Jean-Daniel Nicoud

Jean-Daniel Nicoud
Born (1938-08-31) August 31, 1938 (age 86)
CitizenshipSwiss
Alma materÉcole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
Known forcomputer mouse
Scientific career
FieldsSoftware engineering
Picture of the miniCeline ultralight aircraft by Jean-Daniel Nicoud. This remote-controlled plane weighs only 6 g and is capable of indoor flying.

Jean-Daniel Nicoud (born 31 August 1938), is a Swiss computer scientist, noted for inventing of a computer mouse with an optical encoder and the CALM (Common Assembly Language for microprocessors).[1]

He obtained a degree in physics at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in 1963. Around 1965, he became interested in logical systems. He obtained his PhD at the EPFL in 1970 and became a professor in 1973.

His laboratory, LAMI (LAboratoire de Micro-Informatique), developed the Smaky computer,[2][3] in addition to the optical computer mouse,[4][5][6][7] an update of the traditional kinetic mouse invented by Douglas Engelbart. The Khepera mobile robot was also developed at the LAMI.

He left the EPFL in August 2000 and is actively innovating in his private company, DIDEL,[8] especially in the area of miniature ultralight aircraft (below 10 g airplanes). His airplane was used in a publication that received a best paper award in IROS 2006 conference.[9]

  1. ^ Wagner, F.; Nicoud, J.-D. (1987-12-01). "On the notation of CALM- Common assembly language for microprocessors". Computer Standards & Interfaces. 6 (4): 455–462. doi:10.1016/0920-5489(87)90026-2. ISSN 0920-5489.
  2. ^ Nicoud, Jean-Daniel (1991-01-01). "Dedicated Tools for Microprocessor Education". IEEE Micro. 11 (1): 62–68. doi:10.1109/40.67739. ISSN 0272-1732. S2CID 5786607.
  3. ^ "Switzerland". IEEE Micro (4). 1989-07-01. doi:10.1109/mm.1989.10031. ISSN 0272-1732.
  4. ^ [1][dead link]
  5. ^ "Computer History Museum - Lectures - Early Computer Mouse Encounters". 2007-12-19. Archived from the original on 2007-12-19. Retrieved 2018-03-15.
  6. ^ "Data". cnn.com. Archived from the original on 2005-04-24.
  7. ^ Mueller, Dr. phil. Roland. "Mueller Science - Swiss Firsts - Swiss Discoveries - Swiss Inventions". www.muellerscience.com. Retrieved 2018-03-15.
  8. ^ "Robotique pédagogique". Robotique pédagogique (in French). Retrieved 2018-03-15.
  9. ^ Zufferey, Jean-Christophe; Klaptocz, Adam; Beyeler, Antoine; Nicoud, Jean-Daniel; Floreano, Dario (2007). "A 10-gram vision-based flying robot". Advanced Robotics. 21 (14): 1671–1684. doi:10.1163/156855307782227417. S2CID 14951134.