If the computer mouse breaks , many users do not know how to live on . The session ends and the search for a new device or recovery begins performance broken thing. If you have basic knowledge of electrical engineering and the ability to work with a soldering iron, you can very quickly repair a wireless mouse. Consider a step-by-step method for determining the causes of a device malfunction and restoring its resource. 
Sources of breakdown
In most cases, the cause of the failure will be non-critical because modern laser mice are made from reliable electronic components.
The loss functionality may happen due to:
- damage to the USB connector of the computer;
- poor quality contacts in the power and control parts of the board;
- breakdown of an electronic element;
- breakage of microswitches.
Repair algorithm
Before starting work, remove the wireless module from the computer, set the mouse switch to the “off” position and remove the battery. It would be nice to check the battery right away. If everything is in order with it, then we proceed to repair the mouse.
To determine performance USB of the computer is enough to connect a USB flash drive or keyboard to it. If a synchronization signal appears on the monitor screen, it means that the port is in working order. To check the status of a wireless unit with a USB connector, you need to connect to the positive and negative inputs of the plug similar probes of the tester, which is in the diode test mode. If the multimeter displays numbers from 500 - 700 ohms, then the module is working. Of course, this method only indirectly determines the state of the device and does not guarantee one hundred percent confirmation of its serviceability.
In most cases, these steps should help you repair mouse . In the rest - the breakdown will be hidden in microcontroller.
If your computer mouse is broken, do not rush to buy a new one. It is quite possible that you yourself will be able to fix the breakdown and the device will serve you for more than one year.
Missing mouse sensor
Often there is also a situation where we can not precisely point the cursor at a certain point. It constantly trembles and moves by itself. This situation clearly indicates clogging of the optical group of the mouse.
The blockage is most often external. Dust or hair gets into the compartment where the light of the diode is reflected from the table. To get rid of such a blockage, you do not even need to disassemble the mouse. It is enough to turn it over and blow it. As a last resort, use a small brush to remove stubborn debris.
If, after such manipulations, the mouse cursor trembles, then, most likely, either the sensor is clogged inside or is completely out of order. In any case, you can try to disassemble the mouse and clean the sensor with a toothpick with a cotton swab soaked in alcohol wrapped around it:
Before cleaning the sensor with a cotton swab, you can also try blowing it to blow out fine dust that can stick when wet. After that, gently, without pressure, insert the toothpick with rotational movements into the sensor hole. Having made a couple of turns and without stopping to rotate, we take out the toothpick, wait for the alcohol to dry and try to connect the mouse.
If after all cleaning attempts the sensor does not work normally, then if you have another mouse, a soldering iron and straight arms, you can unsolder the non-working microcircuit and replace it with a sensor from another mouse. However, this already requires some skill, so not everyone will be able to do this...
Scrolling mouse wheel
It happens that the mouse works fine, but when we try to use its wheel, the page we are scrolling starts jumping up and down, or does not want to scroll at all. Alas, the failure of the mouse wheel is a fairly common failure, and it was she who prompted me to write this article.
First you need to carefully consider how evenly the wheel spins in the groove. The groove itself and the wheel axle have a hexagonal section, but sometimes one or more sides of this hexagon can be deformed, as a result of which the axle will slip in a problem area.
If you have just such a problem, then it is solved by sealing the edge of the wheel axle with tape or electrical tape in small quantities. If everything is fine with the movement of the wheel, then the breakdown occurred inside the encoder (scroll sensor). From prolonged use, it could become loose and should be slightly compacted:
To do this, take small pliers and, in turn, press them on the four metal brackets that secure the encoder to the plastic parts of the scroll mechanism. The main thing here is not to overdo it and not break the fragile plastic, but at the same time tighten it harder. Try connecting a mouse and see if the negative scrolling effect is reduced after each press.
Alas, in my case, it was not possible to completely get rid of jerks. Yes, the frequency and spread of page jumps have decreased, but the jumps themselves have not completely disappeared. Then I decided to approach the issue of compaction radically and truly in Russian :) I cut a piece of thin but dense polyethylene from an old battery pack and stuck it inside the mechanism:
What is most interesting, this manipulation helped! I just have to cut off the excess length of the strip and assemble the mouse :)
Mouse buttons not working
The last, and most annoying, breakdown is a non-working button. Whether left, right or the one under the wheel is not important - they are usually all the same. The important thing is that the non-working button is almost never repaired. You can only replace its microswitch by soldering a non-working one with a soldering iron and replacing it with a new one or borrowed from another mouse.
