L-Tek FSR Full Size Start/Select Button Mod

This L-Tek DDR dance pad mod adds full size Start and Select buttons. This involves:

1. Switch out the L-Tek DDR controller to an VGA connector
2. Create the FSR sensor for Start and Select buttons
3. Create FSR controller using Seeed XIAO M0+

This is a much better mod than https://www.instructables.com/Full-Size-StartSelect-Button-Mod-for-L-Tek-DDR-Dan. And look like a metal DDR dance pad connector.

The following is required:

1. VGA female connector - https://www.cablewholesale.com/specs/3530-04115.php?gclid=Cj0KCQjwmdGYBhDRARIsABmSEeP86iRgmP2j0wCbi9ZM_txE_Bnx3L7lG5RsZ3sR6O-nYuJxbjucAhsaAv2JEALw_wcB or https://www.ebay.com/itm/182178971721?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-117182-37290-0&mkcid=2&itemid=182178971721&targetid=1262779891809&device=c&mktype=&googleloc=9032194&poi=&campaignid=14859008593&mkgroupid=130497710760&rlsatarget=pla-1262779891809&abcId=9300678&merchantid=111982023&gclid=Cj0KCQjwmdGYBhDRARIsABmSEeOD9v-sApp1sPY12z1J4PbIQqBcrX3XoDuJC4wzyP7v2qWYKou71ogaAhBmEALw_wcB
2. VGA extension cable (10 ft)
3. VGA male connector (or VGA cable) - https://www.cablewholesale.com/specs/3530-11115.php?gclid=CjwKCAjwvNaYBhA3EiwACgndgvWN1MZSXlPvQInsfblGAXDSv0vWJn7hgUBnN8_lf1oUHd9AdBU2XhoCCfcQAvD_BwE
4. Seeed XIAO M0+ board - https://www.amazon.com/Pre-Soldered-Smallest-Microcontroller-Interfaces-Compatible/dp/B0B15B869W/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=2KTPVK98H944C&keywords=Seeed+XIAO&qid=1662360379&s=electronics&sprefix=seeed+xiao+%2Celectronics%2C276&sr=1-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUFMU1RHRjRDUEtDVkwmZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTAzODkwMzJNQzFFQU8zM1ZNTjkmZW5jcnlwdGVkQWRJZD1BMDU3Mzk5NDFVQVczVjFCMlFQREEmd2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGYmYWN0aW9uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl or https://www.seeedstudio.com/Seeeduino-XIAO-Arduino-Microcontroller-SAMD21-Cortex-M0+-p-4426.html?gclid=CjwKCAjwvNaYBhA3EiwACgndgu0kZYX06uJsNBxNTnhXttrpMlOfnQY0e_MzYFX3PhgYnSXocAEnABoCZtMQAvD_BwE
5. 3D printed box for Seed XIAO M0+ board
6. 3D printed VGA cover (replace the USB L-Tek cover)
7. 2 FSR sensors - https://ddrpad.com/products/force-sensitive-resistor-fsr-sensor-square-interlink
8. 2 10K ohms resisters
9. 4 Dupont jumper male pin connector 2.54mm, 2 two-pin housing, and a crimp tool
10. 2 1" screws - https://www.amazon.com/Prime-Line-9040239-Modified-Phillips-50-Pack/dp/B074ZMYW3W/ref=asc_df_B074ZMYW3W/?tag=&linkCode=df0&hvadid=416885811069&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=14801342111210496743&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9032168&hvtargid=pla-908305880599&ref=&adgrpid=96633974609&th=1
11. Some wire (CAT5 ethernet wire)
12. Heat gun or hair dryer
13. Some wire heat wrap
14. Some double side tape
15. Some .3 mm thickness paper
16. Craft hot glue and gun
17. Some tape
18. Solder iron
19. USB Type C cable

To remove the L-Tek controler, do the following:

1. De-solder the wire from the L-Tek controller (make sure you label them). Leave the USB Type B wire in place.
2. Using a heat gun or hair dryer to heat up the hot glue from the USB Type B and remove the USB Type B connector from the wood board.
3. Using a heat gun or hair dryer to heat up the hot glue from L-Tek controller. With a flat screwdriver, slowly push the controller away from the wood board.

