Types of computer mice. Computer mouse. Connecting and connecting the mouse to the computer

The mouse perceives its movement in the working plane (usually on a section of the table surface) and transmits this information to the computer. A program running on a computer, in response to mouse movement, produces an action on the screen that corresponds to the direction and distance of this movement. In different interfaces (for example, in windowed ones), the user uses the mouse to control a special cursor - pointer - manipulator of interface elements. Sometimes entering commands with the mouse is used without the participation of visible elements of the program interface: by analyzing mouse movements. This method is called "mouse gestures" (eng. mouse gestures).

In addition to the motion sensor, the mouse has one or more buttons, as well as additional control parts (scroll wheels, potentiometers, joysticks, trackballs, keys, etc.), the action of which is usually associated with the current position of the cursor (or components of a specific interface) .

The mouse control components are in many ways the embodiment of the intentions of a chord keyboard (that is, a keyboard for touch operation). The mouse, originally created as a complement to the chord keyboard, actually replaced it.

Some mice have built-in additional independent devices - watches, calculators, phones.

Story

The first computer to include a mouse was the Xerox 8010 Star Information System minicomputer ( English), introduced in 1981. The Xerox mouse had three buttons and cost $400, which corresponds to approximately $930 in 2009 prices adjusted for inflation. In 1983, Apple released its own one-button mouse for the Lisa computer, the cost of which was reduced to $25. The mouse became widely known thanks to its use in Apple Macintosh computers and later in the Windows OS for IBM PC compatible computers.

Motion sensors

During the “evolution” of the computer mouse, the motion sensors have undergone the greatest changes.

Direct drive

The first computer mouse

The original design of the mouse motion sensor, invented by Douglas Engelbart at the Stanford Research Institute in 1963, consisted of two perpendicular wheels protruding from the body of the device. When moving, the mouse wheels rotated, each in its own dimension.

This design had many drawbacks and was soon replaced by a ball-drive mouse.

Ball drive

In a ball drive, the movement of the mouse is transmitted to a rubberized steel ball protruding from the body (its weight and rubber coating provide good grip on the working surface). Two rollers pressed against the ball record its movements along each of the measurements and transmit them to sensors that convert these movements into electrical signals.

The main disadvantage of the ball drive is contamination of the ball and the removal rollers, which leads to the mouse jamming and the need for periodic cleaning (this problem was partly mitigated by metallization of the rollers). Despite its shortcomings, the ball drive has long dominated, successfully competing with alternative sensor designs. Currently, ball mice have been almost completely replaced by second-generation optical mice.

There were two sensor options for the ball drive.

Contact sensors

The contact sensor is a textolite disk with radial metal tracks and three contacts pressed to it. The ball mouse inherited such a sensor from the direct drive.

The main disadvantages of contact sensors are oxidation of contacts, rapid wear and low accuracy. Therefore, over time, all mice switched to non-contact optocoupler sensors.

Optocoupler sensor

Mechanical computer mouse device

The optocoupler sensor consists of a double optocouplers- an LED and two photodiodes (usually infrared) and a disk with holes or ray-shaped slits that block the light flux as it rotates. When you move the mouse, the disk rotates, and a signal is taken from the photodiodes at a frequency corresponding to the speed of the mouse movement.

The second photodiode, shifted by a certain angle or having an offset system of holes/slits on the sensor disk, serves to determine the direction of rotation of the disk (light appears/disappears on it earlier or later than on the first one, depending on the direction of rotation).

First generation optical mice

Optical sensors are designed to directly monitor the movement of the working surface relative to the mouse. The elimination of the mechanical component ensured higher reliability and made it possible to increase the resolution of the detector.

The first generation of optical sensors was represented by various schemes of optocoupler sensors with indirect optical coupling - light-emitting and perceiving reflection from the working surface of photosensitive diodes. Such sensors had one common property - they required special shading (perpendicular or diamond-shaped lines) on the working surface (mouse pad). On some rugs, these shadings were done with paints that were invisible in normal light (such rugs could even have a pattern).

