Flexible touch sensor control solution

6 February 2008 Switches, Relays & Keypads

Pushbuttons are out and touch panels are in for an increasing number of consumer, industrial, medical and automotive designs. Freescale is enabling user interfaces with a pair of next-generation capacitive sensor controllers and a proximity sensing software solution that works with hundreds of Freescale microcontrollers (MCUs).

Touch-sensitive controls are rapidly supplanting mechanical buttons, sliders and switches by providing a flexible, reliable and cost-effective user interface alternative. Touch sensing technology helps designers unleash their creativity in developing intuitive touch-based rotary wheel and linear slider interfaces with the ability to hide or illuminate buttons and 'morph' touchpad patterns.

Freescale is offering a choice of rotary and touchpad capacitive sensor controllers combined with full-featured touch-sensing algorithms for complex interface designs that require calibration and multiplexing capabilities. The complimentary proximity sensing software is derived from the full-featured algorithm designed to enable easy integration of touch sensing technology into cost-sensitive control applications using Freescale's 8-bit S08 and 32-bit ColdFire V1 MCUs.

The controllers support multiple electrodes, enabling one controller to support multiple applications. By multiplexing the electrodes, a single sensor controller can be used for detection at multiple touch points. For example, the sensor controller can be used to manage multiple electrode configurations for touch pads, sliders, rotary positions and mechanical keys.

The MPR083 controller is suitable for rotary interface applications, and the MPR084 is well suited for touch panel control applications. Both controllers have a common pin-out, which simplifies management of control panels, switch replacements, rotary and linear sliders, and touch pad implementations. Both devices use a digital output I2C interface for system communications. The voltage operation range is 1,8 V to 3,6 V, which is suitable for consumer electronics.

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