The Blue Laser Bluetooth Mouse

Right after the Microsoft IntelliMouse Explorer Bluetooth Mouse was released I had the opportunity to buy one. Its was (if I remember correctly) the first mouse from Microsoft to use bluetooth technology. I was impress, afterall it was the most beautiful mouse i ever seen. But it wasn't enough. I was looking to have a unique mouse. Easiest thing i could imagine was to change the "laser" color.

Step 1 The " laser" Technology

I know we all have seen a lot of mouses with this "laser". In fact (at least this mouse in particular) what happens is that the mouse have a tiny camera and the red light helps to "enhance" the image below the mouse, so the processor will be able to calculate movements. I decide to try others colors, and what's best for a bluetooth mouse that a blue "laser" ???? :)

Comments

[NostalgicStone]

 Very cool :)

[Mavamaarten]

I tried out a White LED, and it worked like a charm
(super bright white LED...)

[TechnoMancer]

excuse me but this is not a laser mouse if it has an LED in it!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it is just an ordinary wireless optical mouse. you should be able to use white LEDs as well!!!!!! the optical mouse uses an 18x18 CCD camera to take pictures of the surface at 6000Hz (6000 times a second) and compares them to determine the movement of the mouse so any colour that will effectively illuminate the surface should work!!!! ultra-brights should work best!!!!! I've seen mice that come with blue LEDs before!!!!! i think they use red cause they work on most surfaces and cause theyre the cheapest colour.

[Colonel88]

you are probably right about the cheapest colour part

[Tomcat]

TRUE LASER mice use a 3mw red laser because the cohesion and "trueness" of colour ( usually 650nm) the ccd is more accurate also the ccds are usually like 30x30 or 50x50 @600hz or really high end 1200hz ( not 6000 fool) most "laser mice" are just brighter led mice the companies just use the "laser" word as a ("lie") selling point any colour will do because the ccd just picks up monochrome brightness BEWARE: your ccd MAY be insensitive to some colours

[TechnoMancer]

the reason they use red I think is becuase not only does it provide the best colour but red is the cheapest LED colour, blue and green have only been invented recently.

[TechnoMancer]

um
take a look at this page
it clearly states that the image processing speed is 6400 Frames per second
this must mean that the CCD is doing at least that many frames per second!!!!!
http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/input/a27b/?cpg=72H

[pcapelo]

Hi there, First, thank you for the information. I didnt know that. Second, the laser its just in the name. I know its a LED with a camera :) dont kill the messenger :P thank you anyway for yout message. cheers PC

[truk]

The difference in color really is a benefit or disadvantage depends on your surfaces. My green mouse, my preference, works well on wood and some of the more reflective surfaces, but not so well on some of the surfaces that work best with the traditional mouse. I've been meaning to try straight blue and yellow separately, but I haven't had the time.

[jokerlz]

I've tried yellow, it works on everything apart from my desk (varnished wood, quite dark, alothough it works on black surfaces hmmm?). It works on white paper, brown cauldroy, skin, red curtains, black fabric, blue fabric grey aswell. these are not all the things it works on but some of them.

[Yerboogieman]

the green LED is pretty kool but the mouse it self is a little bit ugly.. sorry if im cutting you down

[Technoled]

I found a web site where it sell a kit of blue LED (not laser) to modify your USB mouse or buy a modified one Blue LED Mouse Why not! All the job is done...

[Yerboogieman]

i like that you had alot of different angles with a camera that has pretty good quality..

[kurdtpage]

There are a lot of different LEDs out there. Which one did you use?

[!Andrew_Modder!]

doood! I took the red LED and replaced with blue LED (in my old mouse), and it lagged you couldnt move very fast .which is horrible for online games... :-( BLAHH it looks cool but dont wana sacrafice my new wireless mouse. :-(

[!Andrew_Modder!]

oh, i found out the prob! :-D, i used a low output (or whatever its called) radio shack L.E.D, i found out, if you do this you MUST use the brightest LED you can get ( try online)

[your mom]

online games, pfft pathetic like your little Runescape? *sarcastic, if your retarted*

[Yerboogieman]

retart? get a life....why would somebody play runescape, its like playing dungeons and dragons

[girrrrrrr2]

runescape rules!!! and i think he was talking about games like socom... i think... either way dont make fun of runescape or jagex for that matter!!!

[FunkNattidelic]

In my opinion, Runescape is for emos who have low self esteem. They spend all their time on it to get awesome stats. Atari had better graphics and it is just a cheezy version of World of Warcraft.

[Yerboogieman]

diablo was pretty kool though

[MumblingTuna]

No runescape is pretty lame. I played it for awhile.

[!Andrew_Modder!]

ya it sux

[k3y3l3e3]

sux horrably

[uberchoob]

runescape was pretty wicked back when it was just andrew gower running the show. Now, it basically sucks... there's no way around it. There might have been an argument for it back when it was just lumbridge and varak. The PK system and guard system was what made it good back then. You took a chance, and if you lost, you lost big. If you won, you won big-at least until you lost again. but then all these little kids started to play, then the game got safer and safer... destroyed.. I still long for that game of so long ago that was made by a humble bartender of some pub, made by the next man, for the next man...

[!Andrew_Modder!]

? lol iv only played like 1ce. so ur saying it was good and graphic, now its bad and 'friendly'?

[uberchoob]

yeah basically. It's like all those old fairy tales after Disney got ahold of them. They were great, graphic, gory and such, then Disney rewrote them to be soft, friendly, and unbearably kiddy.

[pcapelo]

??? I dont get it. Whats the relevance of your comment to this thread???? Any way. thank you for looking my instructables

[your mom]

who the crap said i was taking about the instructable? im teasing "online games"

[LasVegas]

Did you try reducing the inline "current limiting resistor?" A blue LED normally calls for quite a bit more current than a red LED.

[!Andrew_Modder!]

uhh... what.. i dont know how to lol. :-(

[pcapelo]

He is right. I not sure the specs of my blue led, but i got a pretty fair precision. Wasnt the fastest thing in the world but it was precise enough to do office work and some games. Never play Halo, but Im sure I would have some issues. Anyway. Its a cool thing to have in your desk. Cheers

[srilyk]

what would be really sweet is to get three LEDs mounted on your board - RGB, maybe even a 4th white. And then a clicky selector to change the color around to whatever suits you ^_

[TechnoMancer]

excuse me but this is not a laser mouse if it has an LED in it!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it is just an ordinary wireless optical mouse. you should be able to use white LEDs as well!!!!!! the optical mouse uses an 18x18 CCD camera to take pictures of the surface at 6000Hz (6000 times a second) and compares them to determine the movement of the mouse so any colour that will effectively illuminate the surface should work!!!! ultra-brights should work best!!!!!

[ratgod]

I fitted a while LED once, I was at work and the LED burnt out, I'm an electronics engineer so I had plenty of spairs to choose from, so I put in a while LED and it worked great. I went on to design many circuit boards using that mouse. and as far as I know its still going good.