How does an optical mouse work?

Answer 1

An optical mouse uses a light-emitting diode and photodiodes to detect the movement of the underlying surface, rather than moving some of its parts as in a mechanical mouse.

Early optical mice, circa 1980, were of two types. Some, such as those invented by Steve Kirsch of Mouse Systems Corporation, used an infrared LED and a four-quadrant infrared sensor to detect grid lines printed on a special metallic surface with infrared absorbing ink. Predictive algorithms in the CPU of the mouse calculated the speed and direction over the grid. Others, invented by Richard F. Lyon and sold by Xerox, used a 16-pixel visible-light image sensor with integrated motion detection on the same chip ([1]) and tracked the motion of light dots in a dark field of a printed paper or similar mouse pad ([2]). These two mouse types had very different behaviors, as the Kirsch mouse used an x-y coordinate system embedded in the pad, and would not work correctly when rotated, while the Lyon mouse used the x-y coordinate system of the mouse body, as mechanical mice do.

As computing power grew cheaper, it became possible to embed more powerful special-purpose image processing chips in the mouse. This advance enabled the mouse to detect relative motion on a wide variety of surfaces, translating the movement of the mouse into the movement of the pointer and eliminating the need for a special mouse pad. This advance paved the way for widespread adoption of optical mice.

Modern surface-independent optical mice work by using an optoelectronic sensor to take successive pictures of the surface on which the mouse is operating. Most of these mice use LEDs to illuminate the surface that is being tracked; LED optical mice are often mislabeled as "laser mice". Changes between one frame and the next are processed by the image processing part of the chip and translated into movement on the two axes using an optical flow algorithm. For example, the Agilent Technologies ADNS-2610 optical mouse sensor processes 1512 frames per second: each frame is a rectangular array of 18×18 pixels, and each pixel can sense 64 different levels of gray.

Optomechanical mice detect movements of the ball optically, giving the precision of optical without the surface compatibility problems, whereas optical mice detect relative movement of the surface by examining the light reflected off it.

Answer 2

Optical mice
An optical mouse uses a light-emitting diode and photodiodes to detect the movement of the underlying surface, rather than moving some of its parts as in a mechanical mouse.
Early optical mice, circa 1980, were of two types. Some, such as those invented by Steve Kirsch of Mouse Systems Corporation, used an infrared LED and a four-quadrant infrared sensor to detect grid lines printed on a special metallic surface with infrared absorbing ink. Predictive algorithms in the CPU of the mouse calculated the speed and direction over the grid. Others, invented by Richard F. Lyon and sold by Xerox, used a 16-pixel visible-light image sensor with integrated motion detection on the same chip ([1]) and tracked the motion of light dots in a dark field of a printed paper or similar mouse pad ([2]). These two mouse types had very different behaviors, as the Kirsch mouse used an x-y coordinate system embedded in the pad, and would not work correctly when rotated, while the Lyon mouse used the x-y coordinate system of the mouse body, as mechanical mice do.
As computing power grew cheaper, it became possible to embed more powerful special-purpose image processing chips in the mouse. This advance enabled the mouse to detect relative motion on a wide variety of surfaces, translating the movement of the mouse into the movement of the pointer and eliminating the need for a special mouse pad. This advance paved the way for widespread adoption of optical mice.
Modern surface-independent optical mice work by using an optoelectronic sensor to take successive pictures of the surface on which the mouse is operating. Most of these mice use LEDs to illuminate the surface that is being tracked; LED optical mice are often mislabeled as "laser mice". Changes between one frame and the next are processed by the image processing part of the chip and translated into movement on the two axes using an optical flow algorithm. For example, the Agilent Technologies ADNS-2610 optical mouse sensor processes 1512 frames per second: each frame is a rectangular array of 18×18 pixels, and each pixel can sense 64 different levels of gray.
Optomechanical mice detect movements of the ball optically, giving the precision of optical without the surface compatibility problems, whereas optical mice detect relative movement of the surface by examining the light reflected off it.

Answer 3

basically, a LED light shines on the mouspad or desk, and a tiny camera lens takes a little picture of the surface of the mousepad or desk. This happens dozens or even hundreds of times per second. A little microprocessor in the mouse compares the current picture with the previous one to see if the mouse has moved and how much.

Answer 4

Same way as a normal mouse but instead of gathering small pieces of cheese for his skirting board home he will have it away with any used spectacles, discarded contact lens solution and various other optometric equipment. They can see in the dark too, you know.

Answer 5

Well basically it work like a traditional mouse, but it has and LED bulb instead of a ball. This LED detects the motion and acts accordingly. Please refer this page.(http://www.pantherproducts.co.uk/Articles/Mice/Optical_Mice.shtml)

Answer 6

Trust me, it doesn't. They just want you to think dat da mouse is detecting motion and movin da cursor accordingly. Wat dey don't tell you is dat it is all a fake nd dey got a very small ball embedded on the bottom, which does the actual motion-detecting. And they hog up your batteries fo nothin.

Answer 7

By using light instead of a ball, try the link below it will explain it in full detail.

Answer 8

Same as normal mouse la...

Answer 9

it works the same as any other mmouse but is more accurate and does'nt require a mouse mat.

Answer 10

I have discovered that it doesn't work on human skin. LOL