Wooden mouse Project history
Have you ever wondered how things are arranged, what path they go from idea to realization, how simple are simple things? How easy is a comb to make? And a computer mouse? And what about a wooden computer mouse from a solid mahogany bar with an LCD display, with its own electronic filling and a cable made and braided especially for it? I think you will be interested in my path, which I passed in 2.5 years of creating my mouse.
')
Design, construction, modeling
Since I was a complete zero in the design, I approached the case as a complete layman. Bought plasticine and began to sculpt the mouse of your dreams.
At first I blinded the mouse, which is perfect for me to work on the desktop. She is a big dark gray in the photo. Then I blinded a mouse that would suit me for the role of a mobile (dark gray little). And then I took the piece of plasticine stolen from children to work, and my colleagues fashioned a mouse claiming the title of “folk”. She ideally went to the hand of the majority of the male population of our team (in the photo is colorful). And what? It turned out banal and dull forms that we wrestle with our hands every day and night. Apparently, among the three standard mice, any user will find himself comfortable. The triumph of the ideal?
As a result, a mouse was modeled behind a computer, which, from my point of view, claimed to be elegant and beautiful.
At that moment I really liked her. And, without thinking twice, I divided the computer model into details. Were designed fasteners and mates with electronic filling. It sounds simple, but in fact hundreds of hours of hard work were spent.
After that, the obtained parts were grown on a 3D machine to check the collection.
Material - polyamide. In the hand sits well, like a glove. All parts fit together, the process assembly also went smoothly.
The next stage is milling in wood. He probably bought about a dozen different types of red trees, but he started from a tree with a sapele, the other species are waiting in the wings.
Live design did not like. The vertical slots between the buttons and the case looked bad and untidy. Visible technological "sores" when working with wood - chips and tree removal. Well and the main thing - the keys did not bend, there was no click.
Long thought over the design. Something confused, and there was no sense of satisfaction. Then I realized that the mice lacked solidity. I decided to return to the original version of the mouse, which I sculpted at the very beginning, only on a professional level and using sculptural clay. In one mouse made two design options. Convenient for comparison and decision making.
After receiving the final version was done 3D scanning and transfer surfaces in SolidWorks.
The second model was not much better than the first. Buttons were not pressed, and it was impossible to fix it in the current model. The marriage model was laid at the DNA level. We need a more comprehensive approach with simultaneous control of both design and technology. Otherwise, nothing happens. There will be either technological excellence or good design, but not all at once. These characteristics sit on opposite sides of the swing. Therefore, I throw everything in the trash and start from the beginning. Sketch-design-modeling-testing-cultivation and so on, but with technological control of critical parameters on the one hand, and design on the other. We are looking for a middle ground.
The third model was made already in the framework of the classic product design cycle. Started with a sketch.
Draw the contours.
And finally, the approved design.
Plasticine layout.
3D scanner, getting the surface.
Computer model.
Then the process of finishing the hull began. On the CNC machine, the body was sawed out, tested, refined, then sawed out again. As a result, only the tenth version of the case turned out to be workable. The biggest challenge was making the keystrokes comfortable. As a result, in some places the thickness of the tree was reduced to 0.7 mm! The process of finalizing the case took me a year.
Wooden were also made wheel and connector.
I cast a laser engraving on the wheel with the brand Clickwood.
On the approach is the eleventh version of the case, where I will make minor changes. I also started developing a wireless version of the mouse. The wireless module is based on bluetooth technology, the optosensor is a laser. Batteries size AAA, 2 pieces, with the possibility of replacement. When recharging the mouse will continue to work. All elements are arranged very tightly, during the layout I had to pretty much break my head. A cavity specially cut in the wooden case of the mouse serves as a container for the batteries.
Wooden details
Woodworking begins with the selection of wood. Boards must be of the correct geometry, have a minimum of knots and flaws, and have the necessary moisture.
At first, the boards are dried at home. At least six months.
After that, the board is sawn into small-sized bars, which are dried for several weeks at the place of their further processing. At all stages, the humidity is controlled by a special device. If we neglect the drying process, the tree loses its geometric stability, and the manufacture and operation of the mouse become impossible.
The prepared bars are processed on the CNC machine with the help of a specially created program.
From the very beginning of the creation of the part and up to the final assembly of the mouse, the parts are rigidly fixed on the metal snap, so that at no stage does the part change its shape and geometric dimensions.
The processing of the upper part of the mouse has to be done with jewelry accuracy, since its profile is designed for a soft click and in some places is very thin. I control the pressing force with a grammeter. In normal mice, it ranges from 50 to 75 hs. I try to achieve 50 HS.
With the tree in my project are the greatest difficulties. Not only is this the most significant part of the cost, but the proportion of marriage here is very high. Wood is an anisotropic material. It can lead, defects can be caught, chips can appear, and simply a mistake in the technology of the finishing coating can lead to the body of the mouse being sent to the garbage. I admit that I am still improving the processing technology, and I am not sure that I have found the right one. For statistics: in the first batch of ten buildings, only three reached the finished product. Therefore, part of the technological chain associated with the tree is crucial for the cost and quality of the finished product. Over it is a permanent job.
In the future I plan to work with the bone. In particular, I am already engaged in the creation of a wheel made of bone.
Electronic part
I designed the first mouse scheme myself. I took the top-end optical sensor ADNS-3090 from Avago as a sensor, the controller was the Atmel controller, the other components of the brand companies like Murata, Yageo, Geyer, Omron and Molex.
Particular attention was paid to the quality nutrition of the mouse, here, in my opinion, I reached the absolute with my perfectionism :)
To understand how the sensor works in and out, fully translated the optosensor specification into Russian.
Then the first version of the board was developed.
The first working layout.
The second version of the board, the second layout.
Third.
