller is used for analyzing the dancing information, and tell controller whether the medal is dancing. This function helps to keep people dancing on DDR dancing mat. |
3D Rendering of PAC Controller in SolidWorks
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Controller:
The primary function of the controller is for pairing, breaking, selecting team number and color, and showing pair status. It is made of Duron sheets, assembled by screws and stand offs. 2-inch wide foam tape was stuck on the side face. The controller is connected to DDR mat and medal through wires. The main button on the top is used to start and shut down the controller which is powered by 4 AA batteries. Different team number can be selected by tuning the knob in the middle, which is a potentiometer inside. There is a button on the middle left used to choose either blue or red as team color. The “Dance” screen shows the paring status. The green button in the right bottom corner can control special function of hovercraft, while the red one is used to break. The yellow button in the left bottom corner is for pairing and unpairing. When controller is paired with a hovercraft, the 4 red LEDs under “Dance” are turned on. There is a TIVA in the controller powered by 5-V power bank. This TIVA collects the information from all the buttons, knob, DDR mat, and medal, and communicates with the TIVA on hovercraft via XBee. |
LED lights up indicating pair status