DIY Dance Dance Revolution Using Makey Makey

Hey there! This is my DIY Dance Dance Revolution board. This is one of my favorite projects I've worked on and it's truly one of a kind. This project was made to help teach kids how circuits work, I used this project for STEM nights and to encourage kids to get out of their comfort zone and try new things along with so much more.This game has been used in my class for two years now and has been used for several different things. I hope you enjoy learning about it!

Here are the materials I used:

A sheet of (roughly) 50"x50" plywood

Copper tape

8 - 1"x1" beams (various lengths)

Wire

Markers

Spray paint

acrylic paint

LED lights (optional)

Aluminum foil

Tools:

Laser cutter

Table saw

Chop saw

Belt Sander

Drill press

Wire stripper

Super glue

1 1/2" nails Nail gun

Using the chop saw take 4-1x1" and cut these to 7 3/4" long (these will be the support in the middle)

Take 4 more 1x1" and cut these 10 1/2" long, these will hold the board up on the sides (drill a 1/2" hole in one of these for the wires to go out of). Next, use the table saw and cut the sheet of plywood roughly 50x50". Then, use a drill press and drill 4 holes where the foot pads will be. This will be the top of the DDR board! Assembly:

Use 1 1/2" nails and feed them into the nail gun. Line the plywood with 10 1/2" beams, 1/2" from the edge. Put the nails roughly 4 inches apart. Do this to all 4 sides. Next use the 7 3/4" 1x1" in an X shape in the middle of the board for support (these can be made longer if needed). Use the nail gun to hold in place and use a nail every 2 1/2". Do this to all 4 support beams.

Use 1 1/2" nails and feed them into the nail gun. Line the plywood with 10 1/2" beams, 1/2" from the edge. Put the nails roughly 4 inches apart. Do this to all 4 sides.

Next use the 7 3/4" 1x1" in an X shape in the middle of the board for support (these can be made longer if needed). Use the nail gun to hold in place and use a nail every 2 1/2". Do this to all 4 support beams.

In this step you can get creative. I repainted my board several different times throughout using it and I ended up landing on this one and liking it the best.

This step you can pretty much do whatever you want and make it your own but here's how I did mine: First, spray paint the entire board light grey. Wait for this to dry. Then, take painters tape and make 4 equal sized squares and one square in the middle and 4 rectangles (The rectangles will be where you step). Choose your color for the rectangles (I used cotton candy pink and baby blue). Fill the rectangles and let dry. For the middle square I used glitter and filled it. You can do what you please with this. Take black acrylic paint and outline the squares to give it a nice finish.

Now wait for everything to dry.

Laser cut out the foot pads that the person playing will step on. The file I used is attached.

I used two pads on top of each other to help the player feel the pad. After the foot pads are cut, use the drill press and drill holes where the wire will pop through. Once this is done, cut a wire 6 feet long (this way it can reach the Makey Makey). Strip a small section of the wire and use copper tape to hold this in place on the foot pad. Precede to cover the entire foot pad in copper tape. Repeat for all 4 pads. After this is done, thread the rest of the wires through the holes in the top of the DDR board (also thread them through the hold you made in the 1x1" beam). Super glue the pads in place.

This is optional but I took LED rope and lined the bottom of the board to give it a little spice and more attraction. Lastly, strip a small part on the other end of the wires that are attached to the foot pads and attach alligator clips to it (wrap with copper tape). Attach the other part of the alligator clip to the Makey Makey in the direction of the arrows (it helps to color coordinate these with colored markers). Take an 8' wire and strip the ends of it. Make an aluminum bracelet and attach the stripped part of the wire to it. Use another alligator clip and attach this to the other end of the 8' wire, this will be the earth on the Makey Makey board. Finally pull up a DDR game off scratch! Here's the one I made specifically for the DDR board: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/282259936/