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Semi OT: DIY Bluetooth foot controller
My DIY Bluetooth foot controller is complete and I am quite happy with the results. I figure some of you may appreciate this sorta thing:
At @SecretBaseDesign's suggestion, I bought an Ion iCade Core from eBay for cheap and pulled out the buttons, circuit board, and battery pack. My first prototype used the buttons from the iCade:
As you can see from the sticky notes, this allowed me to correlate the buttons with the Side Car app that I use to "catch" the Bluetooth messages and transmit MIDI CCs to Loopy, ToneStack, and MiMix:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sidecar-midi-controller/id1073305840?mt=8
I wasn't completely happy with the iCade buttons because I mistakenly activated some while stepping on others with my size 13 feet, so I bought some guitar pedal switches from a supplier in Singapore (slow delivery but dirt cheap) and mounted them in the new enclosure. The wiring/clips from the iCade attach easily to the new switches; no soldering required!
Now, I have eight different options at my feet connected wirelessly with my iPad; spent maybe $40 total? 
Comments
Wow that's beautiful! Nice work @lukesleepwalker !
(I love your forum name btw)
Awesome, what did you use to make the enclosure?
I want to see its insides
Thanks! The bottom is made out of wood, the top is actually a thin sheet of steel. This thing is made to last!
You could easily achieve similar results with an aluminum enclosure if you don't have the wood-working or sheet metal skills necessary. If you have a drill, you could use something like one of these: http://www.hammondmfg.com/dwg16.htm
Not a great photo, but this should give you a general idea:
Oh man. This is all kinds of awesome! It's along the lines of what I've been meaning to build. I pulled my iCade apart to see what was inside -- it really is very hackable -- but I just have not had the time to build something like this!
Very nice, looks so clean and easy. Thanks for posting the photos.
How difficult was the re-wiring? What kind of switches do you buy? Is it battery powered and charged by micro-USB?
There really wasn't any rewiring--all I did was pull the clips off the original buttons and hook up the new switches. So, so easy...
Switches from eBay seller heroneo2012. Eight switches cost me $15.92.
Battery powered but there is a jack for an adapter, not USB though.
@lukesleepwalker Very intriguing... this looks just great.
"pull the clips off... and hook up the new switches" So, are the connectors all plug and play? No soldering? That would be a big factor for me
Edit: I just read the OP again. "No soldering"!!
OK, I may have to figure out how to make this happen, such a great idea. THANKS
also, what is the exact foot-switch I would be looking for? A 2-pin momentary switch? eBay can be so confusing ;-b
Yep, no soldering. You may have to "persuade" the connectors a bit if they are too tight or too loose, but that's easy if you have a pair of pliers.
Here's the exact switch I ordered on eBay.
yes, thanks. (apparently my eBay skills are entirely lacking)
I made one of my own, I can confirm it's pretty easy and doesn't require any soldering. A couple things to note however, you need a Torx bit for a couple of the screws on the icade enclosure, I managed to get them out using a standard flathead screwdriver, the smallest size possible from a glasses repair kit, but it wasn't easy. I had to use pliers to get the connectors off but found just wiggling them as I pulled took them off rather easily. Then I used the same small flathead screwdriver to pry open the metal wrap around part so the icade connectors would slide onto the foot switch connectors. Otherwise it was too tight to get them on. I had to use a jigsaw to cut out the battery holder on the icade enclosure, which isn't really safe as jigsaws aren't meant to be used that way, but by making a lot of different cuts I was able to get it out. I used drywall for the top and bottom because it's easy to cut and work with and durable enough for foot stomping. Also the stuff I got was already white. I think I used a half inch drill bit to make the holes for the foot switch buttons to go through, and I also kept the red joystick on mine to use for scrolling through loops.
Another thing to note is that currently Sidecar doesn't map the icade correctly so you can't really use all 10 pages of controls as intended, although you can use a single page of 10 controls no problem. The developer is aware of it and hopefully will fix it in the next update. I mainly use it for controlling Group the Loop, which doesn't require Sidecar.
All good observations here! I ran into all of these too.
I should mention that I can use it directly with Loopy (as it works with Group the Loop), but I use Sidecar so that I can distribute MIDI CCs to various other apps (MiMix, Tonestack, etc).
@lukesleepwalker - thanks for all this info! Couple questions:
Yep. I'm still trying to figure out how to make the battery easy access but given the battery lifespan is estimated at 70 hours, it hasn't been an issue yet.
I opted for soft touch switches. They don't click loudly but there is a small bit of mechanical noise as the spring goes down, etc.
Nice job!
I know you used momentary switches, but I wonder if would you be able to incorporate LEDs for the switches?
Nice work
Dang, still haven't found time to make one of these. This looks like a less than $50 project depending on how much you pay for your iCade controller. wow
How has it held up over the months @lukesleepwalker ?
@jc575 I suppose it'd be possible to use LEDs with the switches; it would require more complex wiring obviously. I tend to monitor the state of the switches on the iPad, however.
@Hmtx this thing is a tank. No issues whatsoever and I use it several times a week...
Awesome!
thank you Luke for posting, great work.
Should you not change your name to LukeSwitchWalker
How are you debouncing the switches? Using an RC LPF on each, or in software?
In software.
LOL @AndyPlankton !
Well it was a success!
What a beauty!
@jc575 where did you get that housing???
Missed this the first time. Beautiful work! @lukesleepwalker what is the faceplate on yours? painted wood? Chipboard?