 | Project: LogiNokiLogitech G5 Laser Mouse and Nokia 6610 Mobile Phone LCD Screen Hybrid |
| Author: | Jani 'Japala' Pönkkö |
| Published: | 25.2.2008 |
| How difficult: |  |
| Time to finish: | Two to three days |
| Cost: | Mouse: 45 euros LCD+driver: 30 euros |
Photoshopped
Made this image when I was planning this project. For some reason I had a thought on trying to combine a graphical LCD with a computer mouse. Perhaps this had something to do with my review of Logitech's G15 Gaming keyboard six months back. Like in my MouseFan mod that I did in 2001, I decided to joke around by addin a fan inside a computer mouse. At that time people were putting more and more fans to their setups so I thought it would be funny to see one inside a mouse. I believe this LogiNoki started with similar thought patterns. One can find LCDs and TFTs embedded to almost everything so why not inside a mouse. And why settle for an ascii or even monochrome display as there should be usable graphical color displays available out there...
G5 from Logitech
Logitech G5 Laser mouse
From the start it was clear that the mouse should not be a wireless model. Wired ones have more free space inside them and also have a better power source via USB connection. G5 Laser Mouse from Logitech seemed ideal and when I had green light from the manufacturer I didn't have to look any further and I was set to start the next step of the build.
Taken apart
First thing to do was to check how much free space there would be to work with. G5 has a rather interesting system that allows one to place weights inside the mouse to increase its mass. Mechanics that allow this to happen eats away some of that precious space that we need for everything to fit inside. Still, this should not cause any major problems as we can always hack away quite a lot plastics involved in this design.
LCD screen
Nokia 6610 color LCD + driver board
At first I was planning on doing all the wiring and electronics myself for the display. I'm a big fan of Henri's webiste that deals with LCDs and LCDInfo software that he has written. From the forum one can find topics that talk about how to connect various LCD and VFD products with computers and different controllers.
From the site I learned about a webshop that offers Nokia 6610 Color LCDs and a driver board that the shop owner had created for them. I contacted the person behind the Jelu Web-Shop as he had knowledge on how to control the display via software. In the end he agreed to help me with my project and the rest is history. ;) Thanks Jesper.
Specs for the screen:
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Testing
Perhaps not the best picture but shows you my test setup for the screen. On the top left corner we have a movie Air Force One running and the LCD screen on the left is showing the action. As we are bit banging the data to the LCDs SPI port via computer's parallel port, the frame speed is somewhere around 1 screen per second. Not that fast for showing movies but should still offer many possibilities.
Modding the mouse
Between all these images there are some smaller steps that are needed to complete the mod but I believe you'll get the general idea just fine. :)
Cutting
First frame tries to show you the faint marks that I made to guide me when doing the actual cutting for the base. Rought cut was made by using a circular saw blade on my Ferm rotary tool. Then I switched to a regular carving head and made the opening wide enough to house the LCD screen.
Rought cut for the cover
As the cover is curved I had some difficulties on deciding on how wide the opening should be. In the end I decided to make it so wide that one can see the screen easily while the mouse is sitting on a normal using position on the right side of the user. This means that the opening on the cover is slightly larger and positioned slightly more to the left from the LCD screen.
Files
After some filing the opening starts to take shape. I was originally planning on leaving all the original graphics as they were in the beginning but I soon realized that the opening would eat away part of them. Because of this I decided to wet sand the cover, prime it and paint it to make it more unique.
Painting
Painted
I used Createx Color's Iridescent Turquoise (5504) airbrush color to paint the cover. Four or five layers in total. This was then topped with clear coat to make the finish more durable and shiny.
Window
My wife does not understand my need to keep the original packaging of the products stored. This time I can prove the value of these boxes. The window is actually a part of the original packaging the mouse was in. In the package the mouse was housed inside a plastic bubble that followed the shape of the mouse cover. It was quite easy to use a pair of scissors to take out a piece that would fit perfectly inside the mouse and behind the window opening. Why reinvent the wheel when the needed matrials are often included with the product. ;)
Making the cord
| 1.) | Original USB cord from the G5 mouse. Only thing to do here is to remove the black nylon cord that keeps the wires together. |
| 2.) | This is the end where the USB connetors once were. Cut that away and pull off the black nylon wire wrapping. Added the three extra wires and new blue braided sleeving. |
| 3.) | Same connector as seen in the 1.). Three extra wires visible that will route the data from the computer's parallel port to the LCD screen inside the mouse. |
Parallel port connector
From here we can see the connections that are made inside the parallel port connector. The original USB connector is reattached to the cable. From the ground wire of the USB cord I added a wire to parallel port's ground pin. Any pin from 18-25 will do just fine. This ensures that the voltage levels both in the USB and parallel port are equal thus making the signaling more stable. Data pins 2,3 and 4 are used to talk to the LCD screen.