Fourth.
In the black version, the final.
There were also experiments with various buttons. I have always tried to pick up a quiet mouse among others. Well, since I do it myself, I decided to conduct an experiment and make such a mouse and try it out at work. To do this, clicking the left and right "mikriki" replaced by soft and quiet, used for the central button (noticed that the central button always clicks quieter?). A special version of the board was created, where all three identical “mikrikas” were mounted.
The mouse was in operation for a couple of weeks and I can share a conclusion: in my case, the absence of a click is not comfortable. The tree partially absorbs the click, and it seems that the wooden keys are tight, and you have to press harder. It is difficult to describe the feeling, but the closest analogy is as if the mouse button is located under a finger from a soft, to a bread crumb, wood, and for a confident click you need to press it. The experiment can be considered successful, because a clear result is obtained of what should be the response from a mouse click - a clear, clear, unambiguously interpretable one.
I picked up and bought a batch of gold-plated connectors for the mouse. As usual in China. I don’t know how about “better contact”, but they harmonize perfectly with the tree.
At the moment in the project for the development of a wireless version of the mouse.
Screen, firmware
Inspired by the idea of ​​placing a display in a mouse, he began searching for him among hundreds of suppliers. The requirements were simple: strict overall limitations and the possibility of at least a symbolic display of at least eight familiarity. While picking up, I learned almost everything about displays. They differ by type: symbolic and graphic, by technology: TAB, COG, TFT, OLED, LCD, E-Paper and others. Each type or technology has a lot of varieties, sizes, colors, lighting, etc. In general, there was something to delve into.
Break the half of the Internet, I found out that the size I need is made by just one company in the whole wide world. All other options are definitely larger in size. And even the display I found barely fit inside the mouse. As an option, a custom display was considered, which I could have been made according to my requirements, but this is a very expensive option for me (about a hundred thousand rubles). For the first model is quite suitable graphic display with a resolution of 128 by 64 pixels, which I chose.
In order to understand how the display really looks and fits with my mouse, I had to order all the varieties of this display from manufacturers. What do these species mean? The model name consists of alphanumeric, unprovable combinations of the FP12P629AU12 type. All of them are assembled from different blocks and clearly deciphered in the specification. For example, the given example can be assembled from FP.12.P.629A.U12 blocks, where type, size, voltage, controller, operating temperature range, and other information about the model are encrypted. And the last block is the most cunning. It can have several dozen values, each of which means a combination of such characteristics as the presence and color of the backlight, the background color, the color of the characters, the range of degrees from which information is clearly read. Just these parameters were interesting to me.
As a result, “for testing” I ordered 18 different modifications. The manufacturer agreed, but said that the minimum order is 5 displays for each modification. There was nowhere to go, and I had to agree, knowing that 90% would go to the rubbish bin. And on one of the dull days, the express delivery service brought me a huge box in which you can live a homeless person of average build. In the box there were 18 smaller boxes, each of which freely accommodated 5 display cards, securely fixed for a long trip to cold Russia. Concomitant packaging was so much that the mother-in-law enough to cover several beds for the winter.
As a result, after careful tests on a specially assembled stand, two displays were suitable for the series. They differ only in background: gray and yellow-green. I will offer them for a complete set of the mouse. By default, I plan to put a yellow-green, but two more options will be available: a display with a gray background and a mouse without a display at all.
But the main intrigue was what information can be shown on the screen? I was offered different ideas: ambient temperature, indication of the arrival of letters, something else is not very original.
My line of thought went the other way. To begin with, there are two significant restrictions on the display of operational information: the presence before the user of a huge and high-quality source of any information (monitor) and the need to turn the mouse to obtain information. In addition, the screen is small, the resolution is small, the LED interferes with normal reading. Therefore, the conclusion I got was one: the information should be only of an entertaining character, the applied value of which tends to zero, but at the same time the WOW! Effect should be a killer one.
What kind of information can have such properties in a mediocre device? Its a bit: mileage, time of use, speed of movement, the number of clicks and scroll wheel. I decided to give up the last parameter, since it seemed uninteresting to me. The rest of all parameters are linked to the session (the last time the mouse was used from the moment the power was applied to it, that is, connected to a computer or turned on by the computer itself) and to the whole time of the mouse existence. For example, a user can at any moment of a mouse find out how many times he pressed the left mouse button or how much his mouse ran in meters for today or since its purchase. Information is absolutely useless, but it will be especially curious to help you understand how much it is tormenting the mouse. If other interesting ideas appear, they can be implemented with new firmware.
Also added general information on the mouse (model, number of the mouse and firmware, month of manufacture) and the settings screen. It will be possible to choose a language and a system of measures (English or metric). To store all this information, we had to add flash memory to the schema.
To put such a volume of information, I had to break everything on the screens. Each screen displays one type of information, and shows the values ​​of the parameters for the session and for all the time. In total, there are six screens that change the mouse wheel.
The first version was implemented in a purely textual key, for which even several variants of fonts were developed.
I made the firmware to evaluate how the text looks with the created font on the mouse screen. Looks terrible, what to say.
Now it became obvious that the screen needed graphics, and not a set of character information. Therefore, I brought to the work of the designer, and together we prepared three versions of graphic execution, in the end, the second option was recognized as the most successful.
Of course, such a design required more resolution, so it had to be adapted.
But this is not the end of the story. After picking up the screen for the mouse, I made an order for a test batch for the mockout. As a result, small screens came, but for some reason, the number of conclusions was different from what was specified in the datasheet. At the request of the manufacturer came the answer that, they say, everything is fine, this is a small modification, and it does not affect the performance. Meanwhile, the missing two conductors were responsible for the brightness of the displayed graphics.
