Rugged Mouse Tolerates Extremely Dirty Environments

Designed specifically for extremely dirty environments and medical applications, six versions of the dome-panel-mount MOUSE-TRAK are described as more rugged than industrial trackballs and more precise than sealed touchpads. The MOUSE-TRAK can function in dirty environments, such as mines and paper mills, and in clean room and medical applications, where aggressive use of cleaning solutions damages the mechanisms of low-end mice. It is available with PS/2, Sun, and USB interfaces. The device uses a deformable dome mounted over a miniaturized motion encoder mechanism to capture inputs. Users move the top of the dome, much as they would the ball in a normal trackball, to communicate the direction and speed of cursor movement. The MOUSE-TRAK has a compact 4.5'' x 4.5'' footprint and draws only 1.5'' in depth below the mounting surface. No special software is required for installation. Pricing ranges from $200 for single units to $110 in larger quantities.