The microswitch has three "legs", the first of which is a regular latch, and the other two are contacts that need to be soldered. The latch does not need to be soldered. It only serves as a "foolproof" to prevent you from inserting the microswitch in the wrong direction by mistake.
Sometimes the button still works, but it does not work every time it is pressed. Such a symptom may signal that the edge of the button pusher that presses the microswitch has worn off from frequent use.
We disassemble the mouse and carefully study the problematic button and its pusher. If we see a small dent, then the problem may be precisely in it. It is enough to fill the washed place with a drop of epoxy or melted plastic.
The last problem you may encounter is that the mouse button double clicks when you click on it. You can solve this case by soldering the microswitch or ... programmatically! In any case, before taking up the soldering iron, check that the mouse settings are correct in the Windows Control Panel:
By default, the double-click speed slider should be centered, and the sticky mouse buttons option should be disabled. Try to set these parameters and check if the problem is solved. If not, another radical programmatic way to "cure" a double click is to remove the mouse driver. How to remove the driver correctly is written.
conclusions
Mice are one of the most widely used computer devices. Therefore, it is not surprising that they often fail. However, due to the simplicity of their device, in most cases everyone can fix the mouse!
To do this, it is not necessary to be able to solder or understand electronics. The main thing is to clearly diagnose the cause of the breakdown. Here, as in medicine, the correct diagnosis is the path to a successful repair.
I hope our article will allow you to determine what exactly is broken in your mouse, and therefore, to fix the breakdown. Good luck with your repair!
P.S. It is allowed to freely copy and quote this article, provided that an open active link to the source is indicated and the authorship of Ruslan Tertyshny is preserved.
And although computer mice have evolved significantly since the first appearance of this wonderful device, they still break. Let's talk today about computer mice, or rather about repairing a wireless computer mouse.
For the first computer mice, the most important scourge was the contamination of the very ball that transmits mechanical movement to electronic sensors. Those who remember those times know that it was a dubious pleasure to clean this very ball from dirt. In addition, such a mouse required a rug, otherwise the rubberized ball did not move well on the table.
The time has come and we got rid of this rudiment. Optical mice appeared. Everything would be fine, but the wire with which such an optical mouse was connected to the computer system unit eventually became unusable, and it ceased to obey its owner. The consequences of this could be terrible, up to the complete destruction of a computer mouse on a ruthless brick wall.
But here, too, our botanist friends figured out how to save us from this misfortune - the connecting wire. They began to transmit data from the mouse to the computer via radio waves. Everything would be fine, but the user of such a wireless mouse has to regularly replace dead batteries.
And now, it would seem, all the most malicious attributes have sunk into oblivion: a ball, wires. What's left? Buttons! Yes, yes, it was they who began to break down most often, bringing our favorite computer mouse to complete unavailability. As practice shows, problems with buttons are found not only in cheap models of computer mice, but also in quite branded ones like VAIO.
But, for an avid electronics lover, such a malfunction is not only a challenge to his experience, but also a real opportunity to dig deeper into the insides of this amusing device. Especially if it is not a simple wired mouse, but a wireless one.
So let's get started.
Despite the fact that the development of modern means of input information leads to the disposal of various mechanical devices, computer mice still have buttons in their composition.
On the repair table is a SONY VAIO wireless computer mouse model VGP-WMS4. Diagnosis - incorrect operation of the left mouse button (LMB). Everything else is working properly. The reason is also clear. When working with a computer, we most often use the left button than the right or center button (the one under the wheel).
To open the case, we need a scalpel screwdriver. The screws that hold the case together are located under plastic patches that reduce friction. They need to be carefully peeled off the case and put in a clean place. After the repair, we will glue them to the body again. To unscrew the screws, I had to look for a hexagonal nozzle - the screws have a curly groove.
After opening, the electronic filling appears before us. It was done with dignity. The left and right buttons are three-pin buttons without fixing.
If you carefully remove the scroll wheel, then under it we will find a micro button. This is what we press when we click on the wheel - this is the third, central input button.
Let's digress from the repair and at the same time study the device of a wireless computer mouse. As you can see in the photo, several microcircuits are installed on the main board. The one in a square case is more likely responsible for wireless data transmission. The antenna is clearly visible on the printed circuit board, which is made in the form of copper tracks directly on the printed circuit board.
An open optocoupler acts as a rotation sensor for the central wheel. The optocoupler consists of an infrared LED - the one in a transparent case and with two leads, as well as a phototransistor. It has a dark body and three pins.