It was all very suspicious. And exactly as he looked into the water. Redid the board under the modified screen, soldered, and then it turned out that the screen is completely dim. As if the device had batteries. And it turned out that after a long and painstaking work on the search and selection of small screens, the purchase of a trial batch of all modifications and their tests. Time, money, and so on.
But the story turned out to be a good ending. After correspondence with the Chinese, it turned out that the screen can now adjust its contrast directly from the firmware. Healed the firmware, and everything began to show just great!
Everything is shown as planned: mileage, speed, number of clicks, and more.
Later on, the firmware was also changed several times: the setting for changing the language appeared. Two languages ​​on one screen are bad - readability is deteriorating, the Cyrillic abracadabra will only annoy the English-speaking user, and support for other languages ​​may be needed in the future. The difficulties started when I tried to adjust the mileage of the mouse. It seems that there is something difficult: the optical sensor transmits an increment of two coordinates, which must be brought to the system of measures and added modulo to the current value. That's the whole run.
But as it turned out, not everything is so simple. Two people with mice where the same sensor is installed can get completely different results! The fact is that the resolution of the sensor (sensitivity) is very strongly dependent on the surface on which the mouse rolls. The best result is obtained when the mouse rolls on white paper. Slightly worse on wood and fabric. On laminate and film is very bad. The claimed passport sensitivity is achieved only on ideal, from the point of view of the sensor, surfaces.
For the end user, this does not matter. It connects the mouse and by trial and error puts the comfortable speed of the cursor in the operating system. The system remembers this coefficient and uses it to increase or decrease the increment values ​​of the coordinates of movement.
But it is quite another thing if you have conceived to read these parameters directly from the mouse. A mouse on one surface will show the result of one meter run, on the other - one and a half. Speed ​​will also be “lying”. And with this we need to do something.
To solve this problem, we had to enter the parameter "Sensitivity", which allows you to individually select the coefficient for each surface. By default, it is equal to one, which corresponds to the surface of white paper. It can be in the settings as to increase or decrease. You can not touch it at all, everything will work fine and so.But for true perfectionists in the leaflet attached to the mouse, a table will be given from which you can choose a coefficient to the existing surface and instructions on how to customize the mouse yourself to show the exact mileage.
When developing the firmware, another side effect of the sensor was found. If you take the mouse and just wave it in the air, the mileage will also change. This is due to the fact that the sensor determines the surrounding space as a kind of surface and also tries to get the mouse offset values. Therefore, you can observe such an effect: you turn the mouse over, look at the parameters of the race and are surprised that they are changing in a big way right before your eyes. Of course, it is possible to install an angle sensor in the mouse, which disables the sensor for the time of its revolution, but it is unwise to do this only for the situation described. Perhaps in the next version it will appear, but not now. After all, the mouse is raised only to look at the indicators, and 99.9% of the time it is on the surface and receives the correct information.
Cable
Cable has decided to make the most flexible, so that it does not interfere with the movement of the mouse and was "invisible" to the kinematics. Well, I personally don’t like the “spring” cable.
Sometimes it seems that when you create a product cable - the most insignificant part of the product. What is easier - to buy in the store the right amount of cable and unsolder it. Spit it out. But, alas, not here in Russia. Sometimes it seems that our industry is no longer adapted to do anything more difficult than iron irons. Attempts to find the cable resulted in a three-week search and shake-up of the range of absolutely all manufacturers of Russian cable products. It turned out: our standards do not describe the cable that is suitable for modern electronic devices. For example, a four-core microphone cable with a KMM 4x0.12mm2 braid has an outer diameter of 5 mm. This is a lot.Older mice and keyboards have a seemingly thick cable whose outer diameter is only 3.5 mm. The closest analogue on sale was the cable of the German company Lapp Kabel, but its external diameter was just 3.5 mm. Now imagine a braid on this cable. Submitted?I will tell you that I saw a similar cable on power cords for irons :)
So, it turned out that such a cable cannot be bought in Russia. Point.Well, we are not used to retreat. I go into production and try to order, since they still make cable in Russia. And for this purpose we will be defined with my requirements. So, what I need: The
veins are copper, braided wires (for flexibility).
Number of veins - 4.
Screen - yes.
Flexibility is maximum.
External cable diameter is strictly not more than 3 mm.
Color - Pantone 4625 C.
Outcome: I tried to communicate, probably, with a dozen possible cable manufacturers, no one is interested in messing with my order. Did not even ask what mileage I need. Bottom line: in Russia, this cable does not buy and do not produce. It's sad.But we are not used to retreat.
Coming to Alibaba.com. I find the first Chinese manufacturer I have got, I am writing a letter and in just a few hours I get the answer: we will make any cable for you! I'm shocked.I throw him a specification, money for delivery, and in a week I get a sample. Wow! And I lost almost three months, trying to patriotically place an order in Russia. It turned out that the Chinese can easily make me a cable with an external diameter of 2.5 mm.
In summary: I ordered 4 different samples in China. At first, they didn’t accept the scratchiness and haze of the outer shell, then didn’t arrange the flexibility of the cable, then again didn’t arrange flexibility, and finally settled on the last sample sent, which was ready to order. More flexible they can not. The cable has a memory. As a result, I accidentally got a cable with memory, although I wanted to be as flexible as a rope :) I
ordered a kilometer, after two weeks I had the cable. Total time spent: six months.
Braided his kilometer cable. It turned out two options.
Approximately 10% of the cable was rejected. This is the beginning of the bays, where the braid is unraveled and the machine has not yet entered the working mode. And some places where for some reason loops and knots of braid threads were formed.
If the end of the cable is not to be heat shrinked, then it will fluff at the time, the threads are synthetic! Therefore, the installation of the cable assembly is hampered by a preventive heat shrink nozzle.
