Applications of Optical Mouse Sensor Other Than a Navigating Device: A Review

An optical mouse is a computer navigation device that uses light, primarily to track movement and control the cursor on a computer screen. Other than computer cursors, various fields of applications, such as process instrumentation, robotics, healthcare, and agriculture, now use this ready-to-use device as a sensor due to its low latency, lightweight, high accuracy, and power efficiency. It is also compatible with wearable devices and the Internet of Things (IoT)-based applications, which prefer low-power digital output. Typically, the optical mouse sensor gets popularity for those applications, where measurement is possible by precise motion data or analysis of object image. The sensor detects motion in both the x- and y-axes, and the built-in signal processing unit helps to interface with computers through wires and wireless data transfer protocols. This article’s main contribution is a comprehensive study of optical mouse sensors used for various applications other than computer-pointing devices.