Musical Keyboard foot pedal to Gas Pedal conversion?

[DeLuSioNal29]

Hello everyone!

I was toying with the idea of inserting a 5" mini steering wheel on my control panel using the spinner knob design.
You can view the product here (scroll down on the website)
http://groovygamegear.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=268

Then I got this cool idea of how to make a gas pedal for my arcade to go with it.
I wanted the following features:

A)  Relatively cheap
B)  Easy to modify to make it a "button"
C)  Easy to take out and tuck back away when not in use

The musical keyboard pedal I wanted to modify would be here:
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/FC5/

It's only $12.99 with free shipping.  My thought would be to modify the innards of the pedal to simply have an "open/closed circuit" setup.  Then I can have it connect to the player 1 button on the I-pac.  i.e. - if you press on the pedal it would close the circuit and "turn on" the player 1 button;  when you let go, it would stop.  I'm not looking for analog control, just a simple way of depressing the button with your foot instead of your hand.

Nice and simple.  Any thoughts?

~ DeLuSioNaL

[brandon]

I think that pedal is probably already "digital"  It does look like it has any travel to it to be analog.  Probably be a simple matter of just wiring it right up.

[bfauska]

That pedal is a switch, but I think it is wired normally closed, it seems like some keyboards work with normally open and some work with normally closed.  There are pedals that are normally open and they would work really simple with your idea.  Either add a 1/4 tip-sleeve jack to the cabinet, or hook one of the wires for the pedal to the ground and one to the control line, just like a button switch.

Here is a switchable one that allows it to be either NO or NC.

[mjpatel]

Hey.  I did just that 3 years ago when I added wheels to my cabinet.  I never got around to setting up a proper website, but you can see some pictures here:

http://www.patelnet.com/arcade/

The foot pedal is just wired to the Player 1 button 1....and the same goes for the second pedal (P2 B1).  It works fine.  It feels better than pressing a button to accelerate.

-MJP

[Kevin Mullins]

My thought would be to modify the innards of the pedal to simply have an "open/closed circuit" setup. 

Almost positive that this pedal does exactly that already. (on/off)

So the only thing to change for your application would be to install a phono jack in the cab so that you could plug/unplug it. (since you mentioned moving it out of the way)
Or you could just hack the phono plug off and hardwire it as well.

[brandon]

I would assume that this pedal has a NO switch inside.. Its a sustain switch for a keyboard.. If open was sustain then the keyboard would be sustaining without the switch even plugged in.. That doesnt make any sense to me but.. I saw a set of analog pedals.. brake and gas at the local salvation Army for $5 and I didnt buy them!  had an 1/8" stereo plug on the end...easy hack...   I'm an idiot! 

[bfauska]

Every page with information about NO or NC related to sustain pedals I could find seemed to say that the Yamaha equipment used a NC switch.  It seems odd for sure, but that's what it said, and the fact that their is a "universal" foot switch available that you can select NO or NC sure makes it sound like some are NC.  I suppose that Yamaha could use the kind of Phono jack that opens a switch when you plug it in and essentially relocates that switch to the pedal. For a few bucks more I would buy the one in my amazon link above and know for sure that you could run it NO.

[Xiaou2]

 They make  Modulation/Volume  pedals for keyboards as well,
and they are Analog.    However, Im not sure what the pot
Ohms are.   

[brandon]

well, for guitar they are usually 250k or 500k.. keyboard I havent the slightest idea...

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Yamaha-FC7-Volume-Pedal?sku=151552

[DeLuSioNal29]

Well, looks like I jumped the gun.  I ordered it already.  For $12.95 I figured I'd chance it.  I'm sure I can make it work somehow.  We'll see once I get it.

[bfauska]

I'd be really surprised if it took any more than swapping out the switch inside the thing for a nearly identical one that is NO, even more likely (I think) is that you'll open it up and see that it has a switch with both a NO and NC terminal and you'll just have to swap the wire.  Keep us posted, it's a great idea and I'd love to see it work.

[DeLuSioNal29]

Well, the pedal arrived and it looks like it's a "NC" switch.  The contacts are together and when the pedal is depressed, the contacts come apart turning off the switch.  I don't think switching the wires will help.  However, I did place a microswitch inside and it seems to fit (And click) just fine when I closed it back up.  Perhaps I may simply attach it using a hot glue gun or double-sided tape and then wire it to the microswitch.

Thoughts?

~ DeLuSioNaL

[bfauska]

It's difficult to tell with the glare, but it looks like you could do some bending/adapting of their leaf-switch to make it work.  If you can remove the leafs at all I think you could switch which one was on top and bend them so they are separate until you push the one with the nubbin down to touch the other.  This way you won't have to mess with the wires. 

Your microswitch idea seems promising too.  Hot glue or epoxy would be easy enough and then you could just unsolder the wires from the existing switch and use some crimps or solder them onto the micro-switch.

In any event it looks like a fairly simple project and an excellent solution to the need for an inexpensive digital foot pedal.

[brandon]

Unscrew the switch leafs and flip them around until you turn that switch from NC to NO.

Just take them apart and look at them and the solution will reveal itself to you.

Could be just as simple as bending them open a bit. 

Don't over complicate this.

exactly what I was thinking.. if you could flip the switch and put the white piece on the other side so that it pushed the contact together instead of apart.  microswitch would be fine too if there was room and you could secure it...

[DaOld Man]

You know, it doesnt look like it would be a lot of work to build a pedal out of mdf or plywood.
Some angle cuts, a spring, a hinge, and a switch.
But it would be a lot simpler to just buy a cheap one.