Introduction To Microchip'S Mtouch™ Capacitive Sensing

Introduction to Microchip’s mTouch™
Capacitive Sensing
Class Objectives
When you complete this class, you will be
able to:
Explain the physical operation of capacitive
touch sensors
Use hardware design considerations to design
a robust touch sensing solution
Explain the fundamental operation of
projected capacitance touchscreen solutions
Implement the correct firmware for your
capacitive touch application
© 2011 Microchip Technology Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Slide 2

Agenda
Brief Review of Human Interface Technology
Capacitive Touch Physics
Hardware Design Considerations for keys and sliders
Software Processing
Acquisition
Processing/Filtering
Decoding
Projected Capacitive Touchscreen Fundamentals
Development Tools
Summary

Human Interface Technology
Typical Human Interface
System Features
Input features
Keypad, Switches, Buttons
Touch sensitive keys
Touch-screen
Output features
Segmented or Graphical LCD
LEDs
Buzzers, Speakers
Communication Protocols
USB, RF Wireless, IrDA, CAN, RS-232

mTouch™ Solutions
Capacitive Touch Touchscreen Controllers
Keys, Sliders & Proximity Resistive and Capacitive
Integrated USB, LCD & Graphical Display options

Why Use
Touch Sense Buttons?
Sleek, stylish user interface

Reliable alternative to switches
Requires no mechanical movement
Enables a completely sealed design
Designer flexibility
Lower cost solution
Lower power consumption
Aesthetics Interactivity Simplicity

mTouch™ Solutions
Buttons, Keys & Sliders
 Industry’s lowest power touch solution
 High robustness to noise & low emissions
 Works through most surfaces – glass,

plastic, metal etc.
 Industry’s broadest portfolio

Capacitive Touch
How does it work?
Touch Sensor Construction
A
Protective overlay
Copper pad
d
Cs
Printed Circuit
Board (FR4 PCB)
Cs = Sensor Base Capacitance

Capacitance
A
ε 0εr A
C= d
d
ε0Permittivity of Free Space (8.854 Pico-Farad/meter)
εr Relative Dielectric Constant (unit-less)
A Area of Plates (meters)
C Capacitance (Farads)
d Distance between©plates (meters)

2011 Microchip Technology Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Slide 11
Quick Physics Review
Plate 1 = Sensor pad

Plate 2 = Finger/conductive or ionizable
substance
A CF
d

Quick Physics Review
Plate 1 = Sensor pad

Plate 2 = Finger/conductive or ionizable
substance
A CF
d
Cs
How Does it Work?
Introduction of finger produces a parallel
capacitance
CF
Cs
Equivalent Circuit
Cs
Sensor Capacitance = Cs
Cs CF
Sensor Capacitance (CT) = CS + CF

Capacitance
Parasitic and Δ Touch

Dependent on sensor and system
Item Capacitance
Electrode Parasitic 100 pF

Strong Electrode Touch 0.5 to 1.0 pF
Weak Electrode Touch 0.05 pF
Capacitive Touch
System Design Considerations
System Level
Factors to Consider
Environment
Heat, humidity
Indoor or Outdoor
Other sources of touch
Ketchup, water, dirt, etc…
Electrical Noise
Mechanics
Overlay material
Sensor size and spacing
Sensor proximity to metal
Noise
Capacitive Touch Noise Behavior
Conducted Noise
Industry Standard :: IEC 61000-4-6
Radiated Noise
Cover
PCB

Noise
Capacitive Touch Testing
Test for ALL failure modes

Look for system level functionality
Capacitive Touch failure mechanisms
False Activation (aka False Trigger)
Sensor press is registered with no finger present
No Activation (aka Dead Sensor)
Sensor press is not registered when sensor is touched

Noise
Capacitive Touch Noise Behavior
Conducted Noise
150 kHz – 80 MHz Test Level

1 kHz, 80%
Amplitude Modulation Signal
Level 1 :: 1 Vrms :: Low Radiation Environments

Level 2 :: 3 Vrms :: Commercial Environments
Level 3 :: 10 Vrms :: Industrial Environments
Level X:: (Open) :: Custom

Microchip Sensing Methods
Electronics
 Proper sensor design
 Clean board layout
 PIC Microcontroller with an Analog to Digital Converter (ADC)
PIC® Microcontroller
PIC

