Input Devices

Various input devices are available for data input on graphics workstation. Input
devices are organized around the concepts of logical device which are of 5 types namely
locator (i.e. to indicate a position or orientation), pick (i.e. to select a displayed entity),
valuator (i.e. to input a single real number), keyboard (i.e. to input a character string) and
choice (i.e. to select from a possible action or choices).

MOUSE

A mouse is a Input device which allows the user to control a cursor to manipulate data
without complicated commands (i.e. to position the screen cursor). Mouse differs with the number
of buttons and how relative motion is detected. The following briefly describes working principle of
mechanical mouse:

1. There two Choppers or Gears, these two represent the axis of where the cursor is
located. The chopper furthest to the represents the X axis, which is the vertical axis. The
other chopper, which is only partially shown, represents the Y axis, which is the
horizontal axis.

2. The mouse ball is the main part within the mouse which allows the user to move the
mouse which moves the appropriate axis which then moves the mouse cursor on the
 screen. Without the mouse ball the mouse would be useless.

3. The four pin Interface Cable Connection, which is where the information is transferred
from the mouse to the computer.

4. As the mouse is moved, the ball rolls in the direction of the movement which, in turn,
moves the roller (X or Y axis). As the roller begins to rotate, so does the chopper / gear.
The gear has small notches within it or around the edges of it; as it rotates, light shines
through the openings which is then detected by the two light sensors which then sends
the computer a signal of that movement. The offset of the light received by the two light
sensors determines the direction of each axis.

5. Within the mouse you will find a total of two rollers and choppers / gears. Each roller
represents a X or Y axis which is the Horizontal or Vertical movement of the mouse
cursor.

Joystick
Joystick consists of a small vertical lever mounted on base that is used to steer the
screen cursor around. The basic idea of a joystick is to translate the movement of a plastic stick
into electronic information a computer can process.

1. This basic design consists of a stick that is attached to a plastic base with a flexible
rubber sheath. The base houses a circuit board that sits directly underneath the stick.
The circuit board is made up of several "printed wires," which connect to several contact
terminals. Ordinary wires extend from these contact points to the computer.
 2. The printed wires form a simple electrical circuit made up of several smaller circuits. The
circuits just carry electricity from one contact point to another.
3. When the joystick is in the neutral position -- when you're not pushing one way or another
– all but one of the individual circuits are broken. The conductive material in each wire
doesn't quite connect, so the circuit can't conduct electricity. Each broken section is
covered with a simple plastic button containing a tiny metal disc.
4. When the stick is moved in any direction, it pushes down on one of these buttons,
pressing the conductive metal disc against the circuit board. This closes the circuit -- it
completes the connection between the two wire sections.
5. When the circuit is closed, electricity can flow down a wire from the computer (or game
console), through the printed wire, and to another wire leading back to the computer.
6. The distance that the stick is moved in any direction corresponds to movement of screen
cursors movement in that direction and potentiometers mounted on base of the joystick
measures the amount of movement.
The difficulty to use joystick is its control the absolute position of screen cursor directly
because a slight movement of the sort shaft is amplified 5 or 10 times in the movement of cursor.
Light Pen
Light pen were developed for interactive computer graphics by detects light pulses. The
working principle of light pen is as follows:

1 When the photocell senses the "beam" scanning across the face of the screen, a signal is
sent to the CRT controller (chip) which causes it to record the current X,Y position of the
video signal that *it* is generating and interrupts the computer.
2 By reading the saved values, the graphics package can determine the coordinates of
pixels by the light pen.
3 Depending on sophistication desired, the software can capture the limits of this "region"
(i.e. which scan lines register a "hit" and which positions on each scan line) and then
determine the "center" of that region.
4 The light pen cannot report the coordinates of a point that is completely black.

Graphics Tablet or Digitizer:

A graphics tablet (or digitizing tablet, graphics pad, drawing tablet[1]) is a computer input
device that allows one to hand-draw images and graphics, similar to the way one draws images
with a pencil and paper.
A graphics tablet consists of a flat surface upon which the user may "draw" an image
using an attached stylus, a pen-like drawing apparatus. The image generally does not appear on
the tablet itself but, rather, is displayed on the computer monitor.
Some tablets are intended as a general replacement for a mouse as the primary pointing
and navigation device for desktop computers.
There are two types of graphics tablet i.e. passive and active tablet. For both
technologies, the tablet can use the received signal to determine the distance of the stylus from
the surface of the tablet, the tilt (angle from vertical) of the stylus, and other information in
addition to the horizontal and vertical positions.
The working principle of both are as follows:
Passive tablets
1 Passive tablets make use of electromagnetic induction technology, where the horizontal
and vertical wires of the tablet operate as both transmitting and receiving coils (as
opposed to the wires of the RAND Tablet which only transmit).
2 The tablet generates an electromagnetic signal, which is received by the LC circuit in the
pen.
3 The wires in the tablet then change to a receiving mode and read the signal generated by
the pen.
4 Modern arrangements also provide pressure sensitivity and one or more switches (similar
to the buttons on a mouse), with the electronics for this information present in the pen
itself, not the tablet.
5 On older tablets, changing the pressure on the pen nub or pressing a switch changed the
properties of the LC circuit, affecting the signal generated by the pen, which modern ones
often encode a digital data stream onto the signal.
6 By using electromagnetic signals, the tablet is able to sense the stylus position without
the stylus having to even touch the surface, and powering the pen with this signal means
that devices used with the tablet never need batteries..
Active tablets
1 Active tablets differ in that the stylus used contains self-powered electronics that
generate and transmit a signal to the tablet.
2 These pens rely on an internal battery rather than the tablet for their power, resulting in a
bulkier pen.
3 Eliminating the need to power the pen means that such tablets may listen for pen signals
constantly, as they do not have to alternate between transmit and receive modes, which
can result in less jitter.

A graphics tablet offers much higher precision, the ability to

track an object which is not touching the tablet, and can gather
much more information about the stylus, but is typically more
expensive, and can only be used with the special stylus or other
accessories.