mTouch solution and design centre for touch sensing applications

Microchip Technology has announced the mTouch solution to provide engineers with a free and easy method for adding a touch sensing user interface to applications utilising PIC microcontrollers. The free kit is available for download now from the Microchip Touch Sensing Design Centre at www.microchip.com/mtouch and provides full access to the source code, so designers can customise the algorithms and easily integrate them into their main application.

Touch sensing is fast becoming an alternative to traditional push-button user interfaces, because it requires no mechanical movement, and enables a completely sealed and modern-looking design. Expanding beyond the consumer market, touch sensing is beginning to take hold in medical, industrial and automotive applications for reasons such as aesthetics, maintenance, cost and cleanliness. Microchip enables engineers to add this leading-edge user interface to their designs, without the cost of fee-based licensing and royalty agreements. The Company's full source-code solution further enables design engineers to integrate touch sensing functionality with their existing application code in a single microcontroller, thus reducing the total system cost associated with current solutions.

"Microchip is enabling touch sensing for our customers by providing them with a royalty-free platform to start development of their own applications," said Steve Drehobl, vice president of Microchip's Security, Microcontroller and Technology Development Division. "Our customers can optimise their own solution without having to pay for costly licensing and royalty agreements. By giving our customers full access to the software, we provide them with the flexibility and capability to add their own value."

Kit Details
Available now, via a free download from Microchip's Web site at www.microchip.com/mtouch, the Touch Sensing Software Development Kit comes complete with:

· Kit user's manual with Quick-Start Guide for building a touch sensing application
· Application Notes covering hardware and software design practices, with example implementations for touch sensing solutions, including:
· Introduction, AN1101
· Layout & Physical Guidelines, AN1102
· Software, AN1103
· Multi-Button Systems, AN1104
· Graphical User Interface software tools for analysis of designs, utilizing Microchip's PICkit Serial Analyzer Development Tool
· Source Code for a variety of sensing routines
· MPLAB Integrated Development Environment, and the user’s manual
· 30 day license for HI-TECH’s PICC-Lite C compiler, and the user's manual
· Frequently asked questions

For additional information, contact any Microchip sales representative or authorised worldwide distributor, or visit Microchip’s Web site at www.microchip.com/mtouch.

Microchip Technology