Cobalt Flux was a game controller manufacturer based in the greater Salt Lake City, Utah area of the United States. One notable product from Cobalt Flux was the polycarbonate plastic and metal-based dance platform, which is used with console dance games such as Dance Dance Revolution. The Cobalt Flux website cobaltflux.org is now a marketplace to buy and sell cobalt flux pads, control boxes, and other items. You can also find advice and support on pad modification, maintenance and repair. Cobalt Flux Dance Platform Intro The Cobalt Flux dance platform is a dance pad made of polycarbonate plastic and metal. It is used with console dance games such as Dance Dance Revolution. Design Fundamentally, the Cobalt Flux dance platform is similar to most dance pad designs. Instead of the typical four arrow plus corners panel layout as is common in soft dance pads, there are nine usable foot panels (center, left, right, up, down, and corners). Internally, the Cobalt Flux dance platform is unique among typical hard/metal dance pad designs. Official Dance Dance Revolution arcade machine dance pads contain a hollow area beneath each panel with small sensor switches. The Cobalt Flux design contains no hollow areas. Sensor contact is achieved by the flexing of layers of lexan panels and metal plates on a solid wood base. This results in a simple platform design and therefore increased durability. The Cobalt Flux dance platform itself connects to a "control box", which contains the start and select buttons for the dance controller. The connection to the control box uses a 15-pin serial connector which hangs out of the top of the pad as a dongle. This control box also handles the wiring needed for different gaming console connectors, which lead off of the control box. The control box is removable. Aesthetics The Cobalt Flux dance platform is often used with shoes, as is common on traditional arcade dance platforms. Cobalt Flux have provided two modification kits/options for their dance platforms. One kit adds raised black textured panels to the corner panels, and more closely mimics the feel of the arcade platforms. Reliability Cobalt Flux dance platforms are considered to be among the most reliable according to dance game enthusiasts; however, there are also anecdotes of less than high reliability. A demonstration of reliability is given in the YouTube video, "The Cobalt Flux survives!". In the video, a Cobalt Flux dance platform being