CPC H03K 17/969 (2013.01) [G01L 1/24 (2013.01); G06F 3/0202 (2013.01); H01H 13/14 (2013.01); H01H 13/83 (2013.01); H01H 2231/002 (2013.01); H01H 2239/022 (2013.01)] | 18 Claims |
1. An analog input device comprising:
at least one mounting panel;
a matrix of analog push button assemblies mounted to the at least one mounting panel, each analog push button assembly comprising an analog pressure sensor, wherein the analog pressure sensor comprises:
a pressure reception arrangement having an optical sensing sub-arrangement configured to measure an amount of light varied according to a pressure sensed at the pressure reception arrangement and an output terminal for outputting an analog signal corresponding to the amount of light measured, and
a plunger element configured to exert the pressure on the pressure reception arrangement when the analog push button assembly is pressed by a user's finger;
a multiplexer including an input side and an output side, wherein the input side is coupled to the output terminals of the matrix of analog push button assemblies;
an analog-to-digital converter which is coupled to the output side of the multiplexer, wherein the analog-to-digital converter converts the analog signal into a digital-step-value;
a processor which is coupled to the analog-to-digital converter and which is configured to output a data packet including a button identity (ID) of the push button assembly pressed by the user's finger and the digital-step-value converted from the analog signal of the push button assembly by the analog-to-digital converter; and
a communication interface configured to transmit the data packet to a host computing device.
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