Computer Mouse Reverse Engineering Project

Daniel Kane
Engineering Foundations Mr. Hendricks September 16 2013 B5

Many simple everyday objects are often taken for granted without any thought going into why or how it works. This report will analyze the process of reverse

engineering a simple computer mouse. To reverse engineer an object is to take it apart and determine how it was assembled and what it is made of. The computer mouse that was disassembled was a basic two-button ballcontrolled mouse with no scroll wheel measuring roughly 115mm X 62mm. The purpose of the project was to determine how the mouse operates, what materials make up the mouse and how the mouse is constructed. All measurements were measured with callipers. The function of the mouse is simply to move the cursor and click two buttons to send information to the computer. The smooth adjusting cursor is controlled by a ball with a diameter of 21.2mm. The ball is made of hard rubber to increase friction against the pad (or any other surface to operate the mouse on). The ball is located in the center of the mouse with small plastic 2.45mm bars on two sides of the ball, 90 to each other, which rotate 17.7mm gears which send information to the computer. The gears send information to the computer by way of an infrared sensor that detects the presence of infrared light shining through the teeth of the gear. Each tooth on the gear moves in between the infrared light and the infrared sensor. When the detector senses that the infrared light is blocked or if the detector is illuminated, it will send a signal to the computer to move the cursor. The teeth on the gear are spaced apart little enough and the gear moves fast enough to make a smooth path of the cursor. The ball-gear system is shown below with a photograph of the mouse in the dark. Human eyes cannot detect

infrared but a digital camera can. The mouse is made of mostly hard plastic on the outside with some metal electrical components and the rubber ball. The main body of the mouse is plastic because the plastic is lightweight, inexpensive and fairly durable. Plastic is a good choice for electronics in general because metal conducts electricity which could potentially lead to electrical problems. The ball that controls the cursor position is made of solid rubber to provide adequate friction but hard enough to not stick to parts inside the mouse. There are also many metal electrical components that send information to the computer.

The mouse is held together with a single screw with two plastic latches in front by the two keys. The mouse isnt very likely to fall apart in the way it is held together, the engineers did a good job designing it in that sense. While the mouse is very durable, it is still easy to open it with just a screwdriver to clean it. The screw is in the back of the under-side of the mouse with two latches in the front to hold it down. The mouse was easily disassembled with a philips screwdriver. The process of reverse engineering the computer mouse showed just how carefully and well thought out the design and manufacture of the mouse must be to accomplish its purpose. While the mouse is complex in some ways, it is still fairly simple compared to more modern computer controls.