Sensor Capacitance
Changes as CS is modified – environment

Changes as finger touches – user
CS + CF = CTOT
Watch for a change in CTOT
Sensor

Signal Acquisition
Electronics
Voltage Based Measurement
Sensor is charged and discharged by PIC
Voltage is monitored using the integrated ADC
One ADC channel consumed per sensor
Sensor press shown by decrease in VADC
PRESS
VADC
TIME
SENSOR

Signal Acquisition
CVD
Capacitive Voltage Divider
Algorithm that can be implemented in most PICs
Form a voltage divider between sensor and internal
ADC hold capacitor
Read voltage in ADC Results Register
CHOLD * VREF
VAVG = PRESS
VADC
(CHOLD + CSENSOR + CFINGER)
TIME
SENSOR

Signal Acquisition
CTMU
Charge Time Measurement Unit (CTMU)
Available on many PIC24F and PIC18F devices
Charge sensor with constant current over known time
period
Read voltage in ADC Results Register
I = C · V
__
t PRESS
VADC
TIME
SENSOR

Capacitive Touch
Key / Slider Design Considerations
Capacitance
A
ε 0εr A
C= d
d
ε0Permittivity of Free Space (8.854 Pico-Farad/meter)
εr Relative Dielectric Constant (unit-less)
A Area of Plates (meters)
C Capacitance (Farads)
d Distance between©plates (meters)

2011 Microchip Technology Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Slide 32
Capacitive Touch Sense
User’s touch changes a parameter

in capacitive equation
ON OFF Change in parameter causes a
shift in capacitance
VOL + VOL - Software interprets that shift as a
press or a release
Capacitance Shift
PRESS RELEASE
Time
Sensor Design - Area
Capacitive Sensors can be very simple
As a general rule, consider making the

sensor simply square and the size of a
fingertip
Too Small Good Excessively Large

Sensor Design - Area
Finger-sized sensors are not always best!

Proximity
Fine sensors (require thin covering)

Sensor Design
Spacing
Cross talk between sensors

Sensors too close
Magnified by cover thickness
68º
1
2.7 Cover Thickness
2.5
Sensor Separation

Covering Materials
(Distance)
Complete product does not stop at sensor
Includes enclosure
Often covering material is plastic
Metal covering for wet environments

The Dielectric Constant - εr
PCB Material
FR-4
CEM1 - 3
4.20 to 4.70
3.8 to 4.5 ε 0εr A
Glass C=
Iron-sealing glass 8.38 to 8.30 d
Soda-borosilicate 4.97 to 4.84
Fused quartz 3.78
Plastic
Acetate 3.48 to 3.30
Epoxy resin 3.67 to 3.52
Polycarbonate 3.02 to 2.96
Polyethylene 2.26
Other
Liquid water 78.20
Ketchup / Mustard 24.0
Ice 4.15
Snow 1.55

Materials Chart
% Change to Finger, 0.5x0.5" pad - Differing Materials at Distance
14.0%
eA
12.0%
C
y = 0.1615x -0.9834
Percent Change (%)
10.0%
d
8.0%
6.0%
4.0%
2.0%
0.0%
0.0 2.0 4.0 6.0 8.0 10.0 12.0 14.0
d (mm)
Acrylic Polycarbonate ABS Glass

“Traditional” Cap Touch Design
ε 0εr A
C=
d
PCB
Sensor Pad
“Metal Over Cap” Principle
Capacitor
Front Panel
d d
Printed Circuit Board *
ε0εr A Microcontroller detects

C =
d the increase in capacitance
* Drawings not to scale

mTouch™ Technology
Framework and mTouch Library
Software Starting Points
Framework & Library
Includes code to:
Customize Configuration
Scan
Decode
Filter
Greatly speeds up development Time!
mTouch CTMU Library