There are through grooves in the wheel.
When the wheel moves, the through grooves are replaced by partitions. As a result, infrared radiation either passes or does not pass through the wheel base. The received signals from the phototransistor are sent to the microcontroller, which processes the received data.
Also in the case you can find an optical system. It consists of a bright LED, a lens system and a photo sensor.
All computer mouse electronics are powered by two AA (1.5V) alkaline batteries. Moreover, for the operation of the mouse, both the voltage of 1.5V and 3V is removed. A connecting wire extends from the middle contact in the battery compartment. Most likely, 1.5V from one battery is used to power the controllers, while 3V is used to power other parts of the circuit, such as the bright red LED that is part of the optical system of the reader.
Let's get back to repairing our computer mouse. Finding the right replacement button can sometimes be difficult. But that's not a problem. You can use another computer mouse as a "donor". As a rule, the right key button for many of them is working, and it can be used as a replacement. An optical wired mouse was used as a donor mouse. At one time, she also died a heroic death after numerous attempts to restore the connecting wire. After a short "tail" remained from the wire, she flew off to the storeroom.
Let's take a look at her device. As we can see on the printed circuit board, we already know the buttons, the scroll wheel, the photosensor (a microcircuit in the middle of the board), the LED and the controller chip. It is worth noting that in this computer mouse, not an optocoupler, but a multi-turn encoder is used as a scroll wheel sensor.
This is not buzzing, since the encoder is an electromechanical part. And, as you know, everything mechanical is subject to wear. In a VAIO mouse, the optocoupler will work more reliably - after all, there are no mechanical contact parts in the optocoupler.
As already mentioned, it is better to use the right button as a replacement button.
Here is the result of replacing the failed button.
It is also worth recalling that when restoring the operation of the mouse, it is worth cleaning the scroll wheel, optical system and the case itself from dust. Since the computer mouse contains optical sensors, such prevention will have a positive effect on its operation.
Often the cause of such problems is the usual clogging. There are frequent cases when something is spilled on the mouse, and not always ordinary water, but, for example, hot sweet coffee. In such situations, there are two options: get a new device or try to fix the old one.
If you know how to disassemble the mouse, you can avoid downtime at the computer and fix the problem yourself.
The main reasons for the breakdown of a computer "rodent"
Find out what caused the problem first. You may not need to disassemble the mouse. So, the main types of breakdowns are as follows:
- technical - frayed wire, damage to USB or PS / 2 connectors;
- mechanical - incorrect operation of the scroll wheel, lack of response to button presses;
- incorrect setting for a specific application or game.
The latter situation does not require repair of the manipulator. It is enough to make the necessary settings. Before disassembling the mouse, make sure that the cord (in the case of a wired device) and the connector are intact. If the cause of the breakdown lies in them, it is useless to do so. When the manipulator does not respond to user actions due to the non-working state of the scroll wheel, clogging and other reasons, there is nothing left but to start repairing.
Required Tools
How to disassemble a mouse? This does not require a wide range of tools. It is enough to arm yourself with a Phillips screwdriver and prepare a container for the reliable safety of the screws. Otherwise, when it comes to assembly, they may simply not be in place. Carried away by work, the master sometimes simply sweeps them away with his hand, without noticing it himself. And finding these small details is very difficult.
Instructions for disassembling a wired mouse
Perform the following sequence of actions:
- Disconnect the mouse from the computer and turn it upside down.
- Below are the mounting screws. They can not be immediately noticed under the stickers. In this case, clean the surface of the instrument and remove the screws.
- Open the case by holding the mouse with both hands on different halves. You need to be extremely careful, otherwise you can break off the latch, which is located on the cover near the wire.
- A scroller (scroll wheel) is removed from the base of the device. To do this, slightly pull it up. The wheel should come out with the latch or fastener.
- Remove the chip or mouse board. If it is secured with latches, use your fingers to pry them off, being careful. If screws are used, they are unscrewed and placed in the prepared container. The board is easily separated from the case by pulling it up.
Wired mouse disassembly is complete. After troubleshooting, collection is performed in reverse order. Be careful, some parts are fragile and can be damaged even with a little force.
Wireless Mouse Disassembly: Logitech
Modern manipulators are not connected to the computer with a cord. Logitech is the leading manufacturer of wireless mice. Despite all the shortcomings, which, however, have already been eliminated, these devices are considered among the best.