The outer diameter of the braided cable was 3.2 mm, i.e. sheath added 0.7 mm to the cable diameter. It seems a little, but with an ordinary mouse, the cable goes mainly with a diameter of 3.5 mm, and it seems thick and heavy in the era of wireless mice. Recently, budget mice began to be equipped with cables with a diameter of 3 mm, and they no longer interfere with the work, they are almost imperceptible. But the keyboard cable can be with an external diameter of 4 mm. And even more. But for the keyboard it is not important.
Next ordered cable assembly. Cables have two different lengths and two braid colors. So to say, for every taste of the consumer.
Plastic parts
No matter how much I want to make the body parts of a mouse completely made of wood, plastic cannot be done here. Looking for legs, axis for the wheel, support for the axis and glass for the display.
Therefore, we had to order a mold from the Chinese.
After each test cast, the Chinese sent me a dozen samples that I tested on my mouse.
In the end, I worked the mold three times until the quality satisfied me. The problems were different. For example, after assembly, I got a dust problem that forms between the display and the protective glass. It looks untidy. Moreover, the mouse will scrape on the surface, and dust there will gradually accumulate. I had to convert the glass into a container with sides, where the display would be inserted, after which the circuit would be sealed.
It turned out such a detail.
Completion of the mold is not an easy task, and changes can be made only in the direction of increasing the detail. Therefore, any inaccuracy or error can spoil all the work. For reference: each revision is one and a half months waiting for new samples. And the change itself could be microscopic, but necessary.
I will not dwell on plastic parts, this technology is now leading, and I cannot tell you anything new and interesting here. Let me just say about the legs, for which I have long picked up material with reduced friction, after which I conducted tests and “races” of mice in order to determine the winner with minimal friction. I described all this in detail in my blog.
Processing and coating
Initially, careful work is underway with lint removal, sanding and polishing the surface.
I faced a difficult task. It was necessary to stabilize the tree so that the geometry of the mouse did not change depending on the humidity, and to protect the tree from working in an aggressive environment (sweat and fat by hand).
From the very beginning he refused varnish. Lacquer is a surface film that eventually cracks, collapses, and the wood turns bare. Sweat and fat penetrate into the pores, the tree darkens, and the irreversible process of its degradation begins. Therefore, it was decided to use the oil as impregnation and protection, and wax to give a commercial look.
To make it clear: the tree is soaked through with pores, which contain either air or the oil of the tree itself (if the tree is rubbery). Our task is to fill the pores with our own oil, which then must polymerize and protect the wood.
In order not to stretch the story, I will say that I have tried many oils: linseed, tick, tung, petroleum jelly, Danish. Each oil has its own character. For example, wax is very poorly applied to teak oil, and linseed oil polymerizes for a very long time. Therefore, it is necessary to introduce a catalyst - desiccant.
In the end, I developed two technologies. The first is the technology of vacuum impregnation of wood. It works like this: I create a vacuum in an environment with oil and wood. From the pores begins to escape. After removing the vacuum, the pores are filled with oil. As a plus - the tree is well stabilized. As a minus - it gets very dark. Looks good, but an amateur.
The second technology is surface coating with oil. Oil is applied 1-2 times or more with a non-woven napkin.
Next, we process the felt circle.
We apply carnauba wax.
And rub the muslin circle.
Then, using the mounting dryer, “dissolve” dry wax residues in narrow and difficult places. In the case of "insoluble" debris, I take into my hands a toothbrush with stiff bristles, remove debris and then locally repeat the procedure for applying wax again.
All is ready!
If we evaluate the labor costs of processing, then manual labor per mouse is about four hours.
Assembly
Next is the installation operation, but before it you still need to remove traces of processing from the technological holes. Then, with the help of a special 3M tape, I align and glue the legs (the body can move a fraction of a millimeter, and this will immediately be noticeable: it will stagger like a lame stool). Then I lay the cable, mount the board, support, install the wheel and also, if necessary, adjust the buttons (there should be no bounce) and pressing force. This operation can also take up to four hours.
Logo, website, blog
Such a status wooden mouse can not do without a cool logo. I will omit intermediate options and show the result. He makes me happy. The combination of a leaf (a tree), a mouse (a gadget) and the color of wood clearly indicates the field of activity of the company. And the inscription, made with a notched font, speaks about the solidity of the enterprise.
The site decided to do in a low key. The tree looks best on black: www.clickwood.ru .
The main feature of the site that should be mentioned is the configurator. Any user can play around with the options and order the mouse for themselves. You can change the wood for each part, its impregnation, the length and design of the cable, the presence and color of the screen. Even if the Chinese copy my mouse, they are unlikely to offer such a service.
For those interested in the process itself, I highlight every step in my blog: kuliba.livejournal.com . There you can find the project of a wooden keyboard and case, which I put aside.
Why did I do all this? At first it was a hobby. Then the hobby turned into a very expensive budget item, but there was no point in stopping, there was a lot done, you had to go forward. In the end, I made an industrial-replicated copyright product. Spent 2.5 years and a big budget. It's no secret that I now want to create a small business. Perhaps my mouse will be bought as an elite gift to the manager or simply a unique gift. After all, until now there has not been a single status product on the computer market. If you were even a Persian sheikh, you still have to hold a dull plastic hack in your hands. I exaggerate, of course, but the meaning is clear.
What plans do you have for the future? I plan to create all the elements of the workstation: a mouse, keyboard, case and monitor. Perhaps along the way I will offer products from the “desktop” category: pens, stands, etc., also made using valuable types of wood and other exotic materials. Products are status, from the premium segment, but I strive to make them accessible to the middle class, this is the most buying category of people.
I want to create an author's workshop, a small one. To feed old age and bring joy to me and lovers of the original gadgets. Not everything is fully completed, I am not satisfied with everything. But I keep moving forward. I improve, perfect and invent.
