We’re almost ready to start building part of the DDR mats! The only non-circuit board materials we still need to get are sheet metal, plastic panels for arrows, and some screws. Recently I decided to test the sensor idea to make sure it would work. Based on previous DDR mat designs and instructions on DDR forums (like here), we’re first going to try to make sensors using steel mending plates and screws.
On the bottom of the DDR mat, we’ll have high density 1/2” foam weatherstripping with flat head screws placed in the middle. The screws are slightly below the top of the weatherstripping. The steel mending plate will rest on top of the weatherstripping, and when someone presses down, the plate will compress the foam weatherstripping and make contact with the screws.
Sensor diagram. Sheet metal plate rests on top of foam weatherstripping
A wire will be soldered to each screw, and another wire will be soldered to the steel mending plate. Most circuit boards for game controllers work by registering a button press when a circuit is completed, and it seems that the resistance in the circuit needs to be somewhere below 50-100 Ohms to register a button press. Having multiple screws and wiring them in parallel should help with this problem, since the most resistance in the circuit will probably come from the contact between the mending plate and screw head. Even if the metal contacts get dirty (which they probably will over time), having multiple screws in parallel should help keep the resistance low enough to register an arrow press. Additionally, the screws and sheet metal mending
plates should be pretty easy to replace. Each screw will have its own wire to make replacing it, if needed, even easier.
An arrow panel will have four of these mending plate sensors; one centered on each edge. The most important edge is the edge closest to the center of the DDR mat, since that edge will be stepped on most often. For those edges, we'll use 6" mending plates instead of the 4" mending plates for the rest of the sides. It most likely won't make a difference in sensitivity, but we're putting them there just in case it does. Hopefully we will be able to build and test a few arrows in the next week!
Starting college can be a big transition. You’re moving to a new place, starting a new school and classes, and faced with making new friends in an unfamiliar environment. And, of course, there’s that whole “becoming an adult” thing. But, you’re also leaving a lot behind. Every new beginning means that an old chapter must come to an end. Leaving behind our friends at home may seem difficult, especially if they’re going to be a long distance away from you during the school year. Something I made sure to do was to spend a lot of time with them during the summer after high school. Of course, going to college doesn’t mean you’ll never see your friends again, or that you will no longer be friends with them. Good friendships will last if you put effort into them. It may seem hard initially. Coming into Caltech, it’s a sharp adjustment and many are caught up in the excitement of Orientation, Rotation, and starting classes. It may be hard to remember to check your phone frequently and to make time for phone calls and such. Rest assured that if you have other friends going to college, they’re probably going to go through similar things you will. In this transition period, it can feel like you’re going to immediately lose touch with people that mean a lot to you.
Let’s face it: the US loves being just a little different from everyone else. The obvious example? Units of measurement. As an international student from Canada, even I have no clue what’s going on half the time when my friends talk to me and use these weird nonsensical units. And I’ve literally lived on the border between Canada and the States for all my life. After a year here, I’ve finally got a sense of how the two systems of measurement compare and how you can more easily get your bearings with these weird units.
After a year spent in “soft-lockdown” at home in Atlanta, and as Caltech students prepared to finally return to campus, I was aboard an eight hour flight towards Edinburgh, Scotland. Since my junior year plans were interrupted by the virus who shall not be named, I’m spending my first term of senior year studying abroad through the Caltech - Edinburgh University International Exchange program. I’ve only been here just over a week yet have been exposed to so many new people, perspectives, foods, and classes.
When the announcement was first made that fall term was going to be online, I started talking to friends and looking for places to live. We were debating locations around the country: California, Florida, New York, etc.. there were plenty of options. Then it suddenly hit me, what is stopping us from going to Hawaii, covid numbers were better and a two week quarentine would ensure that numbers stayed down… I proposed this to my friend and we agreed it would be an amazing experience, but we didn’t want to get out hopes up. A month or so later we still haven’t decided where to live, Hawaii seemed too far and too difficult to plan. But we couldn’t get the idea out of our heads. We spent some time looking into plane tickets, places to stay, etc… and it actually didn’t seem so impossible after all. A couple weeks later and we were arriving here on the big island!