Included in Microchip Applications Library
mTouch CVD Framework

Added to Microchip Applications Library in June 2011
3 Parts of Software
Acquisition – This deals with the hardware
reading the sensors
Processing – This software is used to

improve the performance of the raw data
collected from acquisition
Decoding – This is used as the software

interface to the rest of the application
software
CVD Framework & CTMU Library
Sensor Acquisition
Scans the all sensors
Performs acquisition filtering
Reports ADC values (called “raw data”) to the
processing and decode modules
ΔV ΔV
t t
mTouch™ Technology Libraries
Signal Processing:
Performs baseline normalization to track the environment when
the sensor is not touched
Transmits raw data via serial media to aid development and
debug efforts
Averaging
Measured Raw Value
Averaging
average

mTouch™ Technology Libraries
Sensor Decoding:
Compares raw data to baseline to determine press or release
Threshold generally %shift from the average
Debounces the sensor (press and/or release) to improve robust
behavior
Returns a ‘0’ or ‘1’ to the application to indicate press or release
Measured Raw Value
average
Press
Release

Framework/Library for PIC® MCUs
Two Microchip mTouch Software
Resources:
CVD Framework (PIC16F)

can be found at:
www.microchip.com/mtouch
CTMU Library (PIC18F/24F)

can be downloaded at:
www.microchip.com/mla

Which PIC for keys?
Capacitive Touch MCU Portfolio
Overview
32-512 KB Flash
GP, USB, Ethernet, CAN
PIC32
Over 150 Up to 16 Cap Touch Ch.
64 – 121 pins
80 MHz
MCUs
System Integration
12 – 256 KB Flash
GP & CAN
PIC24H
18 – 100 pins
Up to 32 Cap Touch Ch.
40 MIPS
4 – 256 KB Flash
GP, USB & Graphics
PIC24F
14 – 100 pins
16 MIPS
16 – 128 KB Flash
GP, USB & LCD
PIC18
18 – 80 pins
12-16 MIPS
7 – 20 KB Flash
GP & LCD
PIC16
14 - 44 pins
8 MIPS
General
Purpose
PIC10/12 0.75 - 2 KB Flash
6 – 8 pins
Coming soon
(GP) 8 MHz Available now

PIC MCU dedicated for Capacitive Touch
function
32-512 KB Flash
PIC32 64– 121 pins
≤ 16 Cap Touch Ch. 80 MHz
12 – 256 KB Flash
PIC24H 18 – 100 pins
≤ 32 Cap Touch Ch. 40 MIPS
Communicate to main processor:
System Integration
4 – 256 KB Flash
PIC24F 14 – 100 pins  I2C
≤ 24 Cap Touch Ch. 16 MIPS
 UART
PIC18 16 – 128 KB Flash  SPI
18 – 80 pins
≤ 24 Cap Touch Ch.
12-16 MIPS
PIC16 7 – 20 KB Flash
PIC®
mTouch Software
Up to 32 Cap Touch Ch. 14 - 44 pins
8 MIPS
MCU
Cap Touch Peripheral
0.75 - 2 KB Flash
PIC10/12
6 – 8 pins
8 MHz
Touch sensors
Performance
PIC® MCU integrating other
functions with Cap Touch
64 – 121 pins
Up to 16 Cap Touch Ch. 80 MHz TXRX
PIC24H 12– 256 KB Flash

System Integration
18 – 100 pins
Up to 32 Cap Touch Ch. 40 MIPS
Graphic USB 2.0
SPI
LCD Drive or OTG
PIC24F 4 – 256 KB Flash

14 – 100 pins
Up to 24 Cap Touch Ch. 16 MIPS Graphics USB RF
Library Library Stacks

18 – 80 pins
Up to 24 Cap Touch Ch. 12-16 MIPS
mTouch IrDA
CAN 2.0B
7Library
– 20 KB FlashStack
7 – 20 KB Flash
PIC16 14 - 44 pins
14 - 44 pins
Cap Touch Segmented
≤ 32 Cap Touch Ch. 8 MIPS 8 MIPS PWM
Peripheral LCD Drive
PIC10/12 0.75 - 2 KB Flash

6 – 8 pins
Touch
≤ 4 Cap Touch Ch. sensors
8 MHz
PIC® MCU
Performance
Projected Capacitance Touchscreen
Introduction
Sensor Concepts
A basic projected capacitive sensor is:
 Two dielectrically separated layers…
 Of conductive bars…
 Oriented orthogonally to each other…
 Behind a protective front panel
Sometimes referred to as a “matrix” because

intersecting row and column bars form a matrix
or grid
Touch acquisition same as keys and sliders

