Arduino Programable 5 Pedal Switcher

by CarraN

56K100124

Intro: Arduino Programable 5 Pedal Switcher

Searching for a simple programable pedal switcher over the net I was
amazed about the overpriced gear around there... so I came out with DIY solution and found several great projects but found 'em too complicated (PCB etching...) or maybe too overpriced for my needs. All I needed at that time was the simplest possible programable true bypass relay switcher for 4 pedals but found a way to switch up to 5 pedals with the "nano" version of arduino UNO. With 2 Arduino nanos (thru serial communication) you can surely extend this as up to 8 switchers! (to see: second part of this instructable...). Posibility to add MIDI program change out on pin 1.

Addendum: connect a led in parallel of one of these little on the relay board (caution: check the polarity!). This manner you'll know which relay is on or off when programing. Tip: I 've used the hole of the screw near the inboard led to drill thru the chassis and put it the parallel one on. (see pictures on my second instructable )

After noob searching for the "code-part" of this project over internet and spent hours and hours of led debuging (hey, I'm NOT a coder, just a r'n'r guitar player!) I got out with an amazing library named "keypad.h". Initially intended to manage secret code doors within a keypad, we'll see how simple is to "fool" the code with a 3 way selector, so with only 5 momentary switches we'll can access up to 15 functions and store 5 presets on internal EEPROM! The hardware parts are current sees over Ebay / Google so please don't ask me "how and where can I buy this thing or this other..." ! Google is your friend and Ebay too!

Caution: some noise issues where experienced by some builders (me included). I suspect those cheap and chinese relays aren't made for audio signals. The ideal relays should be some called DPDT but for instance few advices can be followed: use shielded cables all along the signal path, ensure all the circuit in a metallic box use caps (usually 10u) for decoupling and/or add some high resistances to all in and outs jacks. Adding a booster pedal in front of the input may strongly reduce these noise...

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USE:

-position "A" (select switches) from the selector (cases 'a' 'b' 'c' 'd' 'e' on the sketch) -> select wich pedal to loop ON (1,2... 5). When finished, turn the selector to ->

-position "B" (preset memory mode -cases 'f' 'g' 'h' 'i' 'j') -> select the number of the preset (1 to 5) where you want to preserve the loops (the led of the preset you choose will lit 2 times. Caution: don't press the switch more than once because you'll reset the preset (all ' 0,0,0,0,0')!

-Rotate the selector back to position 'A', select another pedal combination and store it on next free preset on position "B". You can repeat this procedure 5 times. Once you have your 5 combination stored, rotate to->

-position "C" (cases 'k' 'l' 'm' 'n' 'o')-> read the preset (1 to 5) you memorized previously

-enjoy the art of rocking pedals with one footpress !!!

see more hardware pictures made by some followers and me


STEP 1: Arduino Programable 5 Pedal Switcher

So here are the parts:

-1 x arduino Nano with Atmega328 built-in (~4 to 5$)

-1 x 9v to 18v / 3 amp power supply (~10 $)

-1 x LM7805 or alike

-3 x ways rotary selector (~4$)

-5 x SPST Momentary Footswitches (~15$)

-5 x chinese double relay modules (~ 15$) or better, DPDT version (much less noisy)

-12 x chassis 6.3 female jack (~20$)

-10 x leds (half of a different color)

-5 x 220 to 560 ohms resistor (peanuts...)

-some spare cable (...)

~70$ if you don't have any of these as spare

(not included: metal chassis or woodbox or whatever...)

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and here are the tools:

-plyers

-soldering station

-eventually some tools for wood/metal/plastic working

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Here's the code part: (many thanks to Anton Efremoff for his feedback and suggestions) Tip: don't forget to add "//" on these two lines if you want to save your preset after booting it up!

//for (int =0;i<512;i++)
//EEPROM.write(i,0); It's here just for initialize EEPROM memory in case of debugging

You''l have first to download and install the keypad.h library here:

A big THANK YOU to Armando Colangelo aka 4Knobs Effects for this code . Note his project is based on a different approach that ommit the 3 positions switch and therefore adds 1 more selecting switch (6 instead of 5).

A video is available on youtube showing his awesome work.

Another vid from follower Massam here showing working simulation

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check out the outstanding band I play with:

ZeK

80 Comments

Hein66 6 years ago

hi CarraN, i am not sure to find the right instruction in this here.

I want to create a 4 way looper for 1 instrument,

it means , at one side 1 input jacket, at the other side 1 output jacket.

in the middle my arduino mega board with different switches, different LED, in the best way to serv the switches with my foot.

is your work suitable for me ?

kindly regards

Hein66

markmagic 2 years ago

thank u guys for sharing your code

CarraN 10 months ago

It's already shared.

buennasantos 3 years ago

boa noite,
queria saber a diferença entre os arquivos .ino?
five_pedal_looper.ino
iLoopino.ino

CarraN 3 years ago

Hi!
the iloopino has one more preset. But I don't provide support for it. Cheers.

julio.md.silva 4 years ago

Greetings from Portugal! I didn't build it yet but i'm planning to do so, seems like an awesome project. Any thoughts about adding a MIDI In to have the pedals in a drawer or something and change the presets using a MIDI controller? Thank you very much!

julio.md.silva 4 years ago

Hi Carranen,

Thank you very much for your help! I will take a look at the Instructables that you've mentioned. But first i will try to get the looper working the way you did and then i'll try to upgrade it with the MIDI In!

Cheers

xenophontis 7 years ago

This is my build of the 5 pedal switcher.

I couldn't find the right size of enclosure. This one was hard to fit everything in. but i got it all to fit anyhow.

I've added an extra footswitch / LED to add an extra feature, like a boost or bypass all. I just havn't hooked it up yet. But the switcher is done for now.

izackkk 4 years ago

Did you use the code of five_pedal_looper.ino that comes at the end of the post ..?

it marks me a series of conflicts...

CarraN 7 years ago

cool! yes it seem pretty little !
Do you observe some noise issues with your pedals on (mostly with overdrives)?
Did you use the Armando's code or mine?
cheers

xenophontis 7 years ago

I used your code for this project. This looper only has a little noise from the relays as you mentioned, but this goes away with a buffer before. I didn't use any decoupling capacitors either. one of my distortion pedals creates a very small going noise, but it's too quiet to warrant using decoupling caps. Thanks for posting this project, it so much fun and very hand to have. On my pedal board.

TommasoM12 5 years ago

I'm interested to build a similar switch but I need to change preset with MIDI IN and reaper. How can I do?

tarubs 6 years ago

i have problem with relay mode there is delay on switching. i need to double click the switch to engage the relay any solutions?

CarraN 6 years ago

Hi

are you sure you
have choose the right buttons? momentary ones or "Toggle button" instead
of on/off buttons... that means when you apply pressure, switch is "on"
and when depressed switch is always "off".

cheers

tarubs 6 years ago

yes sir. another question do you experience loud popping on amps because of relays?

CarraN 6 years ago

neither popping, nor delay, just some noise without booster and some distortion pedals...

JimT130 6 years ago

I am starting this project soon. However, I have a question. Why do I need the VOltage regulator LM7805?

In this project it states buying one separately. I am looking at using an Arduino Mega and that seems to have one built in. Will I still need a separate one?

Also will the power supply power everything including the Relays or does the relay need a separate power supply. I am thinking of getting the dpdt relays as some people seem to have experienced noise issues with the cheap ones.

Regards

Jim
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