The disadvantages of such sensors are usually called:

• the need to use a special mat and the impossibility of replacing it with another. Among other things, the pads of different optical mice were often not interchangeable and were not produced separately;
• the need for a certain orientation of the mouse relative to the pad, otherwise the mouse would not work correctly;
• sensitivity of the mouse to dirt on the mat (after all, it comes into contact with the user’s hand) - the sensor was uncertain about shading on dirty areas of the mat;
• high cost of the device.

In the USSR, first-generation optical mice, as a rule, were found only in foreign specialized computing systems.

Optical LED Mice

Optical mouse

Second generation optical sensor chip

The second generation of optical mice has a more complex design. A special LED is installed at the bottom of the mouse, which illuminates the surface on which the mouse moves. A miniature camera “photographs” the surface more than a thousand times per second, transmitting this data to the processor, which draws conclusions about changes in coordinates. Second-generation optical mice have a huge advantage over the first: they do not require a special mouse pad and work on almost any surface except mirror or transparent ones; even on fluoroplastic (including black). They also do not require cleaning.

It was assumed that such mice would work on any surface, but it soon became clear that many sold models (especially the first widely sold devices) were not so indifferent to the patterns on the mouse pad. In some areas of the picture, the graphics processor can make significant errors, which leads to chaotic pointer movements that do not correspond to real movement. For mice prone to such failures, it is necessary to choose a rug with a different pattern or even with a single-color coating.

Some models are also prone to detecting small movements when the mouse is at rest, which is manifested by the pointer on the screen shaking, sometimes with a tendency to slide in one direction or another.

Dual sensor mouse

Second-generation sensors are gradually improving, and crash-prone mice are much less common these days. In addition to improving sensors, some models are equipped with two displacement sensors at once, which allows, by analyzing changes in two areas of the surface at once, to eliminate possible errors. These mice are sometimes able to work on glass, plexiglass and mirror surfaces (which other mice do not work on).

There are also mouse pads specifically targeted at optical mice. For example, a rug that has a silicone film on the surface with a suspension of glitter (it is assumed that the optical sensor detects movements on such a surface much more clearly).

The disadvantage of this mouse is the difficulty of its simultaneous work with graphics tablets; the latter, due to their hardware features, sometimes lose the true direction of the signal when moving the pen and begin to distort the trajectory of the tool when drawing. No such deviations were observed when using mice with a ball drive. To eliminate this problem, it is recommended to use laser manipulators. Also, some people consider the disadvantages of optical mice to be that such mice glow even when the computer is turned off. Since most inexpensive optical mice have a translucent body, it allows red LED light to pass through, which can make it difficult to sleep if the computer is in the bedroom. This happens if the voltage to the PS/2 and USB ports is supplied from the standby voltage line; Most motherboards allow you to change this with a +5V jumper<->+5VSB, but in this case it will not be possible to turn on the computer from the keyboard.

Optical laser mice

Laser sensor

In recent years, a new, more advanced type of optical sensor has been developed that uses a semiconductor laser for illumination.

Little is known about the disadvantages of such sensors, but their advantages are known:

• higher reliability and resolution
• absence of noticeable glow (the sensor only needs weak laser illumination in the visible or, possibly, infrared range)
• low power consumption

Induction mice

Graphics tablet with induction mouse

Induction mice use a special mouse pad that works like a graphics tablet or are actually included with the graphics tablet. Some tablets include a manipulator similar to a mouse with a glass crosshair, working on the same principle, but with a slightly different implementation, which makes it possible to achieve increased positioning accuracy by increasing the diameter of the sensitive coil and moving it out of the device into the user’s line of sight.

Induction mice have good accuracy and do not need to be oriented correctly. An induction mouse can be “wireless” (the tablet on which it operates is connected to the computer), and have induction power, therefore, do not require batteries, like regular wireless mice.

The mouse included with the graphics tablet will save some space on the table (provided that the tablet is always on it).

Induction mice are rare, expensive and not always comfortable. It is almost impossible to change a mouse for a graphics tablet to another one (for example, one that better suits your hand, etc.).