So, how to disassemble a Logitech mouse:
- Remove the screws holding the two halves of the case together. To do this, you will need to undermine the elastic pillows: one in front and two in the back. There is no other way to get to the screws.
- Carefully detach the two halves of the case.
- In the upper part there is a small board connected to the main board with a cable. To disconnect, remove it from the connector, and then pry it with a screwdriver. plastic latch. It is an element of fixing the loop.
The question of how to disassemble a Logitech mouse has been answered. It is assembled in the same way, only the steps should be performed in reverse order.
Wireless mouse disassembly: A4tech Bloody
The use of a high-quality laser sensor in the manipulator is an indisputable advantage. This is exactly what A4tech mice with the Bloody brand are ready to boast of. They belong to the game class.
How to disassemble A4tech Bloody mouse? More on that in the instructions below:
- Unscrew the two screws that are on the case and remove the top. To do this, pry it slightly, being careful not to damage anything.
- Turning the mouse frame over, you can see a metal plate. Unscrew it.
- Remove the mouse wheel. If there is dirt or hair, clean it. If you disassemble the Bloody mouse, you will see that the wheel consists of two parts.
- To remove the board, carefully unscrew the screw.
Now it became clear how to disassemble the A4tech mouse. To assemble it, follow the same steps, only in reverse order.
As practice shows, disassembling a computer mouse is not difficult. It is enough to follow the basic rules:
- perform all actions carefully so as not to inadvertently damage the fragile elements of the device;
- make sure that none of the details are lost;
- if there are legs, be sure to install them in place, otherwise it will be difficult to work with the manipulator;
- if latches are present, note that there should be a click when they are secured.
Before disassembling a wireless mouse or device with a cord, evaluate your own strengths and skills. Perhaps the best option would be to take the device in for repair, where it will be repaired by experienced specialists.
Given the ubiquitous use of computers that is observed today, the instruction "How to disassemble a mouse" will come in handy in various situations.
Have you ever wondered how things work, how they go from idea to implementation, how simple simple things are? How easy is it to make a comb? What about a computer mouse? What about a wooden computer mouse made of solid mahogany with an LCD screen, with its own electronics and a cable made and braided especially for it? I think you will be interested in my path, which I went through in 2.5 years of creating my mouse.
Design, construction, modeling
Since I was a complete zero in design, I approached the matter as a complete layman. I bought plasticine and began to sculpt the mouse of my dreams.
First, I made a mouse, which is perfect for my desktop work. She is a large dark gray in the photo. Then I molded a mouse that would suit me as a mobile one (dark gray small). And then I took the piece of plasticine stolen from the children to work, and my colleagues fashioned a mouse that claims to be called “folk”. It ideally fit into the hand of the majority of the male population of our team (multi-colored in the photo). And what? The result is banal and dull forms that we twitch day and night with our hands in every way. Apparently, among the three standard mice, any user will find a comfortable one. Celebration of the ideal?
As a result, a mouse was simulated behind the computer, which, from my point of view, claimed to be elegant and beautiful.
At that time I really liked her. And without thinking twice, I divided the computer model into parts. The elements of fastening and interfacing with electronic filling were thought out. It sounds simple, but in fact, hundreds of hours of painstaking work were spent.
After that, the resulting parts were grown on a 3D machine to check the assembly.
Material - polyamide. In the hand sits well, like a glove. All parts fit together, the technological assembly also went without problems
The next step is milling in wood. I bought, probably, a dozen different species of redwoods, but I started with a sapele tree, the rest of the species are waiting in the wings.
Didn't like the design. The vertical gaps between the buttons and the case looked bad and untidy. Technological “sores” are visible when working with wood - chips and removal of the tree. Well, and most importantly - the keys did not bend, there was no click.
I thought about the design for a long time. Something was embarrassing, and there was no feeling of satisfaction. Then I realized - the mouse lacks solidity. I decided to return to the original version of the mouse, which I sculpted at the very beginning, only at a professional level and using sculptural clay. In one mouse, two design options are made. Convenient for comparison and decision making.
After receiving the final version, 3D scanning was done and the surfaces were transferred to SolidWorks.
The second model was not much better than the first. The buttons were not pressed, and it was impossible to fix this in the current model. The marriage of the model was laid down at the DNA level. We need a more integrated approach with simultaneous control of both design and technology. Otherwise, nothing will work. There will be either technological excellence or good design, but not all at once. These characteristics sit on different sides of the swing. So I throw everything in the trash and start from the beginning. Sketch-design-sculpting-testing-growing and so on, but with technological control of critical parameters on the one hand, and design on the other. We are looking for the golden mean.
