How was the mouse created? - briefly
The computer mouse originated in the 1960s when Douglas Engelbart’s lab built a wooden‑casing device with two perpendicular wheels to translate hand movements into cursor motion, later refined with ball and optical sensors for greater precision.
How was the mouse created? - in detail
The computer mouse originated from research at the Stanford Research Institute (SRI) in the early 1960s. Douglas Engel Engelbart led a team that sought a device to control a cursor on a video display. Their first prototype, built in 1964, consisted of a wooden shell, two perpendicular orthogonal wheels that detected motion, and a single button. The wheels turned against a pair of shafts linked to potentiometers, converting mechanical displacement into electrical signals that the computer interpreted as cursor movement.
Production of the prototype required several key steps:
- Mechanical housing: crafted from hardwood, later replaced by molded plastic for durability and mass‑production.
- Motion sensors: initial wheels gave way to a rubber‑coated steel ball that rolled on the desk surface, contacting internal rollers that generated X and Y pulses.
- Electrical interface: potentiometers or optical encoders produced voltage changes; these were amplified and sent to the host computer via a serial cable.
- Button mechanism: a simple push‑button switch closed a circuit, sending a click event to the system.
In 1973, Xerox PARC refined the design, introducing the first commercial ball mouse and adding a second button. The ball mouse incorporated:
- A spherical rubber ball that rolled freely in all directions.
- Two orthogonal rollers contacting the ball, each attached to a slotted disc encoder.
- Optical sensors that read the disc rotation, translating it into digital pulses.
The transition to optical technology began in the late 1990s. Optical mice eliminated the moving ball and rollers, using a light‑emitting diode (LED) or laser diode to illuminate the surface and a CMOS sensor to capture successive images. Image‑processing algorithms calculated displacement by comparing frames, improving reliability and reducing maintenance.
Key milestones in the mouse’s evolution:
- 1970s: Ball mouse with two buttons; first widely sold model, the Xerox Alto mouse.
- 1981: Introduction of the IBM PC mouse, compatible with the Microsoft Mouse driver.
- 1994: Logitech releases the first commercially successful optical mouse, using an infrared LED.
- 2004: Laser‑based optical mice appear, offering higher resolution and ability to track on glossy surfaces.
- 2010s: Integration of additional features such as scroll wheels, ergonomic shapes, wireless RF/Bluetooth connectivity, and programmable buttons.
Manufacturing today follows a standardized assembly line:
- Injection molding creates the outer shell and internal brackets.
- Precision machining produces the sensor module and PCB.
- Surface‑mount technology places electronic components on the board.
- Automated testing verifies motion tracking accuracy, button response, and wireless communication before packaging.
The mouse’s design has progressed from a handcrafted wooden device with mechanical wheels to a compact, high‑resolution optical sensor housed in plastic, reflecting advances in materials engineering, sensor technology, and ergonomic research.