UPD: I in no way claim a palm and I am not the first to make a wooden status mouse, but in my post I want to tell you about the history of my project, I did not set myself any other task. Thank you for understanding.
')
Design, construction, modeling
Since I was a complete zero in the design, I approached the case as a complete layman. Bought plasticine and began to sculpt the mouse of your dreams.
At first I blinded the mouse, which is perfect for me to work on the desktop. She is a big dark gray in the photo. Then I blinded a mouse that would suit me for the role of a mobile (dark gray little). And then I took the piece of plasticine stolen from children to work, and my colleagues fashioned a mouse claiming the title of “folk”. She ideally went to the hand of the majority of the male population of our team (in the photo is colorful). And what? It turned out banal and dull forms that we wrestle with our hands every day and night. Apparently, among the three standard mice, any user will find himself comfortable. The triumph of the ideal?
As a result, a mouse was modeled behind a computer, which, from my point of view, claimed to be elegant and beautiful.
At that moment I really liked her. And, without thinking twice, I divided the computer model into details. Were designed fasteners and mates with electronic filling. It sounds simple, but in fact hundreds of hours of hard work were spent.
After that, the obtained parts were grown on a 3D machine to check the collection.
Material - polyamide. In the hand sits well, like a glove. All parts fit together, the process assembly also went smoothly.
The next stage is milling in wood. He probably bought about a dozen different types of red trees, but he started from a tree with a sapele, the other species are waiting in the wings.
Live design did not like. The vertical slots between the buttons and the case looked bad and untidy. Visible technological "sores" when working with wood - chips and tree removal. Well and the main thing - the keys did not bend, there was no click.
Long thought over the design. Something confused, and there was no sense of satisfaction. Then I realized that the mice lacked solidity. I decided to return to the original version of the mouse, which I sculpted at the very beginning, only on a professional level and using sculptural clay. In one mouse made two design options. Convenient for comparison and decision making.
After receiving the final version was done 3D scanning and transfer surfaces in SolidWorks.
The second model was not much better than the first. Buttons were not pressed, and it was impossible to fix it in the current model. The marriage model was laid at the DNA level. We need a more comprehensive approach with simultaneous control of both design and technology. Otherwise, nothing happens. There will be either technological excellence or good design, but not all at once. These characteristics sit on opposite sides of the swing. Therefore, I throw everything in the trash and start from the beginning. Sketch-design-modeling-testing-cultivation and so on, but with technological control of critical parameters on the one hand, and design on the other. We are looking for a middle ground.
The third model was made already in the framework of the classic product design cycle. Started with a sketch.
Draw the contours.
And finally, the approved design.
Plasticine layout.
3D scanner, getting the surface.
Computer model.
Then the process of finishing the hull began. On the CNC machine, the body was sawed out, tested, refined, then sawed out again. As a result, only the tenth version of the case turned out to be workable. The biggest challenge was making the keystrokes comfortable. As a result, in some places the thickness of the tree was reduced to 0.7 mm! The process of finalizing the case took me a year.
Wooden were also made wheel and connector.
I cast a laser engraving on the wheel with the brand Clickwood.
On the approach is the eleventh version of the case, where I will make minor changes. I also started developing a wireless version of the mouse. The wireless module is based on bluetooth technology, the optosensor is a laser. Batteries size AAA, 2 pieces, with the possibility of replacement. When recharging the mouse will continue to work. All elements are arranged very tightly, during the layout I had to pretty much break my head. A cavity specially cut in the wooden case of the mouse serves as a container for the batteries.
Wooden details
Woodworking begins with the selection of wood. Boards must be of the correct geometry, have a minimum of knots and flaws, and have the necessary moisture.
At first, the boards are dried at home. At least six months.
After that, the board is sawn into small-sized bars, which are dried for several weeks at the place of their further processing. At all stages, the humidity is controlled by a special device. If we neglect the drying process, the tree loses its geometric stability, and the manufacture and operation of the mouse become impossible.
The prepared bars are processed on the CNC machine with the help of a specially created program.
From the very beginning of the creation of the part and up to the final assembly of the mouse, the parts are rigidly fixed on the metal snap, so that at no stage does the part change its shape and geometric dimensions.
The processing of the upper part of the mouse has to be done with jewelry accuracy, since its profile is designed for a soft click and in some places is very thin. I control the pressing force with a grammeter. In normal mice, it ranges from 50 to 75 hs. I try to achieve 50 HS.
With the tree in my project are the greatest difficulties. Not only is this the most significant part of the cost, but the proportion of marriage here is very high. Wood is an anisotropic material. It can lead, defects can be caught, chips can appear, and simply a mistake in the technology of the finishing coating can lead to the body of the mouse being sent to the garbage. I admit that I am still improving the processing technology, and I am not sure that I have found the right one. For statistics: in the first batch of ten buildings, only three reached the finished product. Therefore, part of the technological chain associated with the tree is crucial for the cost and quality of the finished product. Over it is a permanent job.
In the future I plan to work with the bone. In particular, I am already engaged in the creation of a wheel made of bone.
Electronic part
I designed the first mouse scheme myself. I took the top-end optical sensor ADNS-3090 from Avago as a sensor, the controller was the Atmel controller, the other components of the brand companies like Murata, Yageo, Geyer, Omron and Molex.
Particular attention was paid to the quality nutrition of the mouse, here, in my opinion, I reached the absolute with my perfectionism :)
To understand how the sensor works in and out, fully translated the optosensor specification into Russian.
Then the first version of the board was developed.
The first working layout.
The second version of the board, the second layout.
Third.
Fourth.
In the black version, the final.
