SENSING MECHANICAL MOVEMENT
Optical sensing of mechanical movement has been achieved in a number of form-factors. Our approach uses 3D printing to create custom optical sensing embedded in interactive devices. We use low-cost IR emitter/receiver pairs, to sense common user inputs such as rotation, push,linear movement, and acceleration. Our approach offers several benefits. Firstly, custom sensors can be designed and prototyped with minimal effort. 3D printed sensors allow
convenient, fast, accurate, and repeatable sensor fabrication.In many cases only a generic IR emitter-receiver pair are required on the electronics side. Secondly, custom sensors can be embedded in the casing or mechanical structure of a device. This enables sensing of user input through the walls of a device, greatly simplifies hardware assembly, and produces robust high fidelity prototypes.