To create the female VGA connector, do the following:

1. Take an ethernet cat5 cable and solder them to the female VGA connector. Length should be around 12 inches but you can trim later as needed.
2. Pin 1 - Down (pick a wire of any color)
3. Pin 2 - Up (pick a wire of any color)
4. Pin 3 - Right (pick a wire of any color)
5. Pin 6 - GND (pick a wire of any color)
6. Pin 9 - Left (pick a wire of any color)
7. Pin 12 - Start (pick a wire of any color)
8. Pin 13 - +3.3V (pick a wire of any color)
9. Pin 14 - Select (pick a wire of any color)
10. Pin 15 - +5V (pick a wire of any color) - for future LED light
11. NOTE: If you need to, put heat wrap on the solder wire side to avoid contact between wires.
12. NOTE: For easy next step, spilt the GND wire to two wires. Or you can solder another GND wire to Pin 7 or 8.
13. Take the wire from the other end and solder (join) them to the L-Tek wires (add heat wrap over the solder joint)
14. After this step, you should have solder the ground wire, Down/Up/Left/Right wires
15. For the VGA cover, 3D print one from the attached file
16. Get two 1" screw and screw in the VGA cover

To create the FSR sensor, do the follow:

1. Wire and solder two wires to Pin 13 (3.3V). Make sure the wire is long enough to reach both panel (top left and top right corners).
2. Then crimp a male dupoint pin to the other end.
3. Wire and solder two 10K ohms resisters to the ground wire (Pin 6).
4. Wire and solder one wire and Pin 12 to the other end of a 10K ohms resister.
5. Crimp a male dupont pin to the other end of the wire.
6. Now slide both male dupont pin to a two pin housing.
7. Connect the FSR sensor and position it as center as possible.
8. Put a double side tape on the bottom of the FSR senor to hold it in place.
9. On each corner of the panel, place 2 inches square paper. You will need 4 pieces per corners. Paper thickness is .3 mm or any paper to get a height around 1 mm.
10. Using double side tape, place a sheet of paper of size 1 1/4 inch square (smaller than the FSR sensor pad) on the bottom of the panel. To position this correctly, place the square paper on the FSR sensor. Put double side tape on top of it. Then just place the panel on top and press down. Remove the panel and now add scotch tape on the paper edge.
11. Place the panel back and tighten the screw.

Now repeat for the other panel using Pin 14. Please note that the upper left panel requires you to create a channel for the dupont connector. Otherwise, it will NOT be flat. You can use a wood chisel tool to create the channel for the dupoint and wire. See picture.

Then tape down all wire accordingly.

At this point, your L-Tek is converted into a VGA connector without a controller.

To create the controller, get an Seeed XIAO M0+ and upload the attached firmware using Arduino IDE. To setup for Seed XIAO M0+, follow online tutorial. The firmware is located at https://github.com/locnho/fsr.

To create the VGA male connector, do the following:

1. Get a VGA cable and cut in half, or you can buy a male VGA connector and solder wire.
2. 3D print the Seeed XIAO case and lid.
3. Before solder wire, slide the wire through the case hole
4. Solder the VGA cable as follow:
5. Pin 1 - Seeed XIAO Pin A0
6. Pin 2 - Seeed XIAO Pin A1
7. Pin 3 - Seeed XIAO Pin A2
8. Pin 6 - Seeed XIAO Pin GND
9. Pin 9 - Seeed XIAO Pin A3
10. Pin 12 - Seeed XIAO Pin A4
11. Pin 13 - Seeed XIAO Pin +3.3V
12. Pin 14 - Seeed XIAO Pin A5
13. Pin 15 - Seeed XIAO Pin +5V (for future LED light)
14. NOTE: Make sure you use an ohm meter to check the connection.
15. Now hot glue as needed.

A note about VGA cable and VGA extension cable (at least my does):

• VGA cable has ground wire at pin 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 11
• VGA extension cable has ground wire at 6, 7, 8, and 10

To test the panel, open up StepMania and enter into the "Input Test". Please note that it is quite sensitive. See video URL - TBD.