i have got about a dozen optical mice and i was thinking if there was asny way that we can make use of the sensor in it. any ideas??

The optical interrupter there in can be used as optical rotary encoder and such items are used to control various parameters in audio equipments. similarly one can use it in equipments like DDS synthesizers as a tool for adjusting the frequency etc,

An optical mouse doesn't have an interrupter ... it basically has a sensor which "looks" at the surface it's on and sends cursor movement data to the computer based upon the changes it "sees" when the mouse is moved. See this link.
Jeff

Originally Posted by jbeng

An optical mouse doesn't have an interrupter ... it basically has a sensor which "looks" at the surface it's on and sends cursor movement data to the computer based upon the changes it "sees" when the mouse is moved. See this link.
Jeff

there is an interrupter in the wheel if the mice are so equipped

Originally Posted by justDIY

there is an interrupter in the wheel if the mice are so equipped

Thanks, I should have been more clear in my post. I meant the wheel part of the optical mouse has other usages. Now that we are thinking of optical part of it I wonder why this cant be used for any alternate purpose-- i would examine, and I do have a spare mouse.

there's a few hacks floating around, one turns the sensor into a scanner of sorts, another actually produces video from the sensor

not much point to either, it's a pretty application specific chip.

put the extra mice on ebay for 1 cent and charge $12 shipping

any circuit or what?

how does a sensor on an optical mouse work. cause i am thinking of using it in a person counter circuit. does it respond to light reflected back towards it or any disturbance in it. if so at what range??

Originally Posted by justDIY

there is an interrupter in the wheel if the mice are so equipped

Good point. I didn't get the feeling that's what the o/p was talking about though.
Jeff

If you put a proper lense on the sensor you could use it as a movement sensor like the sort used in burgular alarms but with visible/near-infrared light rather than far-infrared heat emissions.

thanx. exactly what type of lense are we talking bout. also can any one provide me with data sheet of pan 3101 db so i can extract it from the mouse ckt .