Abstract

Objective

Introduction

Have you ever been to your local game arcade and seen the variety of games? There are lots of different kinds of games to play. There's skee ball, video games, and dancing games, like Dance Dance Revolution®. The Dance Dance Revolution arcade game is made up of a platform and a computer monitor or screen. The platform is separated into two sub-panels and each sub-panel has four arrows, one each pointing north, south, east, and west. When you play the game, arrows scroll down the screen and you hop on corresponding arrows on the platform. As you hop and move from arrow to arrow on the platform, you end up dancing! It's that simple! There is a version of Dance Dance Revolution that you can purchase to play at home, too.

But how does this game work? How does the platform know that you have stepped on the correct arrow and how does it light up? The answer is that there is an electric circuit under each arrow on the platform that senses when you step on it and sends a signal to the computer and lights up. What is an electric circuit? An electric circuit is simply a closed loop through which electricity can continuously move. The simplest circuit is made by connecting one end of a battery to the other end with a wire; however, this can melt the wire and cause sparks, so that's definitely not the kind of circuit you should build! The simplest and safest circuit can be made by connecting one end of a battery to a material that has a resistance, like a resistor or a small lightbulb, and the end of that material to the other end of the battery. The purpose of adding a resistance to the circuit is to limit the amount of electricity that flows through the circuit. This type of circuit is shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1. A simple battery and resistor circuit.

The simple circuit can be made more complicated by adding a switch in between one end of the battery and the resistance. When the switch is opened, the loop is opened and electricity can't flow through the circuit. When the switch is closed, electricity can flow through the loop. If instead of a resistor, a lightbulb is used as the resistance, the lightbulb will remain dark when the switch is open. If the switch is closed, electricity flows through the circuit and the lightbulb shines.

Check out this PBS Kids Go! episode "Bodies Electric" and see how the Design Squad students brainstorm to build a more-complicated dance pad. To see the rest of their design process, visit pbskidsgo.org.

In this electronics and electricity science fair project, you will use a simple circuit and other materials to make a dance pad. You will sandwich the simple circuit between two pieces of square material. The two pieces of square material will act as the switch and conduct electricity. When you step on the square, the circuit will close and electricity will flow to light a lightbulb or turn on a buzzer. When you step off the square, it will separate and the lightbulb or buzzer will turn off. You will have to add an insulator between the square pieces so that they are not always touching (and so that the lightbulb or buzzer is not always on). Including the insulator also acts as a way to add "spring" to the dance pad.

As in all engineering projects, you will have to ask yourself several questions before you finish your dance pad. To see the engineering design process in action, view the PBS Kids Go! episode "Bodies Electric," on the right, and see how the Design Squad students work to build a more-complicated dance pad. For your dance pad, you first need to determine what you want your dance pad to do. Do you want both lights and buzzers, just lights or just buzzers? How long do you want the dance pad to last? The answers to these questions are called the design criteria. You will then have to make a preliminary design and a materials list (both listed below). You will then build and test a prototype. What is the best material to use for the pad? What kind of material can take a lot of stomping without getting damaged? What is the appropriate amount of insulation to place between the two squares of material? As you test the prototype, you will get information that you can use to refine your design. Now get to work so that you and your friends can dance the night away!

Terms, Concepts, and Questions to Start Background Research

• Electric circuit
• Resistance
• Resistor
• Conductor
• Insulator
• Prototype

Questions

• What is an electrical circuit?
• What kinds of appliances have switches in your home?
• What is the difference between a conductor and an insulator?