The third model was already made as part of the classic product design cycle. Started with a sketch.
Outlines have been drawn.
And finally, the approved design.
Plasticine layout.
3D scanner getting the surface.
computer model.
Then the process of fine-tuning the hull began. On the CNC machine, the body was sawn out, tested, refined, then sawn out again. As a result, only the tenth version of the case turned out to be operational. The biggest problem was to make keystrokes comfortable. As a result, in some places the thickness of the tree decreased to 0.7 mm! It took me a year to finish the hull.
The wheel and connector were also made of wood.
I laser engraved the Clickwood brand on the wheel.
The eleventh version of the corps is on the way, where I will make minor changes. I also started developing a wireless version of the mouse. The wireless module is based on Bluetooth technology, the optosensor is laser. AAA batteries, 2 pieces, replaceable. When recharging, the mouse will continue to work. All the elements are located very tightly, while arranging I had to pretty rack my brains. A cavity specially cut into the wooden case of the mouse serves as a container for the batteries.
wooden details
Working with wood begins with the selection of wood. The boards must be of the correct geometry, have a minimum of knots and defects, and have the necessary moisture content.
At first, the boards are dried at home. At least six months.
After that, the board is sawn into small bars, which are dried for several weeks at the place of their further processing. At all stages, the humidity is controlled by a special device. If the drying process is neglected, the wood loses its geometric stability, and the manufacture and operation of the mouse becomes impossible.
Prepared bars are processed on a CNC machine using a specially created program.
From the very beginning of the creation of the part and until the final assembly of the mouse, the parts are rigidly fixed on a metal fixture so that the part does not change its shape and geometric dimensions at any of the stages.
The processing of the upper part of the mouse has to be done with a jeweler's precision, since its profile is designed for a soft click and is very thin in some places. I control the pressing force with a grammeter. In normal mice, it ranges from 50 to 75 gauss. I'm trying to get 50 GS.
The tree in my project is the biggest challenge. Not only is this the most significant part of the cost, but the share of marriage here is very high. Wood is an anisotropic material. It can lead, defects can occur, chips can occur, and just a mistake in the finishing coating technology can lead to the fact that the mouse body is sent to the trash. I confess that I am still improving the processing technology, and I am not completely sure that I found the right one. For statistics: in the first batch of ten cases, only three reached the finished product. Therefore, the part of the technological chain associated with wood is critical for the cost and quality of the finished product. Above it is a constant work.
In the future, I plan to work with bone. In particular, I am already engaged in the creation of a bone wheel.
Electronic part
I developed the first mouse circuit on my own. As a sensor, I took the top-end optical sensor ADNS-3090 from Avago, the controller from Atmel, the rest of the components from branded companies such as Murata, Yageo, Geyer, Omron and Molex became the brains.
He paid special attention to the quality nutrition of the mouse, here, in my opinion, he reached the absolute with his perfectionism
First working layout.
In black, final.
There were also experiments with various buttons. I've always tried to find a quiet mouse among others. Well, since I do it myself, I decided to conduct an experiment and make such a mouse and test it in work. To do this, I replaced the clicking left and right “mics” with soft and quiet ones used for the central button (did you notice that the central button always clicks quieter?). A special version of the board was created, where all three identical "mics" were mounted.
Picked up and bought a batch of gold-plated connectors for the mouse. As usual, in China. I don’t know about “better contact”, but they harmonize perfectly with the tree.
screen, firmware
Carried away by the idea of placing a display in a mouse, he began searching for it among hundreds of suppliers. The requirements were simple: strict dimensional restrictions and the possibility of at least a symbolic display of at least eight character spaces. While picking up, I learned almost everything about the displays. They differ in types: character and graphics, technology: TAB, COG, TFT, OLED, LCD, E-Paper and others. Each type or technology has a lot of varieties, sizes, colors, lighting, etc. In general, there was something to dig into.
Breaking half the Internet, I found out that the size I need is made by only one company in the whole wide world. All other options are clearly larger in size. And even the display I found barely fit inside the mouse. As an option, a custom display was considered, which could be made according to my requirements, but this is a very expensive option for me (about a hundred thousand rubles). For the first model, a 128 x 64 pixel graphic display is fine, which is what I chose.