Gyroscopic mice

In addition to vertical and horizontal scrolling, mouse joysticks can be used for alternative pointer movement or adjustments, similar to wheels.

Trackballs

Induction mice

Induction mice most often have induction power from a working platform (“mat”) or graphics tablet. But such mice are only partly wireless - the tablet or pad is still connected with a cable. Thus, the cable does not interfere with moving the mouse, but also does not allow you to work at a distance from the computer, as with a regular wireless mouse.

Additional functions

Some mouse manufacturers add functions to alert the mouse about any events occurring on the computer. In particular, Genius and Logitech produce models that notify you of the presence of unread emails in your mailbox by lighting an LED or playing music through the speaker built into the mouse.

There are known cases of placing a fan inside the mouse case to cool the user's hand while the user's hand is working with air flow through special holes. Some mouse models designed for computer gamers have small eccentrics built into the mouse body, which provide a vibration sensation when shooting in computer games. Examples of such models are the Logitech iFeel Mouse line of mice.

In addition, there are mini mice designed for laptop owners that are small in size and weight.

Some wireless mice have the ability to work as a remote control (for example, Logitech MediaPlay). They have a slightly modified shape to work not only on the table, but also when held in the hand.

Advantages and disadvantages

The mouse has become the main point-and-point input device due to the following features:

• Very low price (compared to other devices like touch screens).
• The mouse is suitable for long-term use. In the early days of multimedia, filmmakers liked to show the computers of the “future” with a touch interface, but in reality this method of input is quite tedious, since you have to hold your hands in the air.
• High accuracy of cursor positioning. With the mouse (with the exception of some “unsuccessful” models) it is easy to hit the desired pixel on the screen.
• The mouse allows many different manipulations - double and triple clicks, dragging, gestures, pressing one button while dragging another, etc. Therefore, you can concentrate a large number of controls in one hand - multi-button mice allow you to control, for example, a browser without using the keyboard at all .

The disadvantages of the mouse are:

• Danger of carpal tunnel syndrome (not supported by clinical studies).
• For work, a flat, smooth surface of sufficient size is required (with the possible exception of gyroscopic mice).
• Instability to vibrations. For this reason, the mouse is practically not used in military devices. The trackball requires less space to operate and does not require moving your hand, cannot get lost, has greater resistance to external influences, and is more reliable.

Ways to grip a mouse

Players recognize three main ways to grip the mouse.

• With your fingers. The fingers lie flat on the buttons, the top of the palm rests on the “heel” of the mouse. The lower part of the palm is on the table. The advantage is precise mouse movements.
• Claw-shaped. The fingers are bent and only the tips touch the buttons. The “heel” of the mouse is in the center of the palm. The advantage is the convenience of clicks.
• Palm. The entire palm rests on the mouse, the “heel” of the mouse, as in a claw grip, rests against the center of the palm. The grip is more suitable for the sweeping movements of shooters.

Office mice (with the exception of small laptop mice) are usually equally suitable for all grip styles. Gaming mice, as a rule, are optimized for one grip or another - therefore, when buying an expensive mouse, it is recommended to find out your grip method.

Software support

A distinctive feature of mice as a class of devices is the good standardization of hardware

Today, the mouse is a necessary input device for all modern computers. But just recently everything was different. Computers did not have graphical commands and data could only be entered using the keyboard. And when the very first one appeared, you will be surprised to see what kind of evolution this familiar object has gone through.

Who invented the first computer mouse?

Considered the father of this device. He was one of those scientists who try to bring science closer even to ordinary people and make progress accessible to everyone. He invented the first computer mice in the early 1960s in his laboratory at Stanford Research Institute (now SRI International). The first prototype was created in 1964, and the patent application for this invention, filed in 1967, referred to it as an "XY Position Indicator for a Display System." But the official document number 3541541 was received only in 1970.

But is it really that simple?

It would seem that everyone knows who created the first computer mouse. But trackball technology was first used much earlier by the Canadian Navy. Back in 1952, the mouse was just a bowling ball attached to a complex hardware system that could sense the ball's movement and simulate its movements on the screen. But the world learned about it only years later - after all, it was a secret military invention that was never patented or attempted to be mass-produced. 11 years later it was already known, but D. Engelbart recognized it as ineffective. At that moment, he did not yet know how to connect his vision of the mouse and this device.

