Hi
Although I am in IT, this is a personal project that I am pursuing so, if it's inappropriate, please advise. thank you.
I have a floor effects unit that I use when playing electric guitar. It has a foot pedal that is essentially a potentiometer and can be used to control, for example, volume. It also has two foot switches that do their pre-assigned job just fine.
My problem is that the unit also has 6 small switches that, in practice, can only operated with a finger which is impractical when playing live and I'd like the ability to control them with my feet. The switches themselves are slightly recessed and I would describe them as small plastic sprung cylindrical toggle switches. The head of a match is comparable in size. When depressed by 2-3mm, they activate and spring back upwards to their resting position.
My original plan was to use individual electric foot switches within a foot of the unit connected by wire to a solenoid somehow secured to the unit above the appropriate switch. The theory then was that, when activated, the solenoid would would depress the switch. Problem solved? No! I splashed out on a couple of small solenoids but they didn't have enough power to depress the switch. Also as some of these small switches centres are within 1.5cm of each other, the size of the solenoids would be too large to squeeze size by side. If more powerful solenoids were available then it might be an option but I suspect the overall cost maybe prohibitive for me.
I am now wondering whether ther may be a "simple" mechanical solution to this problem. Is there some kind of purely mechanical pedal available whose energy could somehow be transferred over a distance of, say, 12 inches that might do the job. I can envisage a solution that might be achieved by a series of rods and cogs but that seems complicated and possibly beyond my limited skills. I appreciate that taking the unit apart, finding the appropriate connections and wiring an electrical solution is also a possible solution but also probably beyond me and I don't want to risk damaging the unit.
I have uploaded a photo that shows the 6 switches (2 banks of 3) labelled "- effect type +', 'store', 'tap' etc
I guess what I'm looking for would not be dissimilar to someone who wants to ring a doorbell using a mechanical solution to link the pedal to the doorbell itself.
Any ideas would be appreciated. Many thanks in advance.
Although I am in IT, this is a personal project that I am pursuing so, if it's inappropriate, please advise. thank you.
I have a floor effects unit that I use when playing electric guitar. It has a foot pedal that is essentially a potentiometer and can be used to control, for example, volume. It also has two foot switches that do their pre-assigned job just fine.
My problem is that the unit also has 6 small switches that, in practice, can only operated with a finger which is impractical when playing live and I'd like the ability to control them with my feet. The switches themselves are slightly recessed and I would describe them as small plastic sprung cylindrical toggle switches. The head of a match is comparable in size. When depressed by 2-3mm, they activate and spring back upwards to their resting position.
My original plan was to use individual electric foot switches within a foot of the unit connected by wire to a solenoid somehow secured to the unit above the appropriate switch. The theory then was that, when activated, the solenoid would would depress the switch. Problem solved? No! I splashed out on a couple of small solenoids but they didn't have enough power to depress the switch. Also as some of these small switches centres are within 1.5cm of each other, the size of the solenoids would be too large to squeeze size by side. If more powerful solenoids were available then it might be an option but I suspect the overall cost maybe prohibitive for me.
I am now wondering whether ther may be a "simple" mechanical solution to this problem. Is there some kind of purely mechanical pedal available whose energy could somehow be transferred over a distance of, say, 12 inches that might do the job. I can envisage a solution that might be achieved by a series of rods and cogs but that seems complicated and possibly beyond my limited skills. I appreciate that taking the unit apart, finding the appropriate connections and wiring an electrical solution is also a possible solution but also probably beyond me and I don't want to risk damaging the unit.
I have uploaded a photo that shows the 6 switches (2 banks of 3) labelled "- effect type +', 'store', 'tap' etc
I guess what I'm looking for would not be dissimilar to someone who wants to ring a doorbell using a mechanical solution to link the pedal to the doorbell itself.
Any ideas would be appreciated. Many thanks in advance.