There were also experiments with various buttons. I have always tried to pick up a quiet mouse among others. Well, since I do it myself, I decided to conduct an experiment and make such a mouse and try it out at work. To do this, clicking the left and right "mikriki" replaced by soft and quiet, used for the central button (noticed that the central button always clicks quieter?). A special version of the board was created, where all three identical “mikrikas” were mounted.
The mouse was in operation for a couple of weeks and I can share a conclusion: in my case, the absence of a click is not comfortable. The tree partially absorbs the click, and it seems that the wooden keys are tight, and you have to press harder. It is difficult to describe the feeling, but the closest analogy is as if the mouse button is located under a finger from a soft, to a bread crumb, wood, and for a confident click you need to press it. The experiment can be considered successful, because a clear result is obtained of what should be the response from a mouse click - a clear, clear, unambiguously interpretable one.
I picked up and bought a batch of gold-plated connectors for the mouse. As usual in China. I don’t know how about “better contact”, but they harmonize perfectly with the tree.
At the moment in the project for the development of a wireless version of the mouse.
Screen, firmware
Inspired by the idea of ​​placing a display in a mouse, he began searching for him among hundreds of suppliers. The requirements were simple: strict overall limitations and the possibility of at least a symbolic display of at least eight familiarity. While picking up, I learned almost everything about displays. They differ by type: symbolic and graphic, by technology: TAB, COG, TFT, OLED, LCD, E-Paper and others. Each type or technology has a lot of varieties, sizes, colors, lighting, etc. In general, there was something to delve into.
Break the half of the Internet, I found out that the size I need is made by just one company in the whole wide world. All other options are definitely larger in size. And even the display I found barely fit inside the mouse. As an option, a custom display was considered, which I could have been made according to my requirements, but this is a very expensive option for me (about a hundred thousand rubles). For the first model is quite suitable graphic display with a resolution of 128 by 64 pixels, which I chose.
In order to understand how the display really looks and fits with my mouse, I had to order all the varieties of this display from manufacturers. What do these species mean? The model name consists of alphanumeric, unprovable combinations of the FP12P629AU12 type. All of them are assembled from different blocks and clearly deciphered in the specification. For example, the given example can be assembled from FP.12.P.629A.U12 blocks, where type, size, voltage, controller, operating temperature range, and other information about the model are encrypted. And the last block is the most cunning. It can have several dozen values, each of which means a combination of such characteristics as the presence and color of the backlight, the background color, the color of the characters, the range of degrees from which information is clearly read. Just these parameters were interesting to me.
As a result, “for testing” I ordered 18 different modifications. The manufacturer agreed, but said that the minimum order is 5 displays for each modification. There was nowhere to go, and I had to agree, knowing that 90% would go to the rubbish bin. And on one of the dull days, the express delivery service brought me a huge box in which you can live a homeless person of average build. In the box there were 18 smaller boxes, each of which freely accommodated 5 display cards, securely fixed for a long trip to cold Russia. Concomitant packaging was so much that the mother-in-law enough to cover several beds for the winter.
As a result, after careful tests on a specially assembled stand, two displays were suitable for the series. They differ only in background: gray and yellow-green. I will offer them for a complete set of the mouse. By default, I plan to put a yellow-green, but two more options will be available: a display with a gray background and a mouse without a display at all.
But the main intrigue was what information can be shown on the screen? I was offered different ideas: ambient temperature, indication of the arrival of letters, something else is not very original.
My line of thought went the other way. To begin with, there are two significant restrictions on the display of operational information: the presence before the user of a huge and high-quality source of any information (monitor) and the need to turn the mouse to obtain information. In addition, the screen is small, the resolution is small, the LED interferes with normal reading. Therefore, the conclusion I got was one: the information should be only of an entertaining character, the applied value of which tends to zero, but at the same time the WOW! Effect should be a killer one.
What kind of information can have such properties in a mediocre device? Its a bit: mileage, time of use, speed of movement, the number of clicks and scroll wheel. I decided to give up the last parameter, since it seemed uninteresting to me. The rest of all parameters are linked to the session (the last time the mouse was used from the moment the power was applied to it, that is, connected to a computer or turned on by the computer itself) and to the whole time of the mouse existence. For example, a user can at any moment of a mouse find out how many times he pressed the left mouse button or how much his mouse ran in meters for today or since its purchase. Information is absolutely useless, but it will be especially curious to help you understand how much it is tormenting the mouse. If other interesting ideas appear, they can be implemented with new firmware.
Also added general information on the mouse (model, number of the mouse and firmware, month of manufacture) and the settings screen. It will be possible to choose a language and a system of measures (English or metric). To store all this information, we had to add flash memory to the schema.
To put such a volume of information, I had to break everything on the screens. Each screen displays one type of information, and shows the values ​​of the parameters for the session and for all the time. In total, there are six screens that change the mouse wheel.
The first version was implemented in a purely textual key, for which even several variants of fonts were developed.
I made the firmware to evaluate how the text looks with the created font on the mouse screen. Looks terrible, what to say.
Now it became obvious that the screen needed graphics, and not a set of character information. Therefore, I brought to the work of the designer, and together we prepared three versions of graphic execution, in the end, the second option was recognized as the most successful.
Of course, such a design required more resolution, so it had to be adapted.
But this is not the end of the story. After picking up the screen for the mouse, I made an order for a test batch for the mockout. As a result, small screens came, but for some reason, the number of conclusions was different from what was specified in the datasheet. At the request of the manufacturer came the answer that, they say, everything is fine, this is a small modification, and it does not affect the performance. Meanwhile, the missing two conductors were responsible for the brightness of the displayed graphics.
It was all very suspicious. And exactly as he looked into the water. Redid the board under the modified screen, soldered, and then it turned out that the screen is completely dim. As if the device had batteries. And it turned out that after a long and painstaking work on the search and selection of small screens, the purchase of a trial batch of all modifications and their tests. Time, money, and so on.