How did the idea come about?

The basic ideas for the invention first came to D. Engelbart's mind in 1961, when he was at a conference on computer graphics and pondered the problem of increasing the efficiency of interactive computing. It occurred to him that by using two small wheels that move on the tabletop (one wheel rotates horizontally, the other vertically), the computer can track the combination of their rotation and, accordingly, move the cursor on the display. To some extent, the principle of operation is similar to a planimeter - an instrument used by engineers and geographers to measure distances on a map or drawing, etc. The scientist then wrote down this idea in his notebook for future use.

Step into the Future

A little over a year later, D. Engelbart received a grant from the institute to launch his research initiative called "Enhancing the Human Mind." By this, he envisioned a system where knowledge workers, working on high-performance computer stations with interactive displays, had access to a vast online information space. With its help, they can collaborate to solve particularly important problems. But this system sorely lacked a modern input device. After all, in order to comfortably interact with objects on the screen, you need to be able to quickly select them. NASA became interested in the project and provided a grant for the construction of a computer mouse. The first version of this device is similar to the modern one except in size. At the same time, the team of researchers came up with other devices that made it possible to control the cursor by pressing a pedal with your feet or moving a special clamp under the table with your knee. These inventions never caught on, but the joystick, invented at the same time, was later improved and is still in use today.

In 1965, D. Engelbart's team published the final report of their research and various methods for selecting objects on the screen. There were even volunteers who took part in the testing. It went something like this: the program showed objects in different parts of the screen and volunteers tried to click on them with different devices as quickly as possible. According to test results, the first computer mice were clearly superior to all other devices and were included as standard equipment for further research.

What did the first computer mouse look like?

It was made of wood and was the first input device that fit into the user's hand. Knowing the principle of its operation, you should no longer be surprised by what the first computer mouse looked like. Under the body there were two metal disks-wheels, diagram. There was only one button, and the wire went under the wrist of the person holding the device. The prototype was assembled by one of the members of D. Engelbart’s team, his assistant William (Bill) English. Initially, he worked in another laboratory, but soon joined a project to create input devices, developed and implemented the design of a new device.

By tilting and rocking the mouse, you could draw perfectly straight vertical and horizontal lines.

In 1967 the body became plastic.

Where did the name come from?

No one remembers for sure who was the first to call this device a mouse. It was tested by 5-6 people, it is possible that one of them voiced the similarities. Moreover, the world's first computer mouse had a tail wire on the back.

Further improvements

Of course, the prototypes were far from ideal.

In 1968, at a computer conference in San Francisco, D. Engelbart presented the first improved computer mice. They had three buttons; in addition to them, the keyboard was equipped with a device for the left hand.

The idea was this: the right hand works with the mouse, selecting and activating objects. And the left one conveniently calls out the necessary commands using a small keyboard with five long keys, like a piano. Then it became clear that the wire under the operator’s hand was getting tangled when using the device, and that it needed to be routed to the opposite side. Of course, the left-handed console did not catch on, but Douglas Engelbart used it on his computers until his last days.

Continuing to improve

At further stages of mouse development, other scientists entered the scene. The most interesting thing is that D. Engelbart never received royalties from his invention. Since he patented it as a specialist from the Stanford Institute, it was the institute that controlled the rights to the device.

So, in 1972, Bill English replaced the wheels with a trackball, which made it possible to detect mouse movement in any direction. Since he was then working at Xerox PARC, this new product became part of the Xerox Alto system, which was advanced by those standards. It was a minicomputer with a graphical interface. Therefore, many people mistakenly believe that Xerox is the first.

The next round of development occurred with the mouse in 1983, when Apple entered the game. The enterprising person calculated the cost of mass production of the device, which amounted to approximately $300. This was too expensive for the average consumer, so the decision was made to simplify the design of the mouse and replace the three buttons with one. The price dropped to $15. And although this decision is still considered controversial, Apple is in no hurry to change its iconic design.

