Using optical mice as input devices

[ghann]

Hi,

I'm doing a robotics research project, looking at the possibility of using optical mouse-style CMOS sensors for motion tracking. To this end, I'm building a simple machine with LEGO Mindstorms, and I intend to attach two optical mice to this and feed their output into LabView.

Ideally, I'd like to plug both mice into USB ports. Can anyone help me with these two problems?

1. How to get input from two mice simultaneously? i.e. how to differentiate between them.

2. How to have LabView process USB input? I imagine there will be an ActiveX control for them (which leads back to question 1...)

Thanks for your help. Yours,

Gareth.

[Rainer Ehrt]

Hi Ghann,
I intend to do the same thing, but haven't found out how to.
I hope, somebody else knows at least a point of start for us...

Bye,
Rainer

ghann wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I'm doing a robotics research project, looking at the possibility of
> using optical mouse-style CMOS sensors for motion tracking. To this
> end, I'm building a simple machine with LEGO Mindstorms, and I intend
> to attach two optical mice to this and feed their output into LabView.
>
> Ideally, I'd like to plug both mice into USB ports. Can anyone help me
> with these two problems?
>
> 1. How to get input from two mice simultaneously? i.e. how to
> differentiate between them.
>
> 2. How to have LabView process USB input? I imagine there will be an
> ActiveX control for them (which leads b
ack to question 1...)
>
> Thanks for your help. Yours,
>
> Gareth.

[Cult of Nurse's]

ghann wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I'm doing a robotics research project, looking at the possibility of
> using optical mouse-style CMOS sensors for motion tracking. To this
> end, I'm building a simple machine with LEGO Mindstorms, and I intend
> to attach two optical mice to this and feed their output into LabView.
>
> Ideally, I'd like to plug both mice into USB ports. Can anyone help me
> with these two problems?
>
> 1. How to get input from two mice simultaneously? i.e. how to
> differentiate between them.
>
> 2. How to have LabView process USB input? I imagine there will be an
> ActiveX control for them (which leads back to question 1...)
>
> Thanks for your help. Yours,
>
> Gareth.

You are going to conflict with the OS mouse driver. The OS will detect

the USB mouse and install a driver for it and you won't be able to get
your arms around that. Why don't you use two PS/2 mice with serial
converter plugs? That way you just use COM ports and the mouse protocol
is well known. If you go USB I think you will spend all of your time
dicking around trying to force it to do something it wasn't designed to
do. The real problem is that there is only one cursor so you won't be
able to differentiate positioning inputs.


Otherwise, hook up two USB mice, glue the right button down on one and
see if you can distiguish button down moves from button up moves
(probably won't work.)

[Westscape]

Rainer Ehrt wrote:
> Hi Ghann,
> I intend to do the same thing, but haven't found out how to.
> I hope, somebody else knows at least a point of start for us...
>
> Bye,
> Rainer
>
> ghann wrote:
>
>
>>Hi,
>>
>>I'm doing a robotics research project, looking at the possibility of
>>using optical mouse-style CMOS sensors for motion tracking. To this
>>end, I'm building a simple machine with LEGO Mindstorms, and I intend
>>to attach two optical mice to this and feed their output into LabView.
>>
>>Ideally, I'd like to plug both mice into USB ports. Can anyone help me
>>with these two problems?
>>
>>1. How to get input from two mice simultaneously? i.e. how to
>>differentiate between them.
>>
>>2. How to have LabView process USB input? I imagine there w
ill be an
>>ActiveX control for them (which leads back to question 1...)
>>
>>Thanks for your help. Yours,
>>
>>Gareth.
>
>

I did this with one mouse by hacking into the quadrature outputs of the
mouse controller and feeding into Counter inputs on a 6024E board;
adding another mouse should not be a problem with this technique.

[Hollow Man]

Man, am I digging up an old thread...

Anyways, I'm interested in the method by which you hacked into the quadrature outputs of the mouse.  From reading a bit on the Agilent site regarding the ADNS-2610 chip, it looks like it really doesn't output quadrature straight up, unless I'm missing something.  I'm looking at trying to use an optical mouse to track the position of a tool as it moves across a surface.  I think the mouse outputs delta_x and delta_y in a serial burst along with alot of other important data (button states, direction bits, etc).  I need to interface the optical mouse to a piece of equipment that is expecting a standard one-axis A/B quadrature input.