Date   : Tue, 13 Jun 2017 15:24:21 +1000
From   : mark@... (Mark Ashley)
Subject: USB to BBC converter

I hope I'm not stealing anyone's thunder, but this just came via
twitter: Simon Inns has created a converter to connect a USB mouse to retro
machines:

http://www.waitingforfriday.com/?p=827

http://hackaday.com/2017/06/12/a-universal-usb-to-quadrature-encoder/

"Computer mice existed long before the Mac, and most of the old 8-bit
computers had some software that could use a mouse. These mice had balls
and quadrature encoders. While converters to turn these old mice into USB
devices exist, going the other way isn?t so common. [Simon] has developed
the answer to that problem in the form of SmallyMouse2
<http://www.waitingforfriday.com/?p=827>. It turns a USB mouse into
something that can be used with the BBC Micro, Acorn Master, Acorn
Archimedes, Amiga, Atari ST and more.

The design of the SmallyMouse2 uses an AT90USB microcontroller that
supports USB device and host mode, and allows for a few GPIOs. This
microcontroller effectively converts a USB mouse into a BBC Micro user port
AMX mouse, generic quadrature mouse, and a 10-pin expansion header. The
firmware uses the LUFA USB <http://www.fourwalledcubicle.com/LUFA.php> stack,
a common choice for these weird USB to retrocomputer projects.

The project is completely Open Source, and all the files to replicate this
project from the KiCad project to the firmware are available on [Simon]?s
GitHub <http://www.waitingforfriday.com/?p=827>. If you have one of these
classic retrocomputers sitting in your attic, it might be a good time to
check if you still have the mouse. If not, this is the perfect project to
delve into to the classic GUIs of yesteryear."