The first computer mice were rectangular or square in shape; the anatomical rounded design appeared only in 1991. It was introduced by Logitech. In addition to its interesting shape, the new product was wireless: communication with the computer was provided using radio waves.

The first optical mouse appeared in 1982. It needed a special mousepad with a printed grid to work. And although the ball in the trackball quickly became dirty and caused inconvenience because it had to be cleaned regularly, the optical mouse was not commercially viable until 1998.

What's next?

As you already know, “tailed” devices with a trackball are practically not used anymore. Technologies and ergonomics of computer mice are constantly improving. And even today, when devices with touchscreens are becoming more and more popular, their sales are not falling.

If at one time the user performed most of the actions only using the keyboard and this was considered normal, today it is very difficult to imagine a home computer without a mouse. You don't have to go far. Just try to open your browser without a mouse and surf the Internet a little, you will quickly notice how inconvenient it is, no matter how many hotkeys the browser contains. And since each of us deals with a mouse almost every day, in this short article I will generally consider what a computer mouse is, what it consists of, what types there are and when it appeared.

I'll start with a definition. A computer mouse is an input device that converts data about movement along a plane into an information signal. It is also typical for a computer mouse to have at least one button (in Mac OS X, mice come with one button).

The mouse appeared back in 1968 and was patented in 1970. The mouse became included with the computer in 1981 as part of the Xerox-8010 Star Information.

The basic device of the mouse is a movement sensor and buttons, nothing fancy. However, additional controls such as a scroll wheel and trackball may also be present. In general, it all depends on the imagination of the manufacturers.

Basically, mice are divided according to the principle of constructing a motion sensor, and here they are:

1. Direct drive is the very first version of the sensor. These mice used two wheels at the bottom, for the horizontal and vertical axis.

2. Ball drive - the next option for constructing a displacement sensor. In this case, not wheels were used, but one ball, which is adjacent to small shafts inside the mouse itself. This mechanism made it more convenient to use the mouse, since the ball, unlike wheels, will never catch on the surface.

3. Optical drive - this sensor uses an optical mechanism to track the position of the mouse. There have been several generations of such sensors, the latest of which is an unpretentious laser mouse. As a fact, in the first variations special mats were required, since the sensors were very sensitive to the quality of the surface.

4. Gyroscopic mice - contain a gyroscope, which allows you to determine mouse movements even in three-dimensional space.

5. Induction mice - require a special mouse pad, since position determination is determined through induction processes.

If we talk about buttons, they are one-button, two-button and three-button. In this case, we are talking about the buttons that are located at the top and are the most massive (main). As already mentioned, each manufacturer can add controls to mice. For example, gaming mice can contain a dozen small side buttons, which significantly reduce the time for calling frequent operations. However, it is worth knowing that such additional buttons can only be used if you have installed special software from the same manufacturers. Otherwise, the operating system will ignore them.

Based on the type of connection, mice are:

1. Wired. Such mice used to be connected via COM ports and PS/2. Today, almost all mice use the USB interface.

2. Wireless infrared - a special IR signal receiver is connected to the computer. Such mice have taken root poorly, since there should be no obstacles between the receiver and the mouse.

3. Wireless with radio communication - these mice use radio communication as a mechanism for transmitting information. They quickly replaced IR mice due to the lack of problems with obstacles.

4. Wireless induction mice - these mice are used together with a special mouse pad. The good thing is that they do not need to be charged, they are powered directly from the mat. The downside is that without a mat they are useless.

5. Wireless with bluetooth - compared to analogues, these mice benefit from the fact that the computer only needs to have a bluetooth receiver. So it’s very easy to connect such a mouse to laptops and you don’t need to worry about a protruding receiver, an occupied USB slot and other things.

As you can see, the variety, although quite large, is still mainly related to the internal features and conditions of use. Therefore, if you need a mouse, then you need to soberly evaluate its real use. For example, cheap laser mice are the leaders for home computers.

Hello, dear readers of the blog site. There are a huge number of computer mice or mice, as they are called differently. According to their functional purpose, they can be divided into classes: some are intended for games, others for regular work, and others for drawing in graphic editors. In this article I will try to talk about the types and design of computer mice.

