🚀 go-pugleaf

I printed some shaft encoders using the postscript file posted here recently...
very nice. They got me to thinking, where have I seen these type of "wheels"
before? Then I realized: last time I took my Macintosh Plus mouse apart, it
had optical shaft encoders. So, I thought, why not take my new mouse apart,
see who makes the shaft encoder, and post it to comp.robotics.

Well, I took it apart, but things have changed since my old Mac Plus mouse
(I now have a IIci). On the new mouse, two shaft encoders from ALPS are
used. They look like they couldn't cost more than $1 each. The may be
optical, but are not slots (perhaps reflective?). Or maybe the pattern (radial)
is conductive and it uses contacts. In any case, they look cheap, have great
resolution, and are probably available.

So, when looking for cheap shaft encoders, perhaps you can tear apart an old
mouse. I think mice can be had for less than $20 now days.

Flames, ideas, comments? Please post as we all seem to be interested in this!



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Clint Laskowski              Post Office Box 552, Cudahy, Wisconsin  53110-0552
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