In order to understand how the display really looks and fits with my mouse, I had to order all varieties of this display from manufacturers. What do these varieties mean? The model name consists of alphanumeric unpronounceable combinations like FP12P629AU12. All of them are assembled from various blocks and are clearly deciphered in the specification. For example, the above example can be assembled from blocks FP.12.P.629A.U12, where the type, size, voltage, controller, operating temperature range and other information about the model are encrypted. And the last block is the trickiest. It can have several dozen values, each of which means one or another combination of such characteristics as the presence and color of the backlight, the background color, the color of the characters, the range of degrees from which the information is clearly readable. These are the parameters I was interested in.
As a result, "for testing" I ordered 18 different modifications. The manufacturer agreed, but said that the minimum order is 5 displays for each modification. There was nowhere to go, and I had to agree, knowing that 90% would go to the trash can. And on one of the cloudy days, the express delivery service brought me home a huge box in which you can live a bum of average build. There were 18 smaller boxes in the box, each of which freely accommodated 5 displays, securely fixed for a long trip to cold Russia. There was so much accompanying packaging that the mother-in-law was enough to cover several beds for the winter.
As a result, after thorough tests on a specially assembled stand, two displays were suitable for the series. They differ only in the background: gray and yellow-green. It is them that I will offer to complete the mouse. By default, I plan to set it to yellow-green, but two more options will be available: a display with a gray background and a mouse without a display at all.
But the main intrigue was what information can be shown on the screen? I was offered various ideas: the temperature of the surrounding air, the indication of the arrival of letters, something else not very original.
My train of thought went in a different direction. Let's start with the fact that there are two significant limitations to the display of operational information: the presence of a huge and high-quality source of any information (monitor) in front of the user and the need to turn the mouse over to get information. In addition, the screen is small, the resolution is small, the LED interferes with normal reading. Therefore, I came up with one conclusion: information should be only entertaining, the applied value of which tends to zero, but at the same time the WOW!-effect should be lethal.
What kind of information can have such properties in a device of ordinary complexity? There is not much of it: mileage, time of use, speed of movement, number of clicks and scrolling of the wheel. I decided to refuse the last parameter, since it seemed uninteresting to me. All other parameters are tied to the session (the last time the mouse was used from the moment it was powered up, that is, connecting to the computer or turning on the computer itself) and to the entire lifetime of the mouse. For example, the user can at any moment of the mouse find out how many times he pressed the left mouse button or how many meters his mouse ran in meters today or since its purchase. The information is absolutely useless, but it will help the especially curious to understand how much he torments the mouse. If other interesting ideas appear, they can be implemented with a new firmware.
I also added general information about the mouse (model, mouse and firmware number, month of manufacture) and a settings screen. It will be possible to choose the language and the system of measures (English or metric). To store all this information, a permanent storage flash memory had to be added to the scheme.
To fit this amount of information, I had to break everything into screens. Each screen displays one type of information, and shows the values of the parameters for the session and for the entire time. There are six screens in total, which are changed with the mouse wheel.
The first option was implemented in a purely textual manner, for which several font options were even developed.
I made a firmware to evaluate how the text looks like using the created font on the mouse screen. Looks awful what can I say.
Now it has become obvious that graphics are needed on the screen, and not a set of symbolic information. Therefore, I hired a designer to work, and together we prepared three options for graphic design, as a result, the second option was recognized as the most successful.
Of course, this design required more resolution, so it had to be adapted.
But that's not the end of the story. After I picked up a screen for the mouse, I ordered a trial batch for breadboards. As a result, the screens came, but for some reason the number of outputs differed from what was indicated in the datasheet. In response to a request, the manufacturer received a response that, they say, everything is fine, this is a small modification, and it will not affect performance in any way. Meanwhile, the missing two conductors were responsible for the brightness of the displayed graphics.
All this was very suspicious. And just like looking into the water. They redid the board for a modified screen, soldered it, and then it turned out that the screen was completely dim. It's like the batteries are dead. And it turned out after a long and painstaking work on the search and selection of screens, the purchase of a trial batch of all modifications and their testing. Time, money, and so on.
But the story had a happy ending. After correspondence with the Chinese, it turned out that the screen can now adjust its contrast directly from the firmware. We treated the firmware, and everything began to show just fine!
Everything is shown as planned: mileage, speed, number of clicks, and so on.
In the future, the firmware also changed several times: there was a setting for changing the language. Two languages on one screen is bad - readability worsens, the Cyrillic abracadabra will only annoy the English-speaking user, and in the future support for other languages \u200b\u200bis may be needed. Difficulties began when I tried to adjust the mouse travel. It seems that there is something complicated: the optical sensor transmits an increment in two coordinates, which must be brought to a system of measures and added modulo to the current value. That's the whole run.