But first, I propose to go back a few decades, just at the time when this complex device was invented. The first computer mouse appeared back in 1968, and it was invented by an American scientist named Douglas Engelbart. The mouse was developed by the American Space Research Agency (NASA), which gave a patent for the invention to Douglas, but at one point lost all interest in the development. Why - read on.

The world's first mouse was a heavy wooden box with a wire, which, in addition to its weight, was also extremely inconvenient to use. For obvious reasons, they decided to call it “mouse”, and a little later they artificially came up with a decoding of this abbreviation. Yeah, now mouse is nothing more than a "Manually Operated User Signal Encoder", that is, a device with which the user can manually encode a signal.

Without exception, all computer mice include a number of components: a case, a printed circuit board with contacts, microphones (buttons), a scroll wheel(s) - all of them are present in one form or another in any modern mouse. But you are probably tormented by the question - what then distinguishes them from each other (besides the fact that there are gaming, non-gaming, office, etc.), why they came up with so many different types, look for yourself:

1. Mechanical
2. Optical
3. Laser
4. Trackball mice
5. Induction
6. Gyroscopic

The fact is that each of the above types of computer mice appeared at different times and uses different laws of physics. Accordingly, each of them has its own disadvantages and advantages, which will certainly be discussed further in the text. It should be noted that only the first three types will be considered in more detail, the rest - not in so much detail, due to the fact that they are less popular.

Mechanical mice are traditional ball models, relatively large in size, requiring constant cleaning of the ball to work effectively. Dirt and small particles may become trapped between the rotating ball and the housing and will need to be cleaned. It won't work without a mat. About 15 years ago it was the only one in the world. I will write about it in the past tense, because it is already a rarity.

At the bottom of the mechanical mouse there was a hole that was covered by a rotating plastic ring. There was a heavy ball underneath it. This ball was made of metal and covered with rubber. Under the ball there were two plastic rollers and a roller, which pressed the ball against the rollers. When the mouse moved, the ball rotated the roller. Up or down - one roller rotated, right or left - the other. Since gravity played a crucial role in such models, such a device did not work in zero gravity, so NASA abandoned it.

If the movement was complex, both rollers rotated. At the end of each plastic roller an impeller was installed, like on a mill, only many times smaller. On one side of the impeller there was a light source (LED), on the other there was a photocell. When you move the mouse, the impeller rotates, the photocell reads the number of light pulses that hit it, and then transmits this information to the computer.

Since the impeller had many blades, the movement of the pointer on the screen was perceived as smooth. Optical-mechanical mice (they are simply “mechanical”) suffered from great inconvenience; the fact is that they periodically had to be disassembled and cleaned. During operation, the ball dragged all sorts of debris inside the case; often the rubber surface of the ball became so dirty that the movement rollers simply slipped and the mouse malfunctioned.

For the same reason, such a mouse simply needed a mouse pad to work correctly, otherwise the ball would slip and get dirty faster.

Optical and laser mice

There is no need to disassemble or clean anything in optical mice., since they do not have a rotating ball, they work on a different principle. An optical mouse uses an LED sensor. Such a mouse works like a small camera that scans the surface of the table and “photographs” it; the camera manages to take about a thousand such photos per second, and some models even more.

The data from these images is processed by a special microprocessor on the mouse itself and sends a signal to the computer. The advantages are obvious - such a mouse does not need a mouse pad, it is light in weight and can scan almost any surface. Almost? Yes, everything except glass and mirror surfaces, as well as velvet (velvet absorbs light very strongly).

A laser mouse is very similar to an optical mouse, but its operating principle differs in that Laser is used instead of LED. This is a more advanced model of an optical mouse; it requires much less energy to operate, and the accuracy of reading data from the working surface is much higher than that of an optical mouse. So it can even work on glass and mirror surfaces.

In fact, a laser mouse is a type of optical mouse, since in both cases an LED is used, it’s just that in the second case it emits invisible spectrum.

So, the operating principle of an optical mouse differs from that of a ball mouse. .

