Blog of Wishes

This is a project by three guys at the University of California: Santa Cruz in the Fall of 2005 and Winter of 2006 as part of their senior design class. The goal of FRE3SPACE was to create a wireless mouse that could operate in three dimensions. In other words, while holding the mouse in the air you could move your arm left or right, up and down, towards and away, in relation to your computer.

This project was completed in March of 2006 with some success. The mouse does work, and the position of the mouse can be detected with an accuracy of 3 centimeters, over a range of 1 to 6 meters, with the position being updated 25 times per second. The mouse contains 5 general use buttons whose status are also updated 25 times per second. The mouse is also rechargable by simply plugging it into the wall with an AC adapter. The mouse will last about 14 hours on a single charge. Mouse coordinates and button states are sent to the PC over a USB link.

The system would cost roughly $550 to construct additional units, and more than half that cost is for an Altera NiosII FPGA Dev Kit. If a new design for another PCB that contains the FPGA is made, this could lower the non-mass-produced system cost to under $400.

– Powerpoint presentation of the FRE3SPACE project…
– More in-depth information about the project in this Doc file…
– The official website of the FRE3SPACE project…