This months Scientific American has an article on this. If I remember right, the mouse has a CCD array and an image processor. The processor compares successive images, determines the change in position and velocity and transfers this information to the host...which explains why they work on my lap as well as on the bench. Madhu -----Original Message----- From: pic microcontroller discussion list [mailto:PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU]On Behalf Of Pedro Drummond Sent: Wednesday, October 03, 2001 11:46 AM To: PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU Subject: [EE]: Optical mouse technology How does it work ? It seems to have a laser diode and a photo sensor, but how is it able to respond to movements in every direction ? TIA, Pedro. ----- Original Message ----- From: Tony Nixon To: Sent: Tuesday, October 02, 2001 7:37 PM Subject: Re: [OT]: Engineering trivia > Barry Gershenfeld wrote: > > > > I didn't realize folks down under knew Yogi Berra. > > > > Barry > > Isn't that a friend of Boo Boo?? > > -- > Best regards > > Tony > > mICros > http://www.bubblesoftonline.com > mailto:sales@bubblesoftonline.com > > -- > http://www.piclist.com#nomail Going offline? Don't AutoReply us! > email listserv@mitvma.mit.edu with SET PICList DIGEST in the body > > > -- http://www.piclist.com hint: To leave the PICList mailto:piclist-unsubscribe-request@mitvma.mit.edu -- http://www.piclist.com hint: To leave the PICList mailto:piclist-unsubscribe-request@mitvma.mit.edu