The process begins with a laser or optical (in the case of an optical mouse) diode. The diode emits invisible light, the lens focuses it to a point equal in thickness to a human hair, the beam is reflected from the surface, then the sensor catches this light. The sensor is so precise that it can detect even small surface irregularities.

The secret is that precisely the unevenness allow the mouse to notice even the slightest movements. The pictures taken by the camera are compared, the microprocessor compares each subsequent picture with the previous one. If the mouse moves, the difference between the pictures will be noted.

By analyzing these differences, the mouse determines the direction and speed of any movement. If the difference between the pictures is significant, the cursor moves quickly. But even when stationary, the mouse continues to take pictures.

Trackball mice

Trackball mouse is a device that uses a convex ball - "Trackball". The trackball device is very similar to the device of a mechanical mouse, only the ball in it is located on top or on the side. The ball can be rotated, but the device itself remains in place. The ball causes a pair of rollers to rotate. New trackballs use optical motion sensors.

Not everyone may need a device called “Trackball”; in addition, its cost cannot be called low; it seems that the minimum starts from 1,400 rubles.

Induction mice

Induction models use a special mat that works like a graphics tablet. Induction mice have good accuracy and do not need to be oriented correctly. An induction mouse can be wireless or inductively powered, in which case it does not require a battery like a regular wireless mouse.

I have no idea who might need such devices, which are expensive and difficult to find on the open market. And why, who knows? Maybe there are some advantages compared to ordinary "rodents"?

One of the indispensable components of any modern computing system is a computer mouse. This “rodent” has long become a part of not only personal computers, but also laptops, albeit in a slightly modified form.

Everyone knows what a computer mouse looks like. To some extent, it really resembles a well-known agricultural pest, although with a number of reservations. It is believed that this association will not be obvious to future generations of users. If only because a modern computer mouse is increasingly being made wireless, having lost its “tail”.

The principle of operation of this amazing device is extremely simple: when it moves along the surface, relative coordinates are transferred to the computer, where special software is converted into cursor-pointer movements on the screen. Interestingly, it can be not only the usual operating system arrow, but also a character in a computer game. Behind the apparent simplicity lies the work of engineers, electronics engineers and programmers. Depending on its design features, a computer mouse can register movements in different ways. Let's remember how these seemingly identical devices differ.

The first models, which appeared about 50 years ago, were mechanical. Inside the device was a massive metal ball covered with a layer of rubber. Its bottom side was in contact with the outer surface, and the other two were in contact with the rollers. There could have been four of them, but only two were processed. When the hand holding the mouse moved, the rotation of the ball was transmitted to the rollers, from them to the switches, and then converted into a sequence of electrical signals sent to the computer. Two rollers are enough to obtain the coordinates of a point on a plane. The disadvantages of this solution include the need to periodically clean the ball from adhering dirt (hair curled up, dust accumulated) and replacing worn-out components.

Soon they were replaced by optical-mechanical solutions. Externally, everything remained unchanged, but the switches were abolished, giving way to a more reliable solution - an optocoupler. Behind the “scary” name are completely harmless LEDs, collectively called an optocoupler pair. Each roller was combined with a perforated wheel placed between the sensor and the diode. During rotation, the flow of light was interrupted, which was recorded by the sensor and transmitted to the computer. Knowing the frequency of window/wall changes, it was possible to determine the speed of movement and direction.

In 1999, original computer mice called optical mice appeared, in which the mechanical method of registering movement was completely abandoned. An LED illuminates the surface under the mouse, and a primitive camera takes pictures at a certain frequency. processes them and, based on the results obtained, makes a conclusion about the speed and direction of the displacement. All that remains is to transfer this data to the driver program.

Soon they were replaced by laser modifications. The processor has become more productive, focusing accuracy has increased, and there are almost no “problem” surfaces on which the sensor does not work. The main difference from optical ones is a different type of LED, which emits not in the visible, but in the infrared range. By the way, the most expensive computer mouse is a laser one. True, its high cost (more than 24 thousand dollars) is explained primarily by the inlay of precious stones, and not by technical features.