But the story turned out to be a good ending. After correspondence with the Chinese, it turned out that the screen can now adjust its contrast directly from the firmware. Healed the firmware, and everything began to show just great!
Everything is shown as planned: mileage, speed, number of clicks, and more.
Later on, the firmware was also changed several times: the setting for changing the language appeared. Two languages ​​on one screen are bad - readability is deteriorating, the Cyrillic abracadabra will only annoy the English-speaking user, and support for other languages ​​may be needed in the future. The difficulties started when I tried to adjust the mileage of the mouse. It seems that there is something difficult: the optical sensor transmits an increment of two coordinates, which must be brought to the system of measures and added modulo to the current value. That's the whole run.
But as it turned out, not everything is so simple. Two people with mice where the same sensor is installed can get completely different results! The fact is that the resolution of the sensor (sensitivity) is very strongly dependent on the surface on which the mouse rolls. The best result is obtained when the mouse rolls on white paper. Slightly worse on wood and fabric. On laminate and film is very bad. The claimed passport sensitivity is achieved only on ideal, from the point of view of the sensor, surfaces.
For the end user, this does not matter. It connects the mouse and by trial and error puts the comfortable speed of the cursor in the operating system. The system remembers this coefficient and uses it to increase or decrease the increment values ​​of the coordinates of movement.
But it is quite another thing if you have conceived to read these parameters directly from the mouse. A mouse on one surface will show the result of one meter run, on the other - one and a half. Speed ​​will also be “lying”. And with this we need to do something.
To solve this problem, we had to enter the parameter "Sensitivity", which allows you to individually select the coefficient for each surface. By default, it is equal to one, which corresponds to the surface of white paper. It can be in the settings as to increase or decrease. You can not touch it at all, everything will work fine and so.But for true perfectionists in the leaflet attached to the mouse, a table will be given from which you can choose a coefficient to the existing surface and instructions on how to customize the mouse yourself to show the exact mileage.
When developing the firmware, another side effect of the sensor was found. If you take the mouse and just wave it in the air, the mileage will also change. This is due to the fact that the sensor determines the surrounding space as a kind of surface and also tries to get the mouse offset values. Therefore, you can observe such an effect: you turn the mouse over, look at the parameters of the race and are surprised that they are changing in a big way right before your eyes. Of course, it is possible to install an angle sensor in the mouse, which disables the sensor for the time of its revolution, but it is unwise to do this only for the situation described. Perhaps in the next version it will appear, but not now. After all, the mouse is raised only to look at the indicators, and 99.9% of the time it is on the surface and receives the correct information.
Cable
Cable has decided to make the most flexible, so that it does not interfere with the movement of the mouse and was "invisible" to the kinematics. Well, I personally don’t like the “spring” cable.
Sometimes it seems that when you create a product cable - the most insignificant part of the product. What is easier - to buy in the store the right amount of cable and unsolder it. Spit it out. But, alas, not here in Russia. Sometimes it seems that our industry is no longer adapted to do anything more difficult than iron irons. Attempts to find the cable resulted in a three-week search and shake-up of the range of absolutely all manufacturers of Russian cable products. It turned out: our standards do not describe the cable that is suitable for modern electronic devices. For example, a four-core microphone cable with a KMM 4x0.12mm2 braid has an outer diameter of 5 mm. This is a lot.Older mice and keyboards have a seemingly thick cable whose outer diameter is only 3.5 mm. The closest analogue on sale was the cable of the German company Lapp Kabel, but its external diameter was just 3.5 mm. Now imagine a braid on this cable. Submitted?I will tell you that I saw a similar cable on power cords for irons :)
So, it turned out that such a cable cannot be bought in Russia. Point.Well, we are not used to retreat. I go into production and try to order, since they still make cable in Russia. And for this purpose we will be defined with my requirements. So, what I need: The
veins are copper, braided wires (for flexibility).
Number of veins - 4.
Screen - yes.
Flexibility is maximum.
External cable diameter is strictly not more than 3 mm.
Color - Pantone 4625 C.
Outcome: I tried to communicate, probably, with a dozen possible cable manufacturers, no one is interested in messing with my order. Did not even ask what mileage I need. Bottom line: in Russia, this cable does not buy and do not produce. It's sad.But we are not used to retreat.
Coming to Alibaba.com. I find the first Chinese manufacturer I have got, I am writing a letter and in just a few hours I get the answer: we will make any cable for you! I'm shocked.I throw him a specification, money for delivery, and in a week I get a sample. Wow! And I lost almost three months, trying to patriotically place an order in Russia. It turned out that the Chinese can easily make me a cable with an external diameter of 2.5 mm.
In summary: I ordered 4 different samples in China. At first, they didn’t accept the scratchiness and haze of the outer shell, then didn’t arrange the flexibility of the cable, then again didn’t arrange flexibility, and finally settled on the last sample sent, which was ready to order. More flexible they can not. The cable has a memory. As a result, I accidentally got a cable with memory, although I wanted to be as flexible as a rope :) I
ordered a kilometer, after two weeks I had the cable. Total time spent: six months.
Braided his kilometer cable. It turned out two options.
Approximately 10% of the cable was rejected. This is the beginning of the bays, where the braid is unraveled and the machine has not yet entered the working mode. And some places where for some reason loops and knots of braid threads were formed.
If the end of the cable is not to be heat shrinked, then it will fluff at the time, the threads are synthetic! Therefore, the installation of the cable assembly is hampered by a preventive heat shrink nozzle.
The outer diameter of the braided cable was 3.2 mm, i.e. sheath added 0.7 mm to the cable diameter. It seems a little, but with an ordinary mouse, the cable goes mainly with a diameter of 3.5 mm, and it seems thick and heavy in the era of wireless mice. Recently, budget mice began to be equipped with cables with a diameter of 3 mm, and they no longer interfere with the work, they are almost imperceptible. But the keyboard cable can be with an external diameter of 4 mm. And even more. But for the keyboard it is not important.