Working
And now we have a working LCD screen to place inside the mouse. Power is taken from the header that receives the USB cord coming from the computer. Now begins the most demanding task; Putting everything together.
Putting it all together
Wired
Jesper from the Jelu made sure that the driver board sits completely under the screen. This saves a lot of space and enables the screen to be embedded almost everywhere.
Almost ready to put the parts together
From here we can see the three main components that make up the mouse. The base that houses the electronics, middle section that now have the screen and the cover with beautiful color and a new window.
Disaster strikes
Perhaps I was working bit too fast to complete the mod and had a small accident. When masking the white areas around the screen with tape, I slipped my surgery knife and cut the flexible circuit board. This meant that I had a dead screen in my hands. Driver board still worked ok so I needed to order in a replacement for the 6610 LCD screen. After couple of days I received a package from Jesper and off we go again.
This was a good reminder on how one can mess things up if trying to complete something too fast. I had tested everything so that they work but still had some little details to finish but in the end these "little details" ended up ruining the screen. Hopefully I learned a valuable lesson and do this kind of mistakes any more.
Finished
Ready to be sold ;)
I personally love the color of the mouse. Turned out to be the best paint job that I've ever done. Parallel port connector's housing was originally gray so I had to paint it with vinyl paint that bonds itself with the plastic, giving it a long lasting coat.
From this image you can also see the curved window. Because of its shape, it was a nightmare to try to take good quality photographs throught it but hopefully the images on the next page make the LCD screen at least some justice.
Graphics
I didn't want to change the coloring of the orange highlights in any way. I believe blue and orange work just great in this mod. If my airbrushing skills were any better I might have tried to add something extra to the cover but I don't think it really needs anything. "Less is more" like some people like to refer.
ScreensThis page is dedicated on showing off some of the stuff that one can display with this LogiNoki mod. Let your imagination fly and try to come up with things that you might like to see shown on the screen. As you have 132*132 pixels of total freedom, one can place many types of interesing images and data onto it. |
Family photos
Perhaps you would like to show something from you family album as a slideshow? My mother took this image from my family when we went out to swim this summer.
Scenery
Took this picture one evening when there was a storm building up on the sea and a lonely boat was returning to harbour after a long day out.
Medieval fair in Turku
Visited a Medieval fair in Turku this summer. In this shot they are acting a scene where a girl is dragged around the city with a horse as punishment because of her crimes.
For children
Took this one just to show you how clear the colors are. This makes it easy to show for example bar graphs or game statistics on the screen.
IRC (Internet Relay Chat)
I don't use Messenger or ICQ that much but I can be always found in IRC. For this I use a text console from Linux to chat with my friends and readers. Just took a screenshot from the console window and posted it to the screen but one could easily write a code that would show the messages on the screen real time. This is the same for every other messaging system like ICQ or AIM etc.
Web browsing
Why not surf around the net with this overly large LCD screen? ;)
Friends
It is easy to just photoshop what ever you want to show on the screen. Babes, cool cars, statistics etc. In the end it comes down to limits of your imagination.
Posing
On the desk with G15
As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, the insipiration for this mod might have originated from the G15 keyboard. One just have to have LCD screen everywhere. ;)
Conclusion
Project: LogiNoki | I have to say that I wasn't expecting for this mod to turn out this good. I'm especially happy with the paint job and the color. Sure the color is not the same as with the rest of the items on my desktop but I really don't care. It is sometimes nice to have something that stands out from the rest of the pack. But in the end, isn't this what the modding is all about? I would like to thank Jesper from JELU for his support on making this mod happen. His webshop offers some very interesting items for modders and everyone that is interested on electronics, mechanics and technology in general. Every time I visit the site I come up with new ideas on what to do next. Thanks go also to Logitech for their support. Happy 25th and keep up the good work and continue to show rest of the manufaturers what to copy next |
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