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Step 3Shoe Surgery
So, with these padded skate shoes, you're going to have to perform a little dissection to mount the jacks in the heels.
In the shoes that I used, the heel padding was contained by a mesh-like material stitched to the sole of the shoe. So first, see if you can pry the top layer of the sole out temporarily, so you can get at the stitching which attaches this mesh stuff to the shoe. Once you have access to it, just start cutting. Don't completely remove the stuff if you plan on replacing the padding at the end. Just cut where the mesh has been stitched to the sole. An exacto knife should work just fine.
Once you've liberated the padding, take a look at the outer heel material. You need to drill two holes in the heel, but whatever you do, don't use a drill press. Since the material is probably still quite flexible, if anything were to get caught, there would be a whole mess of twisting, flailing sneaker. Just use a hand drill and a bit of elbow grease. The bit you use should be a little larger than the diameter of the jack.
With your holes drilled, install the jacks and screw the nuts and washers on tight. You'll almost certainly have to use some glue to secure them. Epoxy or super glue should do the trick just fine. Apply some glue around the exterior of the jack's barrel and the inside of the hole and stick 'em together.
Now, tape the FSRs to the inside of the shoes. Be careful with the FSRs, the leads on them will hold up just fine as long as you don't twist them too much - they don't handle torsion well. If you plan on gluing them down permanently, hold off for now. Sensor placement is very important and it depends on the size and shape of your feet, as well as your unique foot-tapping style.
With the electronics installed, put the padding back behind the mesh, and find some way of reattaching the mesh to the inside of the shoe. I glued some velcro to the mesh and to the shoe, so that I can open it up and perform maintenance if the need arises.
Now, just plug your shoes into the interface. You're ready to do some Arduino programming!
In the shoes that I used, the heel padding was contained by a mesh-like material stitched to the sole of the shoe. So first, see if you can pry the top layer of the sole out temporarily, so you can get at the stitching which attaches this mesh stuff to the shoe. Once you have access to it, just start cutting. Don't completely remove the stuff if you plan on replacing the padding at the end. Just cut where the mesh has been stitched to the sole. An exacto knife should work just fine.
Once you've liberated the padding, take a look at the outer heel material. You need to drill two holes in the heel, but whatever you do, don't use a drill press. Since the material is probably still quite flexible, if anything were to get caught, there would be a whole mess of twisting, flailing sneaker. Just use a hand drill and a bit of elbow grease. The bit you use should be a little larger than the diameter of the jack.
With your holes drilled, install the jacks and screw the nuts and washers on tight. You'll almost certainly have to use some glue to secure them. Epoxy or super glue should do the trick just fine. Apply some glue around the exterior of the jack's barrel and the inside of the hole and stick 'em together.
Now, tape the FSRs to the inside of the shoes. Be careful with the FSRs, the leads on them will hold up just fine as long as you don't twist them too much - they don't handle torsion well. If you plan on gluing them down permanently, hold off for now. Sensor placement is very important and it depends on the size and shape of your feet, as well as your unique foot-tapping style.
With the electronics installed, put the padding back behind the mesh, and find some way of reattaching the mesh to the inside of the shoe. I glued some velcro to the mesh and to the shoe, so that I can open it up and perform maintenance if the need arises.
Now, just plug your shoes into the interface. You're ready to do some Arduino programming!
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Aug 12, 2009. 5:36 PMDysphoria
says:
Why not just use drum triggers? Btw, this has helped me at my church. :) Our kick drum was loose on the elec set we use, so I made one shoe and used that.
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