Sensor Concepts
Sensor cross sectional view
Top Bars (X-axis) Front Panel

(ITO ~30 nm) (Glass ~ 1.0mm)
Adhesive
(OCA, 0.06 mm)
Back Panel
Bottom Bars (Y-axis) (Glass ~ 0.4mm)
(ITO ~30 nm)

Projected Capacitive Sensor

Projected Capacitance
Scan along each axis,

identify high cap. lines
Position determined by
intersection of high
capacitance lines
Multi-touch capable
Many channels to decode

Projected Capacitance
Scanning Method
Scan one axis to determine which bar was
touched
Measuring self capacitance
Scan along touched bar to determine exact spot

where touch occurred
Measuring mutual capacitance
Measurement scans currently use CTMU (CVD in

development) methods
Similar to keys and sliders

Self Capacitance
 “SELF” capacitance of a bar is the capacitive load it
presents to the measuring circuit, relative to circuit ground
 Self capacitance of any X or Y axis bar can be measured
 Provides knowledge of which X and Y bars are touched
 Does not correlate multiple X and Y touched bars into (X,Y)

touch locations
Mutual Capacitance
 “MUTUAL” capacitance is the capacitive coupling
between two bars, one on each sensor layer
 Mutual capacitance can correlate touched X & Y bars

 Providing (X,Y) coordinates for multi-touch conditions

Projected Capacitance Software
Projected Capacitance Software
Includes source code to:
Customize Configuration
Self and Mutual Scans
Touch Decode
Filter
GUI based utility used for adjusting key parameters
Source currently decodes 2 discrete touch points for

dual touch support
pCap v1.0 supports sensors with up to 32 channels

Which PIC for pCap designs?
Projected Capacitive
Larger Screen
Charge Time Charge Time
Support
Measurement Unit Measurement Unit
New Silicon
PIC18F45K22 PIC24FJ64GB106
28 CTMU Channels 16 Cap Touch Channel Advanced Features
35 I/O Pins 52 I/O Pins Multi-Chip Solution
16 MIPS, XLP, uQFN Pkg USB
Performance
3”-5” screens up to 7” screen size .

. .
~20 x 15 Sensor Channels ~16 x 25 Channel Sensor
Reference Platform for CTMU & CVD
Capacitive Sensing
Module
PIC16F707
32 Cap Touch Channels
35 I/O Pins
Mid 2011
368 RAM/14K ROM/5 MIPS
<4” screen size Available now

~13 x 11 Sensor Channels
In development
Limited by RAM/ROM/Acquisition Speed
Screen Size & Higher Pin Count

Intro to PCap Modules 2011
Offer Standard Modules for 3.5” – 12.1”
Sold via Touch Sensor & Disti Partners

Combine electronics, sensor and possibly standard size LCD’s
AMT will introduce 7” & 10.4” module at SID in May 2011
FUTURE/AVNET offer multiple touch screens & LCDs
Simplify selling & reduce design time/risk AMT 7”

Easy selection of matched components Module –
Reduced integration variables demos
available
now
Chip-on-Tail LCD Module

Board
Development Tools
DM183026-2 Enhanced Cap Touch Eval Kit

mTouch™ Projected
Capacitive Development Kit
 Part # DM160211 contains:
• PCap Board with fully functional firmware on
PIC16F707
• Sensor Board with 3.5” PCap 12 x 9 Touch
Screen
• Software GUI Development Tool
• Dev Kit available now at
www.microchip.com/mtouch
Specification Description
Touch-Screen Support 3.5”, independent, real time XY tracking for up to 2 touches
Channels 12 x 9, 108 nodes software expandable to 24 channels,144 nodes
Response Time Typical <15 ms
Report Rate Single Point 65 pps, Two Points 55 pps
Power Consumption Operating 1.5 mA at 5V, sleep 20 µA typical
Resolution 128 bar-to-bar, scaled to 1024 x 1024

Summary
Summary
Physical properties of capacitive touch sensors
Microchip’s capacitive touch methods
Design considerations for keys and sliders
Fundamentals projected capacitance

touchscreen operation
Software used for capacitive touch applications
Available development tools

Reference Materials
 www.microchip.com/mtouch
 Capacitive Sensors by Larry K. Baxter
ISBN 0-7803-5351-X
 AN1101, AN1102, AN1103, AN1104 – Covers Basic Cap
Touch
 AN1171 – Cap Touch using CSM Module
 AN1202 – Cap Touch on PIC10F206
 AN1250 – Cap Touch with CTMU
 AN1268 – Cap Touch with CSM & Period Measurement
 White Paper: mTouch Projected Capacitive Touch
Screen Sensing Theory of Operation
 Webinars:
www.microchip.com/webinars
Questions?