Bibliography

• NASA SciFiles. (n.d.). Circuits. Retrieved June 29, 2009, from http://scifiles.larc.nasa.gov/text/kids/Problem_Board/problems/electricity/circuits2.html

• WGBH Educational Foundation. (2008). Design Squad Projects: Dance Pad Mania. Retrieved June 29, 2009, from http://www.kids.pbs.org/designsquad/projects/dance_pad_mania.html

Materials and Equipment

• Miniature lamp holders (3); available online at www.radioshack.com, part number 272-0357
• Screw-base lamp, 2.47 volts (V), 300 milliamperes (mA) #14 (2 packages); available online at www.radioshack.com, part number 272-1132
• Philips head screwdriver; available at your local hardware store
• Hookup wire, 22-gauge, solid (1 roll); available online at www.radioshack.com, part number 278-1215
• Wire strippers; available online at www.radioshack.com, part number 64-2980
• Electrical tape (1 roll); available online at www.radioshack.com, part number 64-2373
• Batteries, fresh AA's, 1.5-V (1 package)
• Battery holder, AA; available online at www.radioshack.com, part number 270-408
• Corrugated cardboard (1 large piece)
• Ruler
• Scissors
• Copper foil, 25 inches (in.) x 25 in. (2 sheets); available online at www.onlinemetals.com; purchase the 0.00135" (1-ounce [oz.]) copper sheet 110
• Scotch® tape (1 roll)
• Electrical tape (1 roll); available online at www.radioshack.com, part number 64-2373
• Different kinds of insulators, like bubble wrap or polyethylene foam wrap (enough to lay and wrap over the edges of a 12-in. x 12-in. piece of cardboard.)
• Duct tape
• Styrofoam^TM insulation sheeting, ½-in. x 48 in. x 96 in. (1); available at hardware stores
• Utility knife; available at your local hardware store
• Acrylic plastic 12 in. x 12 in. x 1/8 in. (2). You can buy plastic at your local hardware store and have them cut it for you (if necessary), or you can purchase plastic at an online store that specializes in plastic, like www.tapplastics.com and have them cut it for you.
• Volunteers (5)
• Optional: digital camera
• Lab notebook

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Experimental Procedure

As mentioned in the introduction, to start this science fair project, you will need to develop design criteria. You should record your design criteria in your lab notebook. Refer back to the design criteria as you work on your dance pad. This is a DIY (do-it-yourself) project, so be flexible with changes and adjustments along the way. You might want to view the Science Buddies Engineering Design Project Guide before you begin. If you have questions about electronic terms or tools as you perform the experiment, find a local mentor who is knowledgeable about these topics or try checking out our Electronics Primer.

Building the Electrical Circuit

1. Open the lamp holder package and screw in one of the lamps into the holder.
2. Using the screwdriver, unscrew the base screws on the lamp holder.
3. Cut two 1 ½-foot (ft.) lengths of wire with the wire strippers. Strip the plastic coating off of both ends of each wire using the wire strippers. Strip off ½ in. of plastic. Set the wires aside.
4. Insert two batteries into the battery holder.
5. Wrap one of the wires from the battery holder around one of the base screws on the lamp holder. Tighten the screw with the screwdriver.
6. Take the other wire from the battery holder and wind it around the bare end of one of the wires that you cut in step 3. Make sure that the bare wires are touching and wrap a piece of electrical tape around it.
7. Take the second wire and attach it to the second base screw of the lamp holder using the screwdriver.
8. Repeat steps 1–7 two more times so that you have three circuits.
9. The simple circuits are ready for insertion into a dance pad.

