Oh. I guess I could glue the graphic to the arrow too, but I'd like to avoid that if possible, since it'd be nice to be able to change it later (especially if the playa messes it up)

Hey Ian,

Sounds like the party went great! Totally bummed I missed it, but when I got up at 4am on Sunday to start my ride, I was glad to have more than a couple hours sleep. Anyway, congrats to you, Morley, and everyone else!

The pads: I was kind of afraid that the reed switches might not work out, it seemed like kind of a tough design to make function, but luckilly there are a few other options.

Tape switch: Youch. I had assumed that this stuff was significantly less expensive than it is. You're right about the cost. I just spoke with these guys:
www.tapeswitch.com/products/contflex.php
and they quoted me ~$300 for 40 feet of it.
(1 foot per side x 4 sides per sensor x 4 sensors per pad x 2 pads = 32 feet, plus extra...)
Also, it's actuation weight is 12 ounces, which could be kinda high, depending on how it's used.
I'm having them send me a sample of it anyway because I like playing with free stuff, but it obviously not ideal.
You could nearly get knock-off arcade sensors for that price.

Microswitches: Regarding the ones I've been talking about, I'm not sure I was terribly thoughtful in their selection. I basically walked around Radio Shack and Frys for a while and limited myself to the selection presented at those stores.
The things I liked about the switches I selected:
1) They have really good overtravel. After the switch has actuated, the lever arm can move a long way before it hits something, mashes the switch body, or anything else bad happens.
2) The actuation point seems reliable. They break at the same point in the travel every time.
3) Tuning them is very easy, and can be done easilly without hardware once the sensor is open. You just bend the levers.
4) I think I can mount them with the holes in the switch bodies, which will make them easy to swap out.

The lever: Yeah, it does exagerate switch travel, but since I can tune to -just- the point of actuation really easilly, that doesn't matter much. I beleive I can get high sensitivity at low button deflection actuation out of this, but haven't tested extensively yet. Obviously, the lever also helps enable the overtravel.

The roller: You're right, not needed. It seemed like a good idea for reasons that turned out not to matter, which I won't bother going into.

Your "float" design concept is really interesting. I take it you're talking about a button switch like this:
www.radioshack.com/product.asp
(or maybe a slightly large version) mounted to a spring?

I bet that could work pretty well. The only issue I see is adjusting the sensativity (height) of the switch. I figure that with button switches, you have to work with shims to tune sensitivity, and I don't like working with shims in general, especially stuff people are going to beat on. I especially wouldn't look forward to tuning with shims on the playa as the switches bed in.

Your feedback has got me thinking. Tonight I'm going to go to Frys and get smaller, cheaper , non-roller versions of the lever switches, and play with those. I think I can use them to build a cost effective pad that trips the sensors at minimal panel deflection but allows for significant panel overtravel (so you don't need a spring). I'll report back.

Nicole says we should think about using foil like everyone else seems to, but I'd really rather treat that as a last resort.

Noise: If you listen carefully, the arcade pads click too. Why? Maybe the metal bracket that fits over the sensor? But they do click. Regardless, you won't be able to hear microswitches on the playa.

Pad Support/Lighting:
Check the picture the DDR arcade machine sensor internals:
www.ddrfreak.com/images/co...pen-lg.jpg
On the real thing, they're only supported at the corners. The white plasticy things in the center of the sides are just there to push on the tape switch thing, they float free and provide no structural support. I have read that the arcade machine uses 1/4 material for the arrows, so my advice would be to use 1/4 inch polycarbonate supported at the corners the same way it is in the arcade machine.

Nicole advises that acrylic will just shatter and shouldn't be used for anything.

Unless you really want custom graphics for your pads, I'd really recomend thinking about buying replacement arrows from ChannelBeat. They apparently work well.

Personally? I want to simply paint the insides of my arrow cavities / put neat things in there to form an arrow. Then just leave the top of it clear. How about an arrow inside the cavity made of LEDs or something? Having the top clear and the arrow design inside can help with troubleshooting, polycarbonate replacement, and looks interesting.

I'm dragging the hard pad I'm testing stuff on and a second crappy one to my place in the Inner Sunset tonight. I've got permission to use it as a test bed for whatever. Wanna come by and try things on it?