Thank You!
Trademarks
• The Microchip name and logo, the Microchip logo, dsPIC, KeeLoq, KeeLoq logo,
MPLAB, PIC, PICmicro, PICSTART, PIC 32 logo, rfPIC and UNI/O are registered
trademarks of Microchip Technology Incorporated in the U.S.A. and other countries.
• FilterLab, Hampshire, HI-TECH C, Linear Active Thermistor, MXDEV, MXLAB, SEEVAL
and The Embedded Control Solutions Company are registered trademarks of
Microchip Technology Incorporated in the U.S.A.
• Analog-for-the-Digital Age, Application Maestro, CodeGuard, dsPICDEM,
dsPICDEM.net, dsPICworks, dsSPEAK, ECAN, ECONOMONITOR, FanSense, HI-TIDE,
In‑Circuit Serial Programming, ICSP, Mindi, MiWi, MPASM, MPLAB Certified logo,
MPLIB, MPLINK, mTouch, Octopus, Omniscient Code Generation, PICC,
PICC-18, PICDEM, PICDEM.net, PICkit, PICtail, REAL ICE, rfLAB, Select Mode,
Total Endurance, TSHARC, UniWinDriver, WiperLock and ZENA are trademarks of
Microchip Technology Incorporated in the U.S.A. and other countries.
• SQTP is a service mark of Microchip Technology Incorporated in the U.S.A.
• All other trademarks mentioned herein are property of their respective companies.
• © 2010, Microchip Technology Incorporated, All Rights Reserved.

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Introduction to Microchip’s mTouch™

© 2011 Microchip Technology Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Slide 2

© 2011 Microchip Technology Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Slide 3

© 2011 Microchip Technology Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Slide 5

Integrated USB, LCD & Graphical Display options

© 2011 Microchip Technology Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Slide 6

Sleek, stylish user interface

Aesthetics Interactivity Simplicity

 Industry’s lowest power touch solution

 High robustness to noise & low emissions

 Works through most surfaces – glass,

 Industry’s broadest portfolio

© 2011 Microchip Technology Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Slide 8

Cs = Sensor Base Capacitance

A Area of Plates (meters)

d Distance between©plates (meters)

Plate 1 = Sensor pad

© 2011 Microchip Technology Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Slide 12

Plate 1 = Sensor pad

Sensor Capacitance (CT) = CS + CF

© 2011 Microchip Technology Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Slide 15

Parasitic and Δ Touch

Electrode Parasitic 100 pF

© 2011 Microchip Technology Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Slide 19

Test for ALL failure modes

© 2011 Microchip Technology Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Slide 20

150 kHz – 80 MHz Test Level

Level 1 :: 1 Vrms :: Low Radiation Environments

© 2011 Microchip Technology Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Slide 21

© 2011 Microchip Technology Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Slide 24

Changes as CS is modified – environment

© 2011 Microchip Technology Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Slide 25

© 2011 Microchip Technology Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Slide 26

© 2011 Microchip Technology Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Slide 29

© 2011 Microchip Technology Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Slide 30

A Area of Plates (meters)

d Distance between©plates (meters)

User’s touch changes a parameter

Capacitive Sensors can be very simple

As a general rule, consider making the

Too Small Good Excessively Large

© 2011 Microchip Technology Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Slide 34

Finger-sized sensors are not always best!

Fine sensors (require thin covering)

© 2011 Microchip Technology Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Slide 35

Cross talk between sensors

© 2011 Microchip Technology Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Slide 36

Often covering material is plastic

Metal covering for wet environments

© 2011 Microchip Technology Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Slide 37

© 2011 Microchip Technology Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Slide 38

Acrylic Polycarbonate ABS Glass

© 2011 Microchip Technology Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Slide 39

Printed Circuit Board *

ε0εr A Microcontroller detects

* Drawings not to scale

Greatly speeds up development Time!

mTouch CTMU Library

mTouch CVD Framework

Processing – This software is used to

Decoding – This is used as the software

© 2011 Microchip Technology Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Slide 46

© 2011 Microchip Technology Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Slide 47