Building the Dance Pad

1. Cut the cardboard into two 12-in. x 12-in. squares with the scissors.
2. Now cut two 1-in. x 1-in. pieces of copper foil and place one of the copper foil pieces in the middle of one cardboard piece and the other piece of copper foil in the middle of the other cardboard piece. The foil should be placed such that they match when you sandwich the cardboard squares together. Tape both pieces of foil down with a few small pieces of Scotch tape.
3. Work with your choice of insulator and place it around the edges of one of the cardboard squares. You will have to experiment to determine the correct thickness and width of insulator.
4. Using electrical tape, tape down one of the free wires from the circuit to the copper foil on one of cardboard pieces so that the bare wires makes a good connection to the foil. Tape the other free wire from the circuit to the copper foil on the other cardboard pieces.
5. Now make a sandwich with the cardboard pieces. Make sure that the foils align and match together. When the foil pieces touch, the circuit loop should close and electricity should flow. Press down on the middle of the cardboard. Does the lightbulb light up? If it doesn't, troubleshoot the circuit to make sure that there is no impediment to electricity flow.
1. Make sure that the wires are connected to the copper foil pieces and that the electrical tape is not getting in the way.
2. You may also need to increase the size and redo the placement of the copper foil so that there is enough contact area.
6. Does the lightbulb turn on without stepping on the pad? Make sure your insulation is thick enough.
7. Once the dance pad is working well, duct tape the sandwich together.
8. Repeat steps 1–7 using the Styrofoam. Use the utility knife and cut the foam into 12-in. x 12-in. pieces.
9. Repeat steps 1–7 using the two acrylic plastic pieces.
10. Keep track of the cost of making each dance pad.

Figure 2. This figure shows a prototype of a dance pad with a simple lightbulb circuit.

Testing the Dance Pads

1. Now it's time to start testing the different dance pads. Invite your volunteers to help test. Each volunteer, including you, should step on each dance pad 25 times. How does each dance pad hold up under testing? Does the lightbulb light up each time someone steps on the dance pad? Does the material of the dance pad degrade? Which dance pads do the volunteers like the most? Ask your volunteers which material they would use for a dance pad. Record all of your observations in your lab notebook. As an option, you could take photographs of the dance pads at the beginning of testing, during testing, and at the end of testing, to include in your lab notebook or on your project display board.
2. Below are some questions and considerations to take into account as you review your observations:
1. Is there a dance pad that your volunteers clearly liked above the others?
2. Is this choice the least-expensive choice?
3. Are there any improvements that you can make to the dance pads to improve their quality and keep the cost of making them low? For example, can you find thicker cardboards or thinner plastics? Perhaps using aluminum foil is just as good and less expensive than copper foil.
4. Consider improving the reliability of the dance pad by increasing the size of the copper foil so that the area of contact of the switch is larger.
5. You could change the size and thickness of the insulation.
6. Can you easily make attractive decorations on the surface of each material?

Work on improving your dance pads. Make only one change at a time. Each time that you make a change, record the effects of the change in your lab notebook.
3. Once you feel that you have made a large improvement, repeat steps 1–2 of this section.
4. After testing and evaluating your observations, you will arrive at a good design for the dance pad.
5. Presentation suggestions: Use any photographs you took and the observations that you made to present your data. Place your observations in a data table to make the presentation organized and neat, and consider using a display board. Use your final dance pad design in your presentation.

Variations

• Devise a way to measure the minimum weight that is needed to close the switch. What are the key factors that influence this value of minimum weight?
• Figure out a way to make your dance pad make sounds in addition to flash lights when you step on it.
• The Dance Dance Revolution home video game uses a fabric dance pad. Can you find an appropriate fabric to make a dance pad? Are there any other kinds of materials to use for dance pads?
• Once you have arrived at a design for the dance pad, put together a grid of dance pads, like the platform in the Dance Dance Revolution arcade/video game. Is there a way to hide all of the wiring so that the dancers just see the dance pad grid?

• For more science project ideas in this area of science, see Electricity & Electronics Project Ideas.

Credits

Michelle Maranowski, PhD, Science Buddies

This project is based on the dance pad mania project at Design Squad PBS: WGBH Educational Foundation. (2008). Design Squad Projects: Dance Pad Mania! Retrieved June 26, 2009, from http://pbskids.org/designsquad/projects/dance_pad_mania.html.

• Dance Dance Revolution® is a registered trademark of Konami Digital Entertainment Col, Ltd.
• Scotch® is a registered trademark of 3M.
• Styrofoam^TM is a registered trademark of The Dow Chemical Company.

Last edit date: 2011-05-10 12:00:00