Next ordered cable assembly. Cables have two different lengths and two braid colors. So to say, for every taste of the consumer.
Plastic parts
No matter how much I want to make the body parts of a mouse completely made of wood, plastic cannot be done here. Looking for legs, axis for the wheel, support for the axis and glass for the display.
Therefore, we had to order a mold from the Chinese.
After each test cast, the Chinese sent me a dozen samples that I tested on my mouse.
In the end, I worked the mold three times until the quality satisfied me. The problems were different. For example, after assembly, I got a dust problem that forms between the display and the protective glass. It looks untidy. Moreover, the mouse will scrape on the surface, and dust there will gradually accumulate. I had to convert the glass into a container with sides, where the display would be inserted, after which the circuit would be sealed.
It turned out such a detail.
Completion of the mold is not an easy task, and changes can be made only in the direction of increasing the detail. Therefore, any inaccuracy or error can spoil all the work. For reference: each revision is one and a half months waiting for new samples. And the change itself could be microscopic, but necessary.
I will not dwell on plastic parts, this technology is now leading, and I cannot tell you anything new and interesting here. Let me just say about the legs, for which I have long picked up material with reduced friction, after which I conducted tests and “races” of mice in order to determine the winner with minimal friction. I described all this in detail in my blog.
Processing and coating
Initially, careful work is underway with lint removal, sanding and polishing the surface.
I faced a difficult task. It was necessary to stabilize the tree so that the geometry of the mouse did not change depending on the humidity, and to protect the tree from working in an aggressive environment (sweat and fat by hand).
From the very beginning he refused varnish. Lacquer is a surface film that eventually cracks, collapses, and the wood turns bare. Sweat and fat penetrate into the pores, the tree darkens, and the irreversible process of its degradation begins. Therefore, it was decided to use the oil as impregnation and protection, and wax to give a commercial look.
To make it clear: the tree is soaked through with pores, which contain either air or the oil of the tree itself (if the tree is rubbery). Our task is to fill the pores with our own oil, which then must polymerize and protect the wood.
In order not to stretch the story, I will say that I have tried many oils: linseed, tick, tung, petroleum jelly, Danish. Each oil has its own character. For example, wax is very poorly applied to teak oil, and linseed oil polymerizes for a very long time. Therefore, it is necessary to introduce a catalyst - desiccant.
In the end, I developed two technologies. The first is the technology of vacuum impregnation of wood. It works like this: I create a vacuum in an environment with oil and wood. From the pores begins to escape. After removing the vacuum, the pores are filled with oil. As a plus - the tree is well stabilized. As a minus - it gets very dark. Looks good, but an amateur.
The second technology is surface coating with oil. Oil is applied 1-2 times or more with a non-woven napkin.
Next, we process the felt circle.
We apply carnauba wax.
And rub the muslin circle.
Then, using the mounting dryer, “dissolve” dry wax residues in narrow and difficult places. In the case of "insoluble" debris, I take into my hands a toothbrush with stiff bristles, remove debris and then locally repeat the procedure for applying wax again.
All is ready!
If we evaluate the labor costs of processing, then manual labor per mouse is about four hours.
Assembly
Next is the installation operation, but before it you still need to remove traces of processing from the technological holes. Then, with the help of a special 3M tape, I align and glue the legs (the body can move a fraction of a millimeter, and this will immediately be noticeable: it will stagger like a lame stool). Then I lay the cable, mount the board, support, install the wheel and also, if necessary, adjust the buttons (there should be no bounce) and pressing force. This operation can also take up to four hours.
Logo, website, blog
Such a status wooden mouse can not do without a cool logo. I will omit intermediate options and show the result. He makes me happy. The combination of a leaf (a tree), a mouse (a gadget) and the color of wood clearly indicates the field of activity of the company. And the inscription, made with a notched font, speaks about the solidity of the enterprise.
The site decided to do in a low key. The tree looks best on black: www.clickwood.ru .
The main feature of the site that should be mentioned is the configurator. Any user can play around with the options and order the mouse for themselves. You can change the wood for each part, its impregnation, the length and design of the cable, the presence and color of the screen. Even if the Chinese copy my mouse, they are unlikely to offer such a service.
For those interested in the process itself, I highlight every step in my blog: kuliba.livejournal.com . There you can find the project of a wooden keyboard and case, which I put aside.
Why did I do all this? At first it was a hobby. Then the hobby turned into a very expensive budget item, but there was no point in stopping, there was a lot done, you had to go forward. In the end, I made an industrial-replicated copyright product. Spent 2.5 years and a big budget. It's no secret that I now want to create a small business. Perhaps my mouse will be bought as an elite gift to the manager or simply a unique gift. After all, until now there has not been a single status product on the computer market. If you were even a Persian sheikh, you still have to hold a dull plastic hack in your hands. I exaggerate, of course, but the meaning is clear.
What plans do you have for the future? I plan to create all the elements of the workstation: a mouse, keyboard, case and monitor. Perhaps along the way I will offer products from the “desktop” category: pens, stands, etc., also made using valuable types of wood and other exotic materials. Products are status, from the premium segment, but I strive to make them accessible to the middle class, this is the most buying category of people.
I want to create an author's workshop, a small one. To feed old age and bring joy to me and lovers of the original gadgets. Not everything is fully completed, I am not satisfied with everything. But I keep moving forward. I improve, perfect and invent.
UPD: I in no way claim a palm and I am not the first to make a wooden status mouse, but in my post I want to tell you about the history of my project, I did not set myself any other task. Thank you for understanding.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/161539/
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