But, as it turned out, not everything is so simple. Two people with mice using the same sensor can get drastically different results! The thing is that the resolution of the sensor (sensitivity) is very dependent on the surface on which the mouse rolls. The best result is obtained when the mouse rolls over white paper. Slightly worse on wood and fabric. On a laminate and a film it is absolutely bad. The declared passport sensitivity is achieved only on ideal, from the point of view of the sensor, surfaces.
It doesn't matter to the end user. He connects the mouse and, by trial and error, sets the operating system to a comfortable cursor speed. The system remembers this factor and uses it to increase or decrease the movement coordinate increment values.
But it's a completely different matter if you decide to read these parameters directly from the mouse. The mouse on one surface will show the result of a run of one meter, on the other - one and a half. The speed will also "lie". And something needs to be done about it.
To solve this problem, it was necessary to introduce the “Discreteness (Sensitivity)” parameter, which allows you to individually select the coefficient for each surface. By default, it is equal to one, which corresponds to the surface of white paper. It can be increased or decreased in the settings. You can not touch it at all, everything will work fine and so. But for true perfectionists, in the leaflet attached to the mouse, a table will be given from which you can select the coefficient for the existing surface and instructions on how you can independently configure the mouse to show the exact mileage.
When developing the firmware, another side effect of the sensor was discovered. If you take the mouse and simply wave it in the air, the mileage readings will also change. This is due to the fact that the sensor defines the surrounding space as a kind of surface and also tries to get mouse offset values. Therefore, you can observe the following effect: you turn the mouse over, look at the mileage parameters and are surprised that they change upwards right before your eyes. Of course, you can install a tilt sensor in the mouse that disables the sensor for the time it is turned over, but doing this only for the situation described is unreasonable. Perhaps in the next version it will appear, but not now. After all, the mouse is lifted only to look at the indicators, and 99.9% of the time it is on the surface and receives the correct information.
Cable
I decided to make the cable as flexible as possible so that it does not interfere with the movement of the mouse and is “invisible” for kinematics. Well, I personally do not like the "spring" cable.
Sometimes it seems that when creating a product, the cable is the most insignificant part of the product. What is easier - buy the right amount of cable in the store and unsolder it. A trifling matter. But, alas, not here in Russia. Sometimes it seems that our industry is no longer adapted to do anything more complicated than cast-iron irons. Attempts to find a cable resulted in a three-week search and shaking up the assortment of absolutely all manufacturers of Russian cable products. It turned out that our standards do not describe a cable suitable for modern electronic devices. For example, a four-wire microphone cable with a KMM 4x0.12 mm2 braid has an outer diameter of 5 mm. This is a lot. Older mice and keyboards have a seemingly thick cable that is only 3.5mm in outer diameter. The closest analogue on sale was a cable from the German company Lapp Kabel, but it also had an outer diameter of 3.5 mm. Now imagine the braid on such a cable. Represented? I will tell you that I saw a similar cable on power cords for irons
So, it turned out: you can’t buy such a cable in Russia. Dot. Well, we are not accustomed to retreat. I go to production and try to order, since they still make cables in Russia. And for this, let's define my requirements. So what do I need:
Cores - copper, braided wires (for flexibility).
Number of cores - 4.
Screen - yes.
Flexibility is maximum.
The outer diameter of the cable is strictly no more than 3 mm.
Color - Pantone 4625 C.
Bottom line: I tried to write off, probably, with a dozen possible manufacturers of cable products, no one is interested in messing with my order. They didn't even ask what mileage I needed. Bottom line: in Russia, such a cable cannot be bought or produced. Sad. But we are not accustomed to retreat.
I go to Alibaba.com. I find the first Chinese manufacturer I come across, write a letter and literally in a few hours I get an answer: we will make any cable for you! I'm shocked. I throw him the specification, money for delivery, and a week later I get a sample. Blimey! And I lost almost three months trying to patriotically place an order in Russia. It turned out that the Chinese can quite easily make me a cable with an outer diameter of 2.5 mm.
Bottom line: I ordered 4 different samples from China. At first, I was not satisfied with the scratchiness and dullness of the outer sheath, then I was not satisfied with the flexibility of the cable, then again I was not satisfied with the flexibility, and in the end I settled on the last sample sent, which I was ready to order. They can't be more flexible. The cable has memory. As a result, I accidentally received a cable with memory, although I wanted to be as flexible as a rope
I ordered a kilometer, two weeks later I had the cable. Total time spent: six months.
I braided my kilometer of cable. It turned out two options.
Approximately 10% of the cable was discarded. This is the beginning of the bays, where the braid is unraveled and the machine has not yet entered the operating mode. And some places where, for some reason, loops and knots of braiding threads formed.
If the end of the cable is not sealed with heat shrink, then it will fluff up at the moment, the threads are synthetic! Therefore, the installation of the cable assembly is hampered by the heat shrink preventive nozzle.
The outer diameter of the braided cable turned out to be 3.2 mm, i.e. the braid added 0.7 mm to the cable diameter. It doesn't seem like much, but for a regular mouse, the cable comes mostly with a diameter of 3.5 mm, and in the era of wireless mice it seems thick and heavy. Recently, non-budget mice have begun to be equipped with cables with a diameter of 3 mm, and they no longer interfere with work, they are almost imperceptible. But the keyboard cable can be with an outer diameter of 4 mm. And even more. But for the keyboard it doesn't matter.
Plastic parts
As much as I would like to make the body parts of the mouse completely out of wood, plastic is indispensable here. You need legs, an axle for the wheel, a support for the axle and a glass for the display.
Therefore, I had to order a mold from the Chinese.
After each test casting, the Chinese sent me a dozen samples, which I tested on my mouse.
As a result, I finished the mold three times, until the quality began to satisfy me. The problems were different. For example, after assembly, I got the problem of dust that forms between the display and the protective glass. It looks untidy. Moreover, the mouse will scrape over the surface, and dust will gradually accumulate there. I had to convert the glass into a container with sides, where the display will be inserted, after which the circuit will be sealed.
It turned out here is such a detail.
Refining a mold is not an easy task at all, and changes can only be made in the direction of increasing the part. Therefore, any inaccuracy or mistake can spoil the whole work. For reference: each revision is a month and a half of waiting for new samples. And the change itself could be microscopic, but necessary.
I will not dwell on plastic parts, this technology is now in the lead, and I cannot tell you anything new and interesting here. Let me just say about the legs, for which I spent a long time choosing a material with reduced friction, after which I conducted tests and “races” of mice in order to determine the winner with minimal friction.
Processing and coating
First, there is a thorough work with the removal of pile, sanding and polishing the surface.
I had a difficult task ahead of me. It was necessary to stabilize the tree so that the geometry of the mouse does not change depending on the humidity, and protect the tree from working in an aggressive environment (sweat and grease from the hand).
From the very beginning, I refused varnish. Lacquer is a surface film that cracks over time, breaks down, and the tree turns out to be bare. Sweat and grease penetrate into the pores, the wood darkens, and an irreversible process of its degradation begins. Therefore, it was decided to use oil as an impregnation and protection, and wax to give a commercial look.
To make it clear: the tree is completely saturated with pores, which contain either air or the oil of the tree itself (if the tree is rubber). Our task is to fill the pores as much as possible with our oil, which then must polymerize and protect the wood.
In order not to stretch the story, I will say that I have tried many oils: linseed, teak, tung, vaseline, Danish. Each oil has its own character. For example, teak oil is very poorly waxed, and linseed oil takes a very long time to polymerize. Therefore, it is necessary to introduce a catalyst into it - a desiccant.
As a result, I developed two technologies. The first is the technology of vacuum wood impregnation. It works like this: I create a vacuum in an environment with oil and wood. Air begins to come out of the pores. After the vacuum is removed, the pores are filled with oil. As a plus - the tree is well stabilized. As a minus - it is very dark. Looks good, but for an amateur.
The second technology is surface coating with oil. The oil is applied 1-2 or more times with a non-woven cloth.
Apply carnauba wax.
And rub with a muslin circle.
Then, using a mounting hair dryer, I “dissolve” dry wax residues in narrow and difficult places. In the case of "insoluble" debris, I pick up a toothbrush with hard bristles, remove debris and then again locally repeat the procedure for applying wax.
If we evaluate the labor costs of processing, then manual labor per mouse is about four hours.
Assembly
Next comes the installation operation, but before it, you still need to remove traces of processing from the technological holes. Then, using a special 3M tape, I adjust and glue the legs (the case can lead to fractions of a millimeter, and this will be immediately noticeable: it will stagger like a lame stool). Then I lay the cable, mount the board, support, install the wheel and also, if necessary, adjust the buttons (there should be no bounce) and the pressing force